Judgements / Garnishments

[kjb1969]

Hi everyone, I'm back again. As per advice from a lawyer, we are to stop paying all our cc. The first one is due on the 12 of Sept.
I am current on everything, so i assume i wont get any calls until i dont respond to Octobers double payment statement.
We have to wait at least 90 days, but i would really like to stretch it out to make for a longer time of "no cc use" and also i have a part time job that is seasonal that ends in November.

Can they / how long.....try to sue me, garnish wages or worse place a lien on the home . I want to wait 4-5 months or so, but i dont want to push it. It is all cc dept. I live in N.J.
My other concern is that the longer i push it back to make for a smoother bk, i am also getting closer to tax time. We usually get back 1800-2400 back. Can they take that too?!?!?

[kjb1969]

anyone?

[marzipan13]

the creditors that got judgments against me...it took them 4 years until they took me to court.
but i think that's because i hadn't updated my new address with the dmv until a year ago... then they caught up with me this past january and sued me.

if you stop making payments now... it'll take 6 months to a year of them trying to collect the debt before handing over to a law firm to sue you. then a couple more months before the lawyer tries to collect the debt from you. once they serve you the papers and there's a court date, it'll be another few months before they'll start to garnish your property, bank account or paychecks... but that's only if they find out where you bank and where you work. or they have the court make you say where you bank and work.

what i would do is before you stop making payments, update your account without a work number and switch to a new bank.
1 creditor garnished my bank account because before they filed the motion to garnish it, i had been sending them check payments... that's how they got my bank info! DUH! haha

[marzipan13]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think you can exempt some of that tax refund... you'll have to check your exemption rules for NJ

[JRScott]

It is unlikely they will start any judgment proceedings within 6 months of the first past due payment. So on that you should be okay. (Took them about 18 months to start coming after me)

On the tax question, yes the Trustee can continue your case until after the next tax refund. They have been known to do that and as we get closer to the end of the year the more likely. If you file in the 4th quarter of 2007 I'd expect him to continue it into 2008 (If he doesn't take it as a nice surprise). If you file in the first quarter of 2008 he will wait until your 2007 taxes are done no question about that.

[Boscoe]

just one additional note if you decided to switch banks as was suggested above....

do not close your existing bank account, or any account for that matter, as you need to disclose this in your statement of financial affairs you will file along with the other forms.. Not that closing the account is necessarily bad, but why raise any flags to cause more questions?

[DivorceRuinedMe]

This is just my experience and I'm finding I'm NOT the norm but this is what is happening to me currently. I am being sued by Citibank and Chase right now (and while I haven't been served yet I know that the suits have been filed b/c I'm getting unsolicited advertisements from BK lawyers stating blah blah blah suit has been filed and would I like them to represent me in this matter). I stopped paying my cards altogether in April. So, that means I've only had 5 months of no payments and they are suing.

Just wanted to let you know that it can and does happen before that 6 month rule. Not to scare you or anything, I just want to prepare you that it can happen.

[kjb1969]

thanks for your advice and experiences, i think i will just take it slow and carefull.
I just dont know if i should let the awnsering machine do all the work, or speak to them and string them along to buy more time?

[Minnymouth]

Be kind to yourself and let the answering machine take the calls....... spare yourself a lot of stress, and harrassment......

[DivorceRuinedMe]

I haven't taken any calls. Not sure if this was good or bad. If I did take the calls and told them I was planning to file months ago and I didn't (couldn't due to the lookback period - I had to wait it out), who knows if they would have sued faster. Plus, if you say the wrong thing to them, like you might pay and you don't, they can get you for lying and I'm not sure what the consequences of that are but they can't be very good.

And by not taking the calls, who knows if I did take them if it would have put them off. Ya just never know. Do what you have to do to remain sane. Yeah, the phone ringing off the hook is annoying but after awhile you get used to it. You just don't answer unless you know who's calling. It's quite easy actually.