Help Me Figure Out What to Do

[danaf]

I've read a million times on here that if you are going to file, stop paying unsecured.

I've been patiently playing the waiting game due to some charges and cash advances, paying on the minimums. But being able to pay on those minimums is about to run out. I' pretty much tapped.

My biggest fears are creditors contacting me at work, or contacting anyone else and judgements. Oh, and the other obvious fear is just having enough time inbetween.

So - if I were to retain a lawyer now, stop paying the credit cards - how much time would that buy me? They'd call, I'd refer them to my lawyer - how long do you think this will this hold the dogs off? One of my largest creditors knows where I work unfortunately. Changing jobs now is not an option for me.

If I retained a lawyer now but couldn't finish paying the fee for 6 or so mos, would this strategy work?

[Keebler]

I've read a million times on here that if you are going to file, stop paying unsecured.

I've been patiently playing the waiting game due to some charges and cash advances, paying on the minimums. But being able to pay on those minimums is about to run out. I' pretty much tapped.

My biggest fears are creditors contacting me at work, or contacting anyone else and judgements. Oh, and the other obvious fear is just having enough time inbetween.

So - if I were to retain a lawyer now, stop paying the credit cards - how much time would that buy me? They'd call, I'd refer them to my lawyer - how long do you think this will this hold the dogs off? One of my largest creditors knows where I work unfortunately. Changing jobs now is not an option for me.

If I retained a lawyer now but couldn't finish paying the fee for 6 or so mos, would this strategy work?

I'm kind of in the same boat and I stopped using credit and paying payments in June. I figured I'd have a bunch of money saved up and I was wrong. It has been a little difficult living without credit and three months has past without me having saved anything for the attorney. The whole process has been eye-opening!

I've also been talking to the creditors when they call and trying to keep them holding on. I think it has helped at least a little bit because the calls have been managable. There have only been a couple of calls at work and they only happened one time.

I chose not to retain the laywer to avoid being accused of fraud. I have some medical expenses coming and I didn't want anyone to say that I incurred them already knowing I wouldn't be able to pay.

Already retaining the attorney would have been proof that I intended to file for Bankruptcy.

[fabala]

I stopped paying my credit cards in June and just retained an attorney last week. I also wanted to get a couple of charges off my record plus save up for the attorney fee.

I only have three cc's - Citi, Chase, and BOA - but the balances are large. They started calling me at home and work almost immediately. I sent Citi a certified letter asking them to stop calling me at work. They did, plus they pretty much stopped calling at home, too.

I asked Chase and BOA verbally to stop calling me at work and they both did (actually Chase called me one more time so I had to ask them twice). They kept calling at home (especially Chase, who sometimes called 10x a day). I never talked to either of them (except to ask them to stop calling me at work) until I told them over the past few days that I retained an attorney. If Citi calls again, I'll tell them, too.

To my knowledge, they didn't try to contact any relatives. I put my name on my voice mail message so they knew they had the right number.

BOA did leave a message last week "threatening" to start calling me at work again if I didn't return their calls. Fortunately I was going to retain the attorney pretty quickly so I don't know if they would have followed through with that threat or not.

[jp2861]

I don't see anything wrong with waiting 6 months. If you've taken any cash advances and made balance transfers recently it may be in your best interest to wait longer than the minimum 90 days. If you file right after the 90 days it may appear that you advanced the cash knowing you'd file right at the 90 day mark, and knew you weren't going to pay it back. It looks a little shady. The more time you put between the filing date and the last transaction will be better.

If you know for sure you'll file in 6 months then stop paying the minimums. Use that cash towards your attorney fees. The trustee knows you have to pay your attorney before you can file so it's not a big deal. The key is not using your credit cards AFTER you retain a lawyer. By retaining a lawyer, you're saying you can't pay your bills and plan to file. If you continue to use your cards AFTER retaining a lawyer, you're essentially saying that you used the cards knowing you couldn't pay them back (planning to file). This gives the trustee and creditor and easy reason to object. However, I understand that essential transactions to sustain living is accepted, just be able to account for the transactions.

I was a little concerned about going 6 months, too. But the more I learn about the subject the more I think it's a big numbers game being played. The creditors don't care how long you don't make payments. They just build up the total number with funny money fees and interest to increase the write-off.

All this is said as my opinion, but, if you know you're going to file I don't see any reason to throw good money after bad. The important decision to make is knowing whether or not you will definitely file. If you know that, for sure, then talk to a lawyer and set up a plan for this to happen in 6 months. If it takes you 6 months to pay the lawyer in full there's nothing you can do about it. That will just have to be the time you file.

Oh, one way to limit them calling work and other places is to answer the phone at home. If they talk to you at home they may not call other places looking for you. I told them I was going through some problems and would get back to them. The calls have dropped to almost none now.

[jp2861]

I chose not to retain the laywer to avoid being accused of fraud. I have some medical expenses coming and I didn't want anyone to say that I incurred them already knowing I wouldn't be able to pay.

Already retaining the attorney would have been proof that I intended to file for Bankruptcy.

I don't think legitimate medical expenses would be a reason for fraud. If today someone knows they need to file for relief, but next month they have legitimate medical issues, I don't think that would be held against them. It's not like you went out and bought a 52" Plasma TV. I want to get some teeth worked on but I'm going to wait because it's something I can put off. So, I can see your reasoning. Any good lawyer would be able to tell you how to handle that issue.

[glc4122]

calls from creditors

yes, i have a question, i been late on payments to cc companies going on 4 months and plan to file nov.2007 or dec.2007 the phone rings off the hook i let answer machine answer them. the question i have would it help to stop calls if send a letter to each cc company that i plan on filing bk in the very near future, would it help, and would be considered fraud by sending the letter?

[WantToBeDebtFre]

yes, i have a question, i been late on payments to cc companies going on 4 months and plan to file nov.2007 or dec.2007 the phone rings off the hook i let answer machine answer them. the question i have would it help to stop calls if send a letter to each cc company that i plan on filing bk in the very near future, would it help, and would be considered fraud by sending the letter?

I answered the calls and let them know I was planning on filing bankruptcy but they kept calling me anyway. Once I retained an attorney I gave them that information and haven't received any calls since. So if you're able to retain an attorney now even though you won't be filing for a few months you can probably get the calls to stop.

[demismom]

We retained our attorney in February '07 and stopped paying right then and there. We didn't file until June. I didn't get any calls after about 2 weeks, when they all finally got through and I told them I'd retained an attorney. A few would call periodically asking for an actually BK case #, but other than they, they pretty much left us alone for 4 months at least.

[danaf]

thanks for the replies.

I went ahead and chose the attorney I'm going to use. Filled out her paperwork and faxed it to her.

She'll call me for a phone consult. I'll ask my few questions and then retain her. File 4-3 months down the road depending on what she says.

It's the smart thing to do. I know I can't keep this up. And my cc bills are over 1k a month. At this point, I might be looking at preferential payments which might make my bk last longer. Not sure. It's one of my questions for her.