Bank of America letter

[brokeincmch]

First a little background: I am going to file CH 7 o/a April 1st. I am below median for a 3-person household in NJ.

Now my question: I have two accounts with Bank of America: a "Gold Option" unsecured line of credit and a "World Points" credit card. The balances are $32,000 on the line of credit and $5,000 on the credit card. I have not used the credit card in over 18 months and I opened the line of credit 35 months ago with no charges since.

My last payment on the line of credit was October 23rd, 2010 and my last payment on the credit card was on November 1st, 2010. My first missed payments for the line of credit and the credit card were November 23rd, 2010 and December 1st, 2010 respectively. For the 30days after the missed payments, BofA called several times a day every day. I am a cell phone only household so it was easy to simply ignore every single call. Most of the time they left no message but they left a message every so often, basically asking me to call and "discuss options" with them. They also sent me a letter on each account bascially saing that they were closing them. Finally, they started sending one e-mail a week that just asked me to call. Fairly benign if you ask me...especially given how much I owe.

Finally yesterday (2/17/2011) I received a letter from BofA in a large FedEx envelope. It was a one page letter saying that I have the two accounts with them and I owe them $37,000. They further instruct me to call them by Feb. 23rd in order to make payment arrangements. If I cannot pay, they want me to call immediately (kinda confused by that one). Feb 23rd happens to be 120 days since my last payment to the line of credit and it is the 90-day-late mark.

I have no money whatsoever - our household income barely covers our monthly expenses let alone our $72,000 unsecured debt- hence the BK filing. My basic question is: when will BofA or one of their CA attorneys file a lawsuit? I have $600 set aside to pay my lawyer's retainer (wants 50% up front) but I cannot file until April 1st. This isbecause my wife has 2 accounts that she used thru December and we have to be outside the 90 day window.

Does anyone have experience with a BofA lawsuit and its corresponding timeline?

tx in advance - brokeincmch

[BrokeinMD]

Hi BrokeinCMCH, it's hard to tell what your time frame is until they file suit on the debt, but I would think that you would be okay until April before any court action is taken by them. BOA was very passive with me. I quit paying them in May 2010, and didn't file until Oct 2010, and only received a few letters and emails from them. The FedEx letter is interesting, too. Maybe they wanted to get your attention since you had two accounts with them. But, they may work more aggressively in your state, thus the FedEx. That's just my experience with them.

[keepsmiling]

Hi Broke, I am in NJ too and owe BoA around 24K. Stopped paying last August, so we just hit the 6 month mark, and just now are they starting to call regularly and leave messages.

[SunshineGal]

We got a fed-ex from BofA too. They were actually one of the nicest of all the creditors, and our largest. If you call them and tell them your plans they will probably offer a low settlement and then leave you alone.

[frogger]

They got your attention, which was exactly what they wanted to do. Admit it, you're thinking about calling them.......

Just another collection tactic. If you're filing, just ignore the letter, ignore the calls, and go about your planning.

Good luck.

[lovemybugs10]

I've gone almost 2 years without talking to BOA. I got a couple fed ex letters in the beginning. blah blah blah, that's all it says. Unless it says we WILL file if you don't pay by xx date then they aren't telling you they will file. Doesn't mean they wont, but it is just another collection/scare tactic.

[DYLAN150]

Lovemybugs10, may I ask how much you owe to B of A?

[lovemybugs10]

10k

I owed citi 20k, 35k after all their fees, and I recently settled with them after plenty of letters like the above as well. Same with Discover who I owed 10k too.

[DYLAN150]

I owe B of A 26K right now. When you settle they want cash right? No payments?

[locolady]

What you are facing is B of A having to charging off the account which they must do after 180 day of non payment. So they send out this official looking Doc. as you approach a 120 days to see if you will pay one payment which places you in the 90 day past due. It all about accounting rules and how (BofA) book values account due, it's all about the balance sheet. Really mean nothing to you the creditor if you not going to pay them don't fear BofA, they will sale the account first and then some CC might try to sue you down the road....

[BKorbust]

I stopped paying everyone including BOA two years ago. My balance with BOA was maybe 24K or so. They send me to various collection agencies but have yet to sue. The only one that has gone after me is Citi.

[lovemybugs10]

Citi accepted 6 payments of 870, Discover accepted 6 payments of 670. I'm planning on offering BOA a lump sum of 2k. Not sure if they'll take it, but we'll see.