Please post experiences, amount owed, and any obections?

[SamanthaJones]

[lrprn]

Samantha, you just asked for this whole forum! Let's narrow this down....what specific questions do you have? Also it would help us help you better if you provide some information about your situation - thanks!

[SamanthaJones]

Ooops~ Would like some experiences re: CC use, time of filing, and any objections?

Thanks- I see many vary different time lines mentioned in here- the 70/90 presumption, as well as 'six months', and even up to one year of non use before filing?

[ChainSmokin]

The timeline varies for different situations.

Do you have any assets you are trying to protect like a home or car?
Are you currently being sued?
Are you looking to file 7 or 13?

In general the “70/90 presumption period” appears to be what most people should do at the very least.

Needing to wait six months to a year a lot of times deals with waiting until your income goes down, or your expenses go up so that the info on your means test / BK is more favorable. Could mean the difference of qualifying for a 7, being forced to do a 13, or the payment amounts in your 13.

In general the more time you put between your last charge on your debt and the time you file the better. The odds of a credit card company objecting go down with time.

[SamanthaJones]

Just curious about CC use and any objections folks may have gotten.

The six month income lookback for me is OK- I lost the job, and have no intention of getting one and being placed into a CH13 when I file- that would be throwing good money after the bad money that put me in this position. I am balancing my income to stay under the bar until I file, and I'm sure that's going to become more commonplace as more people come to understand the 2005 changes. It's just a loophole. And, as legal as a tax loophole~

[ChainSmokin]

[SinkingFast]

There have actually been a couple New Law CC Objections posted.

One was where the Member filed 5 months after last CC use. One Creditor came back after him/her for the entire balance on the card. $15K. They wound up settling for 10%. $1500 paid over 12 months.

There have been a couple of others for what was normal under Old Law. Last few charges where the person(s) filed within the Presumption Period.

[daisey]

What happens if the home mortgage disputes in a chapter 13? I had not even thought about that.

[lrprn]

What happens if the home mortgage disputes in a chapter 13? I had not even thought about that.

Our home mortgage company filed an objection to our Ch 13 plan stating we were in arrears one month on our payments when we filed. We weren't and could prove it with their own billing statements plus our cancelled checks. Lo and behold after a phone call between our lawyer and their lawyer, their objection was immediately withdrawn (although their lawyer then filed to have his legal fee for filing the incorrect objection in the first place paid for inside our Ch 13 plan - our lawyer is fighting that right now).

Objections around mortgages run the same route as any other objections to a Ch 13 plan. The filer's lawyer starts by addressing the objection directly with whoever filed the objection - usually the trustee or the creditor's lawyer. If they can't forge a compromise that's agreeable to both parties, then the Ch 13 plan can't be confirmed. If that happens, a pre-trial hearing with the district bk judge is scheduled, and the lawyers may file briefs explaining their position or just talk things through while all parties involved are sitting with the judge. If the pre-trial hearing can't resolve the issue, then the lawyers file official briefs explaining their sides if they haven't before now and the case goes to bankruptcy court for the judge to rule on the objection and make a final decision one way or the other. Our unconfirmed Ch 13 case is waiting to go before our bk judge for a ruling on the last remaining objection to our case right now (a mismatch between Schedule I and J totals - we'll be the test case for our district when we finally do get to trial....could be months yet.....sigh....)

Court rulings by the bk judge are often necessary to help interpret the grayer areas of the law. LOTS of new case law has been required around BAPCPA (Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 - the new bk law that went into effect in Oct 05 - and a mis-named law if there ever was one!

[daisey]

Can they file a dispute if you are surrendering the property?

[SamanthaJones]

That $15,000 objection-

Perhaps that person had just made a huge cash advance, or something looked off? Five months since last use seems like an awfully long time, compared to the 70/90 day presumptions?

[SinkingFast]

Here's a link to the thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...tlement+offers

I didn't have the details quite right. As you'll see, they charged right up to the time of filing.

[SamanthaJones]

Nice varied answers, Sinking Fast. thanks.

But I wonder why some people advise waiting six months after using a CC? I see no official reference to that. I am transfering balances if I can, to get zero or low intersest for as long as possible, and also attempting a REFI of my primary house, which has a variable rate that will skyrocket this December- if this stuff cannot help ward off a BK, then I will file early July. BK will be last resort, but if it is I want to be sure to plan it to maximize my benefits. I actually have no job, and am getting approved for credit soley on my credit score, even being specific to inform them I have no employment. By July it will be more than five months with any CC activity other than payments. ($17000 owed to one that I just transferred to another, $17000 to another- and that one has raised my limit TWICE in 2007 from $17000 to $29000....is the world out of control?

[JollyGG]

We had two credit cards threahten to object, but with two days to go neither has done so yet. One was a $2500 balance transfer I made 2 months before filing for a 0% interest rate. The other was something like a total of $1500 in cash advances in the 90 day window (our bank offers a credit card that works as overdraft protection - so it was an cummulation of numerous very small advances). Both sent our lawyer a letter. The $1500 offered to settle for a lump sum of $1200. We weren't interested.
We decided that both were small enough amounts that 1. They weren't worth the cc company's time and money to object to. 2. They were amounts we would be able to somehow come up with the money for if an objection was placed and won.
I'm still crossing my fingers that I won't see anything before tuesday has come and gone.