How do I do this..?

[JillyBean]

Hello..I am so glad to of found this forum and it has been very helpful to us!
My question is this...
We met with a lawyer last Thurs and he suggested stopping payment on all of our credit cards. Well I have 1 that I set up payments with for 60 months at a set amount. It is scheduled to start coming directly out of our bank account this Friday. Can I call them and have them stop? Should I just tell them I'm filing bankruptcy although we didn't file yet? Or can they do anything because it is been past due since Dec. I'd like to use that money to save up for the lawyer fees.

Thanks so much for any advice!

[AngelinaCat]

Hi JillyBean: Welcome to the Forum. Yes, go ahead and stop the autopayment to that card. Your attorney is correct in having you stop paying. Be sure you stop USING them as well. Since you will be discharging all this debt in the BK, there is no point in throwing more money into the bottomless pit.

Save that money up for the lawyer, but also set aside an amount out of each paycheck for a 'rainy day fund'. Plus also purchase storable commodities such as storable food, toiletries, laundry soap and the like. I fear that the economy is going to get much worse before it gets better.

Good luck to you.

[liz417]

Hello..I am so glad to of found this forum and it has been very helpful to us!
My question is this...
We met with a lawyer last Thurs and he suggested stopping payment on all of our credit cards. Well I have 1 that I set up payments with for 60 months at a set amount. It is scheduled to start coming directly out of our bank account this Friday. Can I call them and have them stop? Should I just tell them I'm filing bankruptcy although we didn't file yet? Or can they do anything because it is been past due since Dec. I'd like to use that money to save up for the lawyer fees.

Thanks so much for any advice!

Hi there and welcome to this board!
I don't know if you can stop an autopay with a creditor. I had a friend in the same situation and she called the creditor to try and stop the payments, but they still went through (several times) before they stopped giving her the run-around. I would open a new account because the creditors *have* your banking info....

P.S. My friend got the $$ back, but it took at least 6 months of fighting!!!

Good Luck!

[Help!]

Hi there and welcome to this board!
I don't know if you can stop an autopay with a creditor. I had a friend in the same situation and she called the creditor to try and stop the payments, but they still went through (several times) before they stopped giving her the run-around. I would open a new account because the creditors *have* your banking info....

P.S. My friend got the $$ back, but it took at least 6 months of fighting!!!

Good Luck!

I second this advice. A couple of creditors took a few extra jabs at me after I canceled automatic payments and although I did get the charges reversed, I was on the hook for my bank's stop payment fees (and some overdraft charges resulting from B of A "accidentally" running my automatic payment twice the next month).

[Frogge]

welcome JillyBean!! I have a friend with that same nickname!

I'm going to thrid or 4th the advice: YES - close the account you have ANY auto payments going to credit cards and open a new one somewhere else.

Until you actually file, they will still try to take those payments. It is very difficult to get an auto payment of any kind stopped, especially unsecured creditors that want to get their money!

[JillyBean]

Thanks for all the advice!
Which this leads me to my next question about closing that account. That bank is actually my credit union that we have our auto loan through and also a personal loan. Both of those loans come out automatically too. The lawyer told us to keep paying the car but stop on the other loan. How do I do that if it automatically comes out? We have already opened another account at another bank and are trying to get all our direct deposits switched there.
I know if I only put enough in the credit union to pay the car they will take it to whichever loan is due first. It seems like any money that goes in they take it right away for either loan. He suggested that I try to get a payment book. Can I do that now? My credit union is difficult to begin with!

Thanks for your replies!

[liz417]

Thanks for all the advice!
Which this leads me to my next question about closing that account. That bank is actually my credit union that we have our auto loan through and also a personal loan. Both of those loans come out automatically too. The lawyer told us to keep paying the car but stop on the other loan. How do I do that if it automatically comes out? We have already opened another account at another bank and are trying to get all our direct deposits switched there.
I know if I only put enough in the credit union to pay the car they will take it to whichever loan is due first. It seems like any money that goes in they take it right away for either loan. He suggested that I try to get a payment book. Can I do that now? My credit union is difficult to begin with!

Thanks for your replies!

I'm sorry, but I still believe you should close this account and walk away from this CU (and their autopay for your loans). I've read that CU can be difficult to work with once they are aware that you are filing BK on them. You should just tell them that you are switching banks, closing the account and would like to be billed for the loans, what else can they do? I'm sure people do it all the time....
Good Luck!

[danaf]

yeah - cu's are tough esp. when you have both a private loan or cc plus a vehicle loan. They'll try to make you reaffirm the private loan to keep the car rather than doing a ride through. Is giving up the car a possibility? Would you have a way to get another car? And you need to check to see if there is some provision in your loan paperwork before you close the account.

[Help!]

I'm sorry, but I still believe you should close this account and walk away from this CU (and their autopay for your loans). I've read that CU can be difficult to work with once they are aware that you are filing BK on them. You should just tell them that you are switching banks, closing the account and would like to be billed for the loans, what else can they do? I'm sure people do it all the time....
Good Luck!

I second this post, too. CU's are notorious for cross-collateralization, which allows the funds in personal banking accounts (checking, savings) to be frozen when a CC/loan is unpaid. I'd definitely pull my money out and close the accounts if it were me.

[MNCarol]

I also had some autopays coming out of my account.

I didn't close my bank account -- just withdrew as much as I could -- and then stopped putting more money in it.

Then I opened a new account at a different bank and started using that one exclusively. The other account of course started to become overdrawn -- but that overdraft eventually went into the bankruptcy as well.