I got served today...only 3 months after I stopped paying my CC

[Mere]

What a day...I think I am just looking for some support, I don't really have any personal friends or family that have been through this situtation, and if they have no one is advertising.

So I am being sued by Chase Bank, I stopped paying in September, and they are already suing in December. I must be on the fast track, how lucky ;)

Any advise on the next step? or important questions I should ask?

I have an appt. with an attorney on Monday, if he is good I am going to retain him. I researched him a bit, it's a father/son firm. 40 years combined experiance, I know they do a fair amount of BK cases. $50 consult fee, goes towards case if you hire them, $1100 for chapter 7, $1400 for chapter 13. Sounds reasonable right???

We have a mortgage, but are not late, 2 cars and are not late on those either, but stopped paying all CC's between 3 and 6 months ago.

I want a chapter 7, but in PA the median is 78,000 per year, we make 120,000 but I guess with expenses, and deductions it may be possible right??? I assume it is based on your DMI...is there anything a good attorney can do to push us into a ch. 7?

Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramble, this whole thing is draining, I never thought I would be in this position, my credit score was over 750 my entire life, I never paid a bill late ever, and now here I am getting sued...really!!!

If anything I have learned a life lesson, now to fix the mess.

[dneil]

were you served a notice of a hearing or just sent a letter? chase bank sent me all kinds of scary letters before I filed for bankruptcy. They never got a judgment against me... they never tried. I went a year and a half of no payment to them before filing bankruptcy when discover card sued me twice.

Once you file you will feel much better and actually look forward to discharge and being debt free and starting over...

I am not sure on your situation of the chapter 7 or 13, maybe you will get lucky and one of the smart forum people will read your thread

Good Luck Friend....

[dneil]

nevermind... lol, I just read the thread title... and you were 'served' sorry....

[Mere]

Lol, yes "served"...thanks for the support I appreciate it

[dneil]

what does the court date say? It is usually about 30 days away. Don't keep any monies in your checking account. Buy money orders from walmart to pay your bills. I explained to my bank my situation and asked if they would just cash my checks. They did... they didn't give me any problems and were very understanding. It takes some time to get everything for your attorney to actually file your bankruptcy with the courts. Start gathering the information you will need. My attorney's needed copies of titles, car insurance, house insurance, mortgage deeds *official* bank statements, proof of income (pay stubs) proof of child support and a copy of my last 2 years of tax returns. Also, be sure you have a copy of your social security card and if you don't have one, order one because you will need that about a month after you file and go in for your meeting with the trustee.

What I did is got a big bin and put everything that I thought they would need in it. I kept it there. Soon as they asked for info I got them copies of everything. I had to go to the courthouse to get an official stamped copy of the mortgage deed and that cost me 3 dollars or something. I suggest getting your ducks in a row so that when you are a few steps ahead of the game.

Filing was the hardest part for me. The meeting was no big deal. Waiting has been... well, waiting. I filed in July, had our meeting in Sept and haven't been discharged as of yet because we got an extension so we could decide whether we wanted to re affirm or not. We didn't reaffirm and we just withdrew the motion of extension and should have our discharge within the next 2-3 weeks

[Mere]

That is all very good advise, I will def. start working on gathering a few additional items you mentioned, we did have a consult back in September with another attorney, but decided to hold for a little while, so from that meeting we had paystubs, the past 6 months of expenses on a spread sheet, etc.

However can you explain a little lingo to me?? Discharged? Extension? Reaffirm? and then why wouldn't you reaffirm (I don't even know what that is) Lol.

There is no court date, it is a request for reply within 30 days, I am taking it with me on Monday, and will see what the attorney has to say about it...hopefully he can help me.

[clevelandmom]

Hello Mere,

I was reading your post and I swear I could have written it myself. If there is one thing you need to know about this entire process, it is that you are NOT alone. There are so many of us in this predicament, and though there are plenty of people out there who would like to call us names or insinuate that we are irresponsible, about 99.99999% of us are in this situation through no fault of our own. Whether the reason was medical, unemployment, bad decisions, bad luck, or just because the cc companies were raping us blind, none of us chose to be here.

I too had a great credit score, paid all my bills on time, and then due to the cc companies being so greedy, I quit paying them. When the minimum payments increased 100%, it was either pay them or feed my family. It was a no brainer. Then I got sued, which is what finally forced us to seek an attorney. My husband's employment has been terrible the last 2 years (he is in construction), and it has been sooooo inconsistent. The only consistent thing about his job is that we know he will be on unemployment at some point.

Anyway, just know that bk is a process, and it won't be over in one day. Just keep your eye on the prize - that you will be free from this one day - regardless if you do 7 or 13. Everything will be okay. Bankruptcy is often a strategic move, and many who eventually became wealthy actually went through this once. You are not alone.

[ryan]

Congratulations and welcome to the "I've Been Sued By Chase Bank Club"...

we have members in all 50 states and on the Island of Guam. You'll receive your personal membership kit and embossed members card in the mail in the next 10 days. Too bad you just missed the Holiday Party, it was awesome.



In case its not obvious, my message here is, "laugh about it" there's only so much you can do.
AND, you are definitely NOT alone.

[clevelandmom]

Ryan, you are my hero.

[bcohen]

See, the unfortunate thing about having good credit and property in your name at the time you default is that your creditor(s) will think you are simply refusing to pay, but could pay, so they go straight to the lawsuit. On the other hand, if your credit is shot, you have numerous charge-offs and no property in your name, creditors will not be so eager to file suit since they know the most likely outcome is that they'll spend a lot of money on legal fees and never collect anything.

BTW, I defaulted on numerous debts back in 2008-2009, and my credit is shot to sh!t right now with several charged-off debts including two credit cards, an overdrawn bank account, a cellphone account, and several unpaid medical bills. So far, although I have gotten collection letters from some law firms, I have not been sued, knocking on wood, though. Perhaps the reason I have been so lucky is that I have no open/positive credit accounts anymore, no property in my name, and currently not employed. In fact, after losing my last job back in August of 2009, I decided to take my family's advice and go to college, which means that I am not likely to be employed in any significant capacity for several years to come. In any case, at the first sign of an impending lawsuit, I will go straight for bankruptcy.

[ssmdem]

Chase sued me at six months. My attorney said simply respond asking for them to prove the debt is yours and that buys you 30 days right there to get you a plan together. We already were prepared at that point to file by the time we got sued and were filing the next week anyway, so it wasn't a big deal to us. If you're not prepared to file now, it may take some more stalling techniques on your part.

Being that far above the median is going to be tough to get in a chapter 7. Yes, DMI matters, but if you fail the means test, it's going to be tough to get the trustee to allow enough expenses to get you into a 7. Not saying it's impossible, but don't be placing all your eggs in that basket. Chapter 13 would still be better if you're so far in debt that you can't pay it off on your own in 5 years anyway.

" However can you explain a little lingo to me?? Discharged? Extension? Reaffirm? and then why wouldn't you reaffirm (I don't even know what that is) Lol. " Discharged is when your bankruptcy is complete, usually 60 days after the 341 in a chapter 7 and after the five years in a chapter 13. Extension is just simply that -- they were deciding on whether to reaffirm and were given extra time. And reaffirm is what you do to the secured loans (mortgages and cars) that you want to keep. Be careful about this though. Most don't recommend reaffirming a mortgage unless you have a substantial amount of equity in the home. The consensus is (and I agree) that a bank isn't going to foreclose on a home that is being paid and kept current. If you're upside down in the loan or have little equity, I wouldn't reaffirm my mortgage, just keep making the payments - but it gives you the option to walk away in the future if the need arises without the bank being able to sue you for the difference. Same with the cars -- we're about $1000 upside on our car, but we're still reaffirming that one anyway -- many would say not to, but I want to hopefully have the bank keep reporting that tradeline on my credit report, and we can easily afford the car payment. My attorney suggested not reaffirming it simply because our DMI is VERY negative, and it's possible that the reaffirmation agreement may not go through -- but regardless, we'll continue to make the payments, and I'm not concerned about them repossessing the car just because they don't have a signed reaffirmation. We have two properties that we're surrendering though. Even if I could afford them, I still wouldn't reaffirm those mortgages -- this is your chance to start over fresh -- don't leave any excess baggage to have to deal with in the future.

[keepsmiling]

Wow, 3 months... that's fast. We have just missed the fifth round of payments and wondering when they will come after us. Chase owns us body and soul- 4 cc's plus mortgage and HELOC... and I blame them for this since they multiplied my "guaranteed 4.9 for life" by 250 % min payment and frankly I'd like to sue THEM for their bad faith. They've been bizarrely quiet. I hear way more from Discover for the couple of hundred I owe them lol....

Anyway,as to all your questions, just keep reading here and you will be very well educated in BK in a very short time. You have found the BEST place to be. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Freddy03]

Congratulations and welcome to the "I've Been Sued By Chase Bank Club"...

we have members in all 50 states and on the Island of Guam. You'll receive your personal membership kit and embossed members card in the mail in the next 10 days. Too bad you just missed the Holiday Party, it was awesome.



In case its not obvious, my message here is, "laugh about it" there's only so much you can do.
AND, you are definitely NOT alone.

LoL! Love it!

[platter]

Why are some people getting served and others not? Is it random selection?

[tobee43]

platter that's an interesting question!!

OP says their annual income is 120k....chase may feel if they act fast it will help recoop some bucks....but hopefully not if the OP files bk....we owed chase not only our mortgage but approx. 30k in cc...we were never served, but they knew we lost our jobs and were good for a dime...LOL!!! what??? they were going to put a lien on the HOUSE that THEY held the mortgage for and we couldn't pay???

so i think they...(the banks) may look at the position of the debtor and decide based on if they think they can get some bucks.

of course to the OP...i would most certainly answer the summons yourself if you haven't filed or are not going to file bk.....stall stall and MORE stall until you decide what you can or are going to do with your financial situation.

ryan....LOL!!! only you!!!!

best of luck mere....and you aren't alone..that's for certain!