I stopped paying most cards

Hi, i stopped paying on most of credit cards and after being only about 5 days late, the calls are comming in. I am so nervous, but we are definetely doing a 13 in June. I never been late on a bill before and dont know what to expect. Any help would be great! I am paying on the cards that we had recent advances on, but only for another month and hopefully since i am doing a 13 i wont have objection.We are planning on doing this in the beginning of June. Thanks again for all your help.

Just make sure you keep your answering machine on and screen the calls. When creditors call, let them leave a message and when you play back turn it down and delete.

Good luck!!

You just took me back to February 2002...been there, done it and don't want that t-shirt ever!!! Anyway, you can survive the calls. Since you have not yet filed and do not have a case number or name of an attorney to provide your creditors, the best thing to do is to ignore the calls as long as possible. Hopefully you have caller ID cause you can tell right away if a creditor is calling. Don't answer or let the answering machine pick it up. They will get worse as time goes on and you will also get letters in the mail. As soon as you meet with the attorney, the attorney will give you his/her card with his/her contact information and will advise you to give that information to the calling creditors. Then you can answer the phone which will put a stop to a lot of them once you provide them with that information and they know you are planning on filing BK. If you advise them of that prior to obtaining the attorney's contact information, they will just keep calling back. Keep a list of what creditors you give the information to and if you notice they call again, advise them you provided information to them previously and they should contact your attorney at the number you gave them for further information. Most of the calls go away but may continue even after you file if the creditors get the papers a bit late from the Court. You can always take the phone off the hook when you are home if you are really bothered by it and tell friends/family to call you on your cell phone if you have one or to call you at a specific time so you can leave the phone on. A lot is up to you as to how you want to handle it. People do things different ways but the above worked for us and eventually all calls stop. But it will get bad and out of hand so expect that and learn not to let it bother you.

Thanks alot for all the info. One last question though, will they try to contact other family members or even neighbors to try to get hold of me? I do have caller id as of last friday and its been a great thing. Thanks again!!

We stopped paying on all cards but one in Jan. We started receiving calls almost immediately. One even called my cell phone a couple of times while I was at work. Very upsetting, as no one knows we are doing this. Once we hired our attorney, we decided to have all calls directed to him. Have you hired an attorney yet? Our attorney told us to refer calls to him so we did. We have not filed yet, hopefully that will be soon. Paperwork took forever to fill out, trying to get everything they need took awhile.

Screening calls worked well for us, but 5-10 calls a day became nerve racking. My hubby got his first call at work yesterday YUCK! We ignored calls for about a month, then started answering them referring them to our attorney.

I know they could started calling again, until they receive official paperwork stating we have filed. I worry more about calls at work then neighbors. We started answering to avoid calls to neighbors and try to answer at home to avoid calls at work. I am not sure that will prevent them calling at work, just very embarrassing. I now turn off my cell at work, so no one wonders why I don't answer calls, or why my face turns red when it rings!

If you have an answering machine, be sure to leave a message clearly identifying yourselves. The only legal reason for a debt collector to contact your relatives or friends is if they can't find you and even then they are only allowed to ask for contact information (although this is violated all the time).

If collectors are calling at work, all you have to do is send them a "desist" letter certified return mail informing them you are not allowed to get calls at work and to please call only one number (then give them the number with your answering machine on it).

You can also send the same kind of letters to collectors requesting they contact you in writing only. By law they are supposed to abide by the Fair Debt Collection Act (although again there are collectors who deliberately violate this law).

Original creditors are allowed to track you down and try to get in touch with you any way they can. They are not bound by the FDCA law.

I had a collection agency call my sister in law. I still don't know exactly how they got her number. I had been ignoring their phone calls.

I have had 3 other accounts go to collections since then---when I get their first phone call, I immediately call them and let them know about the BK and give them my attorney info. They stop calling.

Yesterday I told one about my BK and then asked for their mailing address. The collector told me that I would have to call back and ask someone else for it because once I had told her about the BK, she was not allowed to have any further contact with me. She was actually nice about it.

The only creditor that I have told about the BK who keeps calling me is B of A. They still want to cut a deal and I am getting about three calls a week from them. Some tell me that they are not allowed to do that, and others say they can since they are the original creditor. I dunno.

Oh, and when I get a phone call at work, I simply tell them that I cannot be reached at work ever, take their name and number and say I will call them back. I have never had one that I told that to call me there again.

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Thanks alot for all the info. One last question though, will they try to contact other family members or even neighbors to try to get hold of me? I do have caller id as of last friday and its been a great thing. Thanks again!!

When you filled out your credit applications, there may have been a listing for the name, address and phone number of your closest relative that does not live with you. They may try to contact that person. I would let your relatives know not to answer any strange looking calls on caller ID. I am not certain about them calling your neighbors...that did not occur with us but may have with others who can possibly advise you. Things will slow down after you retain your attorney and can answer the phone and provide them with that information. You will be suprised as to how quickly they will trickle off.

The only creditor that I have told about the BK who keeps calling me is B of A. They still want to cut a deal and I am getting about three calls a week from them. Some tell me that they are not allowed to do that, and others say they can since they are the original creditor. I dunno.Epi, NO ORIGINAL CREDITOR AND NO COLLECTOR can contact you asking for payment after you file. That's a violation of the automatic stay.

However before you file, the original creditor and collectors can contact you whenever they want until you give them a bk case number. If the calls are driving you crazy, several members have gotten a significant reduction in calls by sending all creditors a registered letter asking to be contacted by mail only. Collectors must abide by this letter - it's the law. Original creditors do not, but it seems some will.

Epi, NO ORIGINAL CREDITOR AND NO COLLECTOR can contact you asking for payment after you file. That's a violation of the automatic stay.

However before you file, the original creditor and collectors can contact you whenever they want until you give them a bk case number. If the calls are driving you crazy, several members have gotten a significant reduction in calls by sending all creditors a registered letter asking to be contacted by mail only. Collectors must abide by this letter - it's the law. Original creditors do not, but it seems some will.

Thanks. Yeah, haven't filed yet but someone posted last week that even original creditors must abide at the mere mention and sited the law. Must admit I haven't thoroughly read it (but am going back there now), which I why I said I dunno.

I have found that original creditors (except B of A) stop calling once they find out, even though I haven't filed. I have only sent one Cease and Desist (with option to contact by mail still--copied it from this site and tailored it to my needs) and that was early on to the one collection agency that called my sister in law because it scared the crap out of me. I don't need my family knowing my business. I never used my family on any credit application and someone here suggested that the collection agency had used a skip tracer. Was a new term to me at the time.

Now, when when I get a call from a collection agency, I call them back immediately so I can make sure that doesn't happen again.

It does seem, in my limited experience anyway, that for the most part, just the word Bankruptcy, scares most creditors, original or not, into not calling you for awhile. I have only been asked for a case number once. All the other times, they asked "have you retained an attorney yet?" and then asked for the lawyers info. Some just wanted his name and phone number. A couple wanted his address as well.

The phone calls bothered me a great deal at the onset but as I have learned how to actually talk to these people and get them off my backs, they do not bother me nearly as much. Still can't wait to file and put an end to this madness though.


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