When to tell creditors you are filing

[cyn5]

We stopped paying some of our credit cards in Dec/Jan and Chase and Citibank have been relentless at calling like 20 times a day, but the last few days it has dropped off (not one call from either the last couple of days). Do you think they would already be in the process of writing it off and sending to an outside collection agency?

We want to file sometime in March (depending on what the lawyer says). If they do call again, I am tempted to tell them that we are filing in the next couple of weeks and to contact our lawyer or call back in a few weeks to get the case #. Would this stop the calls for a while until we file if they start calling again? Or would this spur them on to try to get a judgement (I know it would take a long time for that to happen, but who knows with the way the banks are hurting right now!).

Does this create a problem if we file and the debt is in the process of being turned over to a collection agency? Would the 341 meeting notices still be sent to the original creditor or would they come back and say they sold the debt already? I am just sitting here wondering about all these things!

[nebraskamom]

Thats a good question! We have 3 credit card companies that have been on our backs for months now. Since we just are getting started on filing bankrupsy, were still getting calls, but not as much... sometimes I wonder if its ok to just tell them we are filing BK?

I dont know.... hopefully others here can help us!

[dogbone33]

We were told by our lawyer not to tell them until we actually filed. As they will want your case #.

[pa308]

We were told by our atty to refer the calls to him. It sure cut down on the calls per day.

[Trixie007]

I don't know about Chase, but we have two Citi accounts that still have not charged off or been assigned to CA's. Not sure what they're doing, because they told me quite a while ago that they were going to charge off. I started keeping folders for my cards, and put the paperwork from any CA's in the same folder with the OC's just to keep it less confusing. Some CA's who called never followed up with a letter, so I don't have their info and I guess they won't be listed.

[ItCudHapen2U]

We stopped paying back in August. Had 4 Citi accounts and 3 Chase accounts. As with you, we were barraged with calls both at home, cell and work. We just didnt answer the phone. We sent letters to every creditor asking them to communicate in writing only and not call work. The work calls stopped but the home and cell calls didnt. We retained an attorney and then waited until we paid the final payment and then told the creditors. We just filed on Feb 23. We would have preferred to wait but a local bank who we had a card with, filed suit on day 90 exactly. I went to court on Feb 3, asked for a continuance, got it for 30 days. This gave us time to file. I will say that through this whole process I was amazed at how the collection calls ran in pulsing cycles. One day 6 calls next day 60. One side note to this, after receiving my letter, Chase sent me a reply and never called me again. My DW and I chatted extensively about this very thing. 60-70 calls a day and none from Chase. Citi and US Bank, called us no less than 15 times a day each except in one of those down cycles. During these low call times, we thought they were sending the Calvary. Guess we were over-thinking it. But no one showed up and no threats of suit.

My attorney told us to be careful who we told about "going to file." Some local creditors will rush through and at least get the judgment before you file. We didnt want to have that on our report so we were careful about who we told, but we told no one until we paid in full, gathered our stuff, and knew we were just a few weeks from filing.

In our experience, that period of time between OC collections and being sent to CA didnt affect us at all. We had 4 accounts go from OC collections to CA during the final week before we filed. Lawyer said include their address and names on our schedules. We also did the folder thing that Trixie007 is talking about. Work great for us. Organization is powerful in this process both for your BK's benefit and for your confidence and mental health heading into your 341.

Hope this is helpful and I apologize for the wordiness. Love the board.

ICH2U

[kst7488]

you can tell them as soon as you want even if you dont have the lawyer yet, itll buy you a couple weeks of a quiet phone and then they will start calling again asking for your lawyers info.