New at this!

[becky7234]

I have a hanging debt from 2 charge cards $10,000. I was with a counesling cosolidation company for 3 yrs, and paid off about 1/3. What remains is 10k. Seeing I am 52, I don't care about "rebuilding" my credit. That time is long past. My situation is pure and simple: the ONLY asset is my 11 yr old car (no payments) and of course personal items, clothes, etc. I own nothing. I can't find a job. Expired my unemployment in 2006. Live with a friend, rent free. I get food stamps (now called EBT in MI). I want to file on my own, as I spoke with a lawyer, and their fees are beyond my grasp. DUH>>>if I had $3000, I wouldn't be considering Ch. 7!! What is my 1st step????????

[Spartan]

You don't need to file, as you don't appear to have assets that can be seized nor income that can be garnished. You are judgement proof. You can just tell the creditors that you own no asset and are on food stamp, and you wish them good luck, and a happy life.

[LostOne0069]

I'd have to say that spartan has a point... but if you want to file bk on your own, it's not that hard... and with no income and living on food stamps, you can get fee waivers for the filing fees and even the counseling costs. One thing that you probably WILL want to do though, is buy the Nolo bk guide. It'll walk you through the steps on filing on your own. I know money is scarce at the moment, but it'll be a good investment for you... and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than $3000.

[becky7234]

wow..thats a cool thought. Lay it on the line with creditor calls. But can the cops come and arrest me?

[GoingDown]

wow..thats a cool thought. Lay it on the line with creditor calls. But can the cops come and arrest me?

NO!

That is a myth kept alive by collection agencies.

Not paying your credit card bills is a civil matter, not a criminal matter.

And another thing... don't talk to them on the telephone. Anything you tell them will come back to bite you in the a$$. They will twist your words and use them against you.

Simply send them a letter telling them to cease and desist from any communication with you at all, and send it by certified mail, and in most cases, if they are a third-party debt collector, they will stop contacting you.

[becky7234]

Its been 6 months, now "Lawyers" {so they say} are calling...

I had hoped to find work since my last post in Jan 07, but have not. Still on food stamps, and living w/a friend. But the blood hounds are calling on the phone at the house now {HOW did they get that number??} And leaving embarrassing, threatening messages. I answered one {mistake} and the gentleman accused me of being a liar, when I told him my situation, and told me to beg or steal to pay them, he didn't care.. So my question is Should I still send a "certified" letter to STOP, {thereby giving them an up to date address for myself} ? If so is there a copy/paste type of letter you can suggest. They are really scaring me, and yelling at me.
Thanks!

[keepmine]

You can't live rentfree and on foodstamps forever.
You're immediate problem is lack of income. Get a job-any job. MacDonalds, WalMart-doesn't matter. You're still a young person and need to aspire to get far more out of life.
All you need do is send a letter saying never contact me about this matter again. Send it CRRR. That should get the collection agency off your back and allow you to move forward.

[SinkingFast]

And if you're worried about giving up your current address,...........

Get a PO Box at the Post Office or one of those "Mailboxes, Etc" type places as a temporary address. Use that for your contact info for the Cease and Desist Letter.

Tell the Creditor, in the letter, not to call that phone number again. The only contact you will allow is to be contacted via mail to the address you give them.

Send the letter via USPS Certified Mail. Make them sign that they received it. CYA yourself with a paper trail.

[becky7234]

For C&D letter

One section says, " Must stop contact except: to notify the consumer that the debt
collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy." So whats to stop them? They always have a "Re-payment" offer, or a threat, or some other sort of REMEDY, that they will assume to use to continue to call. In talking to people who work in collections, they tell me that they just file/ignore those letters. Then what?

[treehugger1]

Try to find an attorney in your area who deals with debt and the federal collections and credit acts. Many of them will help you deal with obnoxious creditors and or collectors. If the creditor/collector steps out of the line, the attorney sues and receives the proceeds (or most of them) from the suit. In this way it may not cost you anything. Many firms that deal with bankruptcy also deal with the federal and state laws regarding collections. Whatever you do, keep a solid record of all phone calls, who, when, and why the call. I just found an attorney in my town who is quite practiced in collection law. I'm going to try to deal with creditors and collectors without attempting BK. While I'm sure she would rather assist me in filing BK, I have firmly told her I'm not willing to do so at this time. She finally told me she is not opposed to representing me if creditors/collectors break the law, while I muddle through my financial crisis.

I also use a PO BOX. I have about 6 creditors who use my street address, but sent these a "returned receipt" letter telling them that I can not be responsible for any mail not sent to my mailing address (PO BOX). They balked at first (for some reason creditors don't care for PO boxes anymore), but I do believe they are required to use my mailing address. In addition, I also had my postmaster forward all mail from my street address to my PO BOX.

In terms of the word "remedy," keep good records and hand your information to an attorney who is willing to sue with their fee based on the suit recovery.

If you are judgment proof (in my case I do have wages of which 25% can be garnished), tell them to take a hike and to go ahead and do whatever. Tell them you have no money to pay them "at this time."

I had a local creditor ask me if I was going to become a "deadbeat?" I asked them to repeat the question as I didn't get it "recorded." They hung up and have not called back. However, I send them 25% of their monthly payment every month. For many creditors and/or collectors, once they know you don't give a rip about your credit report, judgments, or lawsuits, they tend to give up. Just be careful that you don't make any promises. One reason for this is that if you can't honor them, the calls come even more often.

[Spartan]

One section says, " Must stop contact except: to notify the consumer that the debt
collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy." So whats to stop them? They always have a "Re-payment" offer, or a threat, or some other sort of REMEDY, that they will assume to use to continue to call. In talking to people who work in collections, they tell me that they just file/ignore those letters. Then what?

Once you have informed them to stop collecting, their only remedy is to sue you. And they won't.

Look, I had over a dozen creditors, with their collection agencies and their attorneys sending me letters, issuing threats, offering to settle... blahblahblah and the whole nine yard... for 5 years. Nothing come to it. I got no asset and no income they could touch. One creditor sued and got a judgement against me. They did a load of work to serve me this and that. Guess what? Nothing came off it. No one managed to collect 1 single cent from me.

5 years later, I filed and got rid of everything.

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose. You can just whistle pass the graveyard. There is nothing, absolutely nothing the creditors can do to you. They can use all kind of psychological pressure and deceptions to scare you into paying up. That is all they can do. You just hang tough and everything will be fine.

If you want to file, wait till you have income that needs to be protected. Then you file. Right now, your biggest problem is not filing bk. Your main concern is to straighten your life and re-establish a firm footing. That is what you should be focusing your effort on. Do not waste money that you don't have, on filing bk. That wouldn't straighten your life.

Good luck and God Speed.