Best way to handle creditors Newbie question...

[jgcortese]

As a "newbie" in this situation (meaning getting ready to file) any advice on the best way to handle creditors? Should we answer? What should we advise them? We are about 45 days past due on cc's except for Wells Fargo who has turned over our charge off to a collection agency. We also have a sign line of credit through a Credit union (we've moved our $ already)...We have to wait about 3 months till we can file. Any advice on how to hold off the dogs would be appreciated. Thanks!

[mademistakes]

This is my biggest worry right now too, we are in the same boat and my phone is just starting to ring quite a bit but it won't be long before it's being blown up. Right now I'm ignoring them and keep the ringer off.... I hope someone chimes in with some wisdom.

[IamOld]

Hello guys - same/similar boat here...need to wait until Sept...may get dicey :-)

BUT if you just stopped paying, and you will file in about 3 months, there's 99% chance that you will NOT get sued. Phone calls a zillion times a day - yes, sued - in 3 months time VERY VERY VERY unlikely.

I too am trying to hold off a LOCAL credit union...I know that Catleg, Frogger, and my atty would tell you forget about them, but I am sending them a few dollars/mo to buy time. But if you KNOW 100% that you're filing w/in three months and just stopped paying - Catleg and Frogger - the experts here, I'm sure would also tell you that you really don't have anything to worry about.

[InOverHead]

I would just keep stringing them along. What i say when they call, if it's at work 1st and foremost i tell them i am Not Allowed to take calls at work. I then apologize and tell them i have encountered extreme financial difficulties and presently am NOT paying anyone - Not my car, My Home, Not ANYONE. I apologize again and state that i should know more in 30 days. If they call again i will say i am in the same boat but will try to get them something soon.

[kjrmom911]

I just did not talk to them. I set up a google voice account and sent them all there. It was the best thing I could have done. Once I filed I picked up the phone and gave them my case number.

[chicagoed195]

I just kept telling them that I was attempting to work something out, but that if my mortgage companies didn't come through with modifications I would be filing for protection under the bankruptcy code. No thank you, I won't be making any payments today or next week either.

[bladerunner]

stopped paying my three cc's, oct 2009. out of work for three years. I have the fax machine pick up the home phone on the fourth ring. With caller ID, I am able to screen my calls, haven't talked to ONE creditor in almost two years.

[catleg]

You can just tell them you plan to file BK in about 3 months and hang up because then you'll get all the nonsense stories from them trying to talk you out of it. Every once in a while you get a decent person who just says good luck.

[keepsmiling]

I <3 Google Voice.

[bcohen]

I would just keep stringing them along. What i say when they call, if it's at work 1st and foremost i tell them i am Not Allowed to take calls at work. I then apologize and tell them i have encountered extreme financial difficulties and presently am NOT paying anyone - Not my car, My Home, Not ANYONE. I apologize again and state that i should know more in 30 days. If they call again i will say i am in the same boat but will try to get them something soon.

No, no, no. Never, EVER say or admit anything to a debt collector that would make it appear like they can get money out of you. By admitting that you are employed, you have informed the collection agency that there are wages to be garnished if they go through the formality of bringing suit. Unless this is a really small "nuisance debt", your account will be moved to the front of the line for possible legal action, whereas if you had simply said you're unemployed and broke, this would likely be delayed, maybe forever.

I would say that when collectors (or even OC's) call and you can't/won't be paying them, it is best to ignore the phone calls, send them to voice mail, or have a different person answer the phone and claim that they don't know you and this is a wrong number. Nothing good can come of talking to them.

[pikaroth]

You have gotten, and will continue to get, some great advice. Once you have retained the attorney, even if you have NOT filed, I would hope your attorney would advise you to inform the callers they should contact your attorney directly. As soon as I met with my attorney for the first time and handed over my payment, even though I could not file for three months, they gave me a number at their office to give creditors. After ignoring countless phone calls (yes, ignoring, never picking up), I finally started to answer them all, and to be honest, the second I advised them that I was filing bankruptcy (even though I had yet to do so), and ALL other contact would be through my attorney, they asked for his name and phone number and that was that. ALL phone calls stopped within two days. That's the thing, if you have paid for your attorney, it is now (or it was with mine) their job to answer the phone calls. The strangest thing for me was how polite they were as soon as I told them I had an attorney. Like I said, I had three months to filing but the phone calls stopped immediately upon giving them my attorney's info.

On the other hand, for those without an attorney, I would agree with most others: ignore the calls. I was never one to be annoyed at the phone ringing, so ignoring them was not an issue.

You will be fine, though! Fear not! You are on the right path and soon ALL of this will be in the past.

[IamOld]

pilaroth, (and Catleg will forgive me because it seems I ask the SAME questions OVER and OVER again) - if you tell them that you have atty - like I do - will file in about...2.5 months - which I do (figers crossed), wouldn't THAT make them put you in the front of the line, like let's get some $$ out of this guy while we can???

So far I'm ignoring ever more "final" and "irreversible" decision calls from WF...most others are robocalls, except for Enhanced Recovery Corporation and Zwicker...

[done11]

I never talked to any of them...first lawsuit arrived about 2 years after I quit paying.
Each time a new call came in, I just programmed the number to "silent" in my cell phone so I wasn't bothered by the constant ringing...took awhile but eventually I had them all. (I do not have a land line)
I did ask for debt verification by certified mail each time they sent it to a new collector. I confirmed with them that they had my correct phone number and address in hopes that they wouldn't bother friends and family (though they occassionally did) Only received two (out of about 15 request ) verifications. I did not ask for verifications if the original creditor still held the contract....even if it was an outside collector.
By the time the lawsuit was ready to go to court (I did answer the summons ) I was ready to file...which in hindsight I should have done sooner....

[frogger]

if you tell them that you have atty - like I do - will file in about...2.5 months - which I do (figers crossed), wouldn't THAT make them put you in the front of the line, like let's get some $$ out of this guy while we can???

That depends. First of all, understand that talk is cheap and many people "talk" about filing as a tactic for dealing with collectors.

If it's for real (and your credit report can show just how real the possibility is), then spending a lot of $$$ for at most 2.5 months does not make financial sense.

At 2.5 months, by the time you are served, have a case, judgment, and then go for garnishment, the 2.5 months is up, over, and gone, so all money spent towards collecting from you will have been in vain.

But then, on the other hand...... some collectors and their ilk are just stupid.

[DirkDiggler]

I just programmed the number to "silent" in my cell phone so I wasn't bothered by the constant ringing...took awhile but eventually I had them all.

Haha that's exactly what I've done....I gave the contact the name "CeCe" and put a picture of a good looking female as the picture so if I happen to be looking at my phone when the call comes in, I at least get to look at something pleasant LOL

I even freaked out my wife and showed her one time when a call was coming in, she laughed when I explained though LOL