Advanta bank is the devil!

[magyar123]

And whatever you pay, if you pay, make sure it's a money order, and not a personal check on/from which you reveal your banking information.

[BigJohn]

I haven't paid Advanta anything since March. They haven't done nothing. I guess they call, but I don't answer the phone so I have had no phone contact with them.

[Overmylimit]

Thanks guys for the advice. I think this is all happening faster than normal because all of my unsecured is business debt. Also the amounts are high on all of the accounts. Advanta was about 28k now its like 33k since they jacked up the interest rate. The only other account that is seeking judgment is Bank of the West for 100k. The collection letter I got from their outside collection company tacked on 20k in fees and are demanding the full amount 120k in 30 days...thats gonna happen! I just wonder what the differences are between collecting on a personal account vs business. Thanks for all of the input!!

[No Gravy]

Well I have been trying to hold my ground for at least another few months till I can file per my Lawyer, and I have been trying to please the lines that are starting to send the letters that they are seeking legal action. Advanta calls all the time so I called them back.....big mistake (I have seen this discussed before in another thread on wether to call or not...don't ever) the reason I called back was the guy sounded friendly enough but to get to him I talked to the 1st lady b....! She said I needed to pay 4300.00 dollars today to stop legal action. I said I couldn't do it, then she said 2200.00 I said I couldn't do it then 1191.00 was the best she could do. The gentleman finally came on the line and he was nice but the same story but he would lower my interest rate to 22%. He said they never negotiate debt and would see full blah blah blah in court....so basically since the Lawyer told me to hold off these possible judgments I agreed to let them take 1191.00 to get away from the legal action. One I hung up I realized it...they got me ugghh! they don't negotiate! what a crock. The bottom line for me from now on is I am a nice guy and they will feed on that so I will NEVER take their calls again.

Wow. I haven't paid Advanta since May, and nothing close to court action. They've sent letters saying if I didn't make a payment by a certain date they would, but there's been nothing. The collections guy I spoke with from Advanta was actually really pleasant.

Last month I C&D'ed them, just to turn down the noise. I have nothing to take, nothing to garnish. I plan on filing in late November-December, unlikely they would get a judgment in that time.

[treehugger1]

They sent a "letter of intent to seek a court date?" Big deal. While this is hindsight, you could have said, "I'll look for your letter in the mail." Be worried when you get a summons. I would guess you are 30 or more days at a minimum of ever seeing a summons, and 60 - 90 days before they could get a judgment. If it were me, I would shut this payment down if possible. Get your BK filing prepared in your mind, and stop trying to placate lenders that you can't afford to pay.
Two things might happen now.

1) The money you sent them will satisfy their immediate needs and you won't hear from them for a while,

OR

2) Since you sent them money once, you might be ripe to send them money again. They might begin to hound you 20 - 30 days from now.

Try to keep in your sight that failure to pay debt is a civil matter. It is not a criminal matter. Generally, you commit no crime by failing to pay on your debts. There is no reason to fear these folks. You are ultimately in control because you can file for BK.

[fltoo]

If you are only two payments behind, I would call their bluff and stop payment. You can discharge a judgment anyway. If you file within the next 3 months, this also will be considered preferential, not that it affects your BK.

[Chrisi18]

Can you call them and cancel the payment? What about if you closed the account?

[Overmylimit]

I am two payments behind and they sent the letter of intent to seek a court date, I had paid them with a check before and they still had the account # so they are pulling it from there on the last day of the month. Frustrating for sure. I always thought I had like 6 months before this would happen.

[fltoo]

Oh my. It takes quite awhile for a judgment and then longer for a garnishment. How did you pay them? Can you do a stop payment?

[Overmylimit]

Well I have been trying to hold my ground for at least another few months till I can file per my Lawyer, and I have been trying to please the lines that are starting to send the letters that they are seeking legal action. Advanta calls all the time so I called them back.....big mistake (I have seen this discussed before in another thread on wether to call or not...don't ever) the reason I called back was the guy sounded friendly enough but to get to him I talked to the 1st lady b....! She said I needed to pay 4300.00 dollars today to stop legal action. I said I couldn't do it, then she said 2200.00 I said I couldn't do it then 1191.00 was the best she could do. The gentleman finally came on the line and he was nice but the same story but he would lower my interest rate to 22%. He said they never negotiate debt and would see full blah blah blah in court....so basically since the Lawyer told me to hold off these possible judgments I agreed to let them take 1191.00 to get away from the legal action. One I hung up I realized it...they got me ugghh! they don't negotiate! what a crock. The bottom line for me from now on is I am a nice guy and they will feed on that so I will NEVER take their calls again.