Out of work/waiting to file/how to avoid liens against checking account?

[rae]

Hi GrdnDelite, Oh, I didn't mean to imply you would be hiding anything. Rather, I meant to say, if you had to declare now, you would base your budget on whatever you currently make. My bk atty said you had to make at least 100 bucks more than your bills, to declare bankruptcy, so you could send the 100 bucks toward the bk debt. So if you eventually made more, you would go back in and file for a change of circumstances. I hope you can find the $ for the heat this winter! There is a program in California through PG&E called the CARE program. You might look into that to help with your gas/electric bill.

[treehugger1]

The Walmart money debit cards are great, but they are not all available with the same "luxuries" by state. There are other methods and direct-deposit options out there. Here are some to consider: Western Union Debit, Freedom Bank, etc. Many of the new prepaid debit cards allow for direct deposits up to $10K per month, have free bill-pay features, and many have ACH pay features for folks to pay their utilities, etc. You can search this site for posts related to prepaid debit accounts. Many of these companies go out-of-the-way to protect your personal information. They are catering to a growing crowd who need a cash and carry financial situation without giving in to credit reporting agencies, chexsystems, etc. and modern-day reporting of personal information. There are many venues for direct deposit that cannot be "discovered" unless one is forced to give them up in a debtor examination.

Before anyone believes I am advocating "fraud," do your own due diligence and you will find there are plenty of venues in today's financial markets that are set-up for direct deposit and protect the account holder. There is nothing illegal in protecting your assets. You can also buy one-time prepaid debit cards cards from most of the mainstream banks. These can not be reloaded, but many of them have a 2 -3 year expiration date in the same manner that any VISA or MC card would have.

Prepaid VISA/MC cards are not free and always have some cost associated with them, but keep in mind it was not that many years ago that there was no such thing as "free" checking. For a couple of decades of my life I paid for the "privilege" of a checking account; including $5 - $10 monthly charges, $0.05 per check, and NO intertest paid on a checking account. If I could roll the clock back to the 1970's, the current prepaid account costs have not even kept up with inflation.

Do some research. Read the terms and agreements. Call the toll-free number and opt out of sharing any information that is not otherwise public. You will discover that most of the prepaid debit accounts (with or without direct deposit) all clearly state that "this is not a bank account." I know that "if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, then it must be a duck," but in terms of whether or not you have a "bank account" that is attachable, that would be up to future courts to decide.

The point is that when the consumer decides to not play the game with traditional bank accounts, your cash assets are nearly invisible to anyone attempting to make inquiries. While you may have to "give them up" as cash under a court examination, you can easily close and open a dozen others within days.

As always, if you owe the debt, eventually someone may go out of their way to see that you pay it; short-term (wage garnishment,) or long term (judgment liens, etc.) In the meantime, there are many legal methods for direct deposit into non-mainstream financial accounts. Do your own due diligence.

[splinter]

rae, sorry to hear about your situation. I'm sure thing will get better for you soon.

Regarding your bank question about the blanket quiries... I don't know how they would go about finding your bank account. But no matter how they try, there's always a chance they'll find it. Even if you keep a low balance, you can still be hit with a large levy fee by your bank. A few years ago, I had a levy refused for insufficient funds but still had to pay a $100 levy fee.

I tried that prepaid Walmart card but got a refund. I read in their terms that they would report account info upon request. I took that to mean they didn't report to credit reportig bureaus. But they would disclose account info to third parties who were entitled to request your info. So I figured I'd be safe and stay in cash.

You have a wonderful gift that your parents are willing to help you through this. An alternative to them wiring money is to ask them to open a bank account with a branch located near you. The account would be in their name but would be for your use. They could send you the ATM/debit card. You could then use the ATM card for cash withdrawals and the debit card for purchases that don't require ID like online or grocery store purchases. But I would pass on the bill pay and would not use the account to pay bills just to be safe.

I hope this helps and I'm sure things will get better soon. Good luck!

[treehugger1]

Splinter, I disagree. The more folks (parents, siblings, etc) you bring into a financial catastophe, the more issues and questions you might have to deal with in the future. Better to find an alternative banking solution, pre-paid, out-of-town/state, cash only, money order, etc, then potentially tie others to your financial situation.

[splinter]

Hi treehugger, rae's parents are already tied to his financial situation by wiring money to him. So no one new is being brought into the situation. His parents have already made the decision to help. It's the same people involved, but we're just considering more convenient ways his parents could transfer funds to him, while protecting against a levy.

Of course you're right. During a debtor's exam, for example, a creditor can tie his parents to his finances and ask point blank, "Within x number of years, have you received any money from spouses, ex spouses, family members, friends or acquaintances?" Rae would be obligated to acknowledge his parents help. But how they transferred the funds is besides the point. And remember, a creditor or Trustee can ask about any past prepaid debit cards just the same as they can ask, if anyone has helped him financially.

I suggested his parents could open an account, because there are some benefits, especially, if his parents could get a free account. I wasn't suggesting this is a dichotomous choice: either the prepaid debit OR the account his parents could get. If his parents can get a free account, there's no reason rae couldn't get both and have more options.

His parents getting him an account wouldn't work for every family situation. But it sounds like rae has a very good relationship with his parents and they are supportive and understanding of his situation.

[rae]

Hi Everyone, thanks for all the information and for the well wishes! It's been the most stuck feeling I've ever had to need to declare and not be able to.

Although the other ideas are great ones. I would have to agree with Treehugger. Splinter's idea is certainly the cheapest, but I think that might potentially drag them in deeper with me than I'd want. Especially if I had to go for a judgment debtor's exam. They are doing me a gigantic favor so I want their involvement to stay at a minimum. Regarding the other forms of debit cards, that might be an option if I get work and have to wait a couple of months to declare in order to build up a little cash for the filing fee.

My parents did some checking into the walmart money card, and the walmart where they live told them it's basically like a gift card. Very little information is kept on file and no credit check is done.

[rae]

Hi Splinter, your choice of the checking account is a good one. But I think my parents are pretty old-fashioned. I talked to them about it, and they didn't feel comfortable opening up an account in a different state. It also might bring up some flags to the bank, since they are both living out of state. They have had the same bank for years and are known down at their branch. If out of state transactions suddenly started popping up, Falcon or one of those other fraud systems would probably ask why. When I mentioned it to them, they were fine with the idea of a gift card, which is the way Walmart explained it to them. Perhaps at some point, they'd go for a bank account. But let's hope this gets resolved soon.

[rae]

Hi Bigboy, thanks for the info! Yeah, that's the way my parents looked at it.

Regarding your other ideas-- what would happen if you opened a new account? Wouldn't it just be subject to the same levy? Or do you mean close the old account if I ever used it for any payments? Regarding the Digital credit union, it sounds great. But don't they do a credit check? Wouldn't it show up that way?

I know about chexsystems. Someone stole my purse a few years ago. Luckily, I knew EXACTLY what the series of checks in my checkbook were, so I canceled them, filed a statement of fraud with my bank, and reported it to the police. They couldn't really do anything about it, because I had done everything the way I needed to.

[rae]

That's very good to know. Hopefully, I'd be able to file a chapter 13, which I think would require less of a look-back than a chapter 7. Or at least that was the way it was explained. I had financial aid for the last 2 years, but that was a loan and not income. But if the trustee asked, that was how I got by-- that, coupled with the money my roommate gave me for rent/utilities, and a gift that was less than 12K. So would a promissory note to my parents do the trick? If I plan on filing, I could have one drawn up with them.

[Brighterdays]

Re: banking under the radar
I am pretty much in the same boat. I can't file for a year and have even entertained the thought of debt settlements, but would much rather just file ch7. I was thinking of trying to find some way of banking without having it show up on my Credit report.

When I was in walmart the other day(yeah don't laugh), I swear I saw a sign about no credit check banking. I don't know if walmart owns the credit union or just leases out the space, but I have seen the same credit union in walmarts in two different cities. I will check tomorrow and let you know what the name is.

I stumbled across this place while searching for the name. It was an ad on WM site. Keep in mind i have only done a small amount of research about this, but their site looks promising, as it allows free online banking through a prepaid CC. Their third party disclosure sort of disturbs me,but is pretty standard.

https://www.accountnow.com/mkt-cap/signup_mb.aspx?pcode=Cg000Sgs70&gclid=CIfyls71jZsCFQ3yDAodjBqCpA

Found the catch, monthly maintenance of $9.95.

[rae]

Bigboy2U,

Thanks for all the info, the way you explained the default judgments is basically what my atty said about default judgments. I'm not really sure what the difference between the first process and this request to enter a default is. I think I lost by default the first time, because I didn't contest it. So this second time around, what does the creditor gain by doing this?

Thanks!
p.s. Brighter Days-- sorry to hear you are in the same boat. It's not a fun boat to be in.

[floridian]

i see that the walmart card is thru ge money bank...

[treehugger1]

I think accountnow, freedom bank, readydebit, western union, etc are all ont eh up-and-up. If you apply for the prepaid account, make sure you give them a call and opt-out of sharing any information about you that would not be public. These pre-paid debit accounts are popping up all over the place. Now, why do you think this is the case? LOL

[treehugger1]

BB, ROFLMAO! The next thing you know, folks will be reading the obituaries and geting all kinds of prepaid accounts. In my small town, you'd be surprised (maybe you wouldn't be) about the information local folks include in obituaries. I would never advocate such methods, but it is funny how easy it is to get all kinds of accounts with the most bizzare information.

[Brighterdays]

I picked up a brochure from walmart about the bank/CU I was talkng about earlier. Its woodforest.com. I talked to one of their reps and they said they do no credit checks. I am sure Banks have a data base that reports any dead beats though. By deadbeats I mean bad check writers not bk or credit card delinquent people.

On their brochure they have several different types of accounts. It only states no credit checks under "second chance checking".. There is a $7.95 monthly service charge.

I Hope this helps.


Woodforest National Bank serves customers across Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia

Woodforest Bank, a Federal Savings Bank, serves customers across Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, and Refugio, Texas