Credit Card from Job While in 13?? Do they look at BK?

[jwbbx]

I am putting together a Chapter 13 filing. I am also about to take on a new assignment at work which will require me to travel 75% of the time. Of course I won't have any cards after BK.

I know that they issue cards to SOME folks at work but I have heard that some issuers of business cards look at the personal users history before issuing a biz card. Is this true? Does anyone know of an issuer that is not that way?

[Scott50]

I believe it depends on the card issuer and the type of card it is-if the company guarentees it. Am/Ex cancelled my corporate card that my company provided me- I filed Chapter 13 and one week alter I received a cancellation letter from AM/EX. I'm not sure if they check your credit history before they issue you a card though..

[jwbbx]

Yes, that's my worry. I don't have one yet but I need to ask for one and that will be the question - will they pull? I guess maybe if they ask for SS I'll know right?

[Flamingo]

Discussions with HR are confidential. Since HR is usually the place that obtains employee credit cards, in order for you to find out how your company handles their business cards for employees, contact your HR manager and ask how your company handles it in the case of an employee who will file BK or has already filed BK. Believe me, they have dealt with it before.

[Cali]

Depends on who you work for. I know you can't get a govt one if you have filed or in a BK.

[HereInOhio]

Am/Ex cancelled my corporate card that my company provided me- I filed Chapter 13 and one week alter I received a cancellation letter from AM/EX.

So they just cancelled the card even though you didn't include it in your BK?

DH has a company card because he is 100% travel (always booking flights and hotel rooms). So they can just cancel his card??

[Flamingo]

So they just cancelled the card even though you didn't include it in your BK?

DH has a company card because he is 100% travel (always booking flights and hotel rooms). So they can just cancel his card??

Yes. Once a creditor finds out that a BK has been filed and there is a credit card that was not included in the filing due to either being a company credit card (utilizing the filer's SS) or a credit card with a zero balance, that creditor usually cancels the account. However, some cards do survive BK but are usually department store credit cards.

[Cali]

Yes they can. I am sure once we file DH will lose his corp card as well.

So they just cancelled the card even though you didn't include it in your BK?

DH has a company card because he is 100% travel (always booking flights and hotel rooms). So they can just cancel his card??

[HereInOhio]

So what do you do then? DH books flights, hotels, and rental cars EVERY week! He's gone M-F.

You'd have to call your employer and tell them, I guess....but what in the world do you say to them? "Hello, I'm filing bankruptcy and they are going to take away the credit card that the company got for me???"

Can't that jeopordize your job?

[Flamingo]

So what do you do then? DH books flights, hotels, and rental cars EVERY week! He's gone M-F.

You'd have to call your employer and tell them, I guess....but what in the world do you say to them? "Hello, I'm filing bankruptcy and they are going to take away the credit card that the company got for me???"

Can't that jeopordize your job?

If your hubby has a company card to pay for hotel and travel, he is not just a regular office worker, is in manager, director or executive status, and I am assuming may have an employment contract with the company he works for as most "higher ups" do. If he does, there may be a clause in that contract as to if he files bankruptcy or ever filed bankruptcy or even having financial difficulties. It sounds as if your hubby is due for a talk with his boss or with someone in HR as to what he should do about the card IF it gets cancelled. He is in an uncomfortable spot right now but it is illegal to be fired for filing bankruptcy while employed unless there is something stated as to that in his employment contract with the company (financial clauses), if he has one (most higher up executives do).

[jwbbx]

If your hubby has a company card to pay for hotel and travel, he is not just a regular office worker, is in manager, director or executive status, and I am assuming may have an employment contract with the company he works for as most "higher ups" do.

That's quite a leap Flamingo. There are many many people that have 100% travel jobs, and they're usually NOT the higher ups. People that work for consulting companies like Accenture, IBM Global Services, etc are often put on distant projects lasting months or even years. Many of these 'Road Warriors' have corporate cards for travel but are not executives. I used to do this, traveling out on Sunday nights and back on Friday afternoon. It's a difficult life that very few "Higher Ups" would tolerate. I had a corporate card during that time (different company from now), and it's almost a requirement because it generally took 2-3 weeks for expenses to get reimbursed. Many people are not able to put 3 weeks of air/hotel combo on their personal accounts, it runs into thousands very quickly.

Luckily I'm not a "Road Warrior" anymore, but I still travel about 20% of the time and will need something for that. I have opened a separate checking account with debit card and I'm hoping to get by with that and a credit card with about a 2000 limit. I can get travel advances if I know far enough in ahead. Luckily my new company pays expenses very quickly, usually within 7 days of submission.

[lrprn]

So what do you do then? DH books flights, hotels, and rental cars EVERY week! He's gone M-F.

I travel almost every week as well using a company credit card that was issued to me several years before we filed. Like your DH, I was also quite worried about this before we filed our 13.

Our lawyer advised me to first talk to the person at our company who handled the card accounts and find out if the company guaranteed payment if I defaulted on the card. Answer was no - the credit card is issued to me personally and the company is not resposible for any non-business charges, period.

My lawyer then adivsed me to contact the credit card compeny myself which I did. I laid the situation on the line to their arrears/bankruptcy manager. Since I had a spotless record of on-time payments, he said they would allow me to keep the card after we filed. However, if any personal charges ever showed up on the card, they would cancel it immediately.

It's now two years later and I still have my business card - in fact the cc company renewed it last November. I NEVER use the card for anything personal....so far, so good.

Even if your DH loses the card, most companies have a back up plan in place for those employees with low credit ratings who can't qualify for the company card to begin with. My company said before we filed that if I lost my card, they would make all my travel reservations for me using a generic company card. There's so many people nowadays with poor credit scores, most larger companies with employees that must travel often always a plan B in the wings. I'm betting your husband's company is no different.

[HereInOhio]

Thanks guys, and jwbbx is right. DH is not in management. He is a network engineer and a trainer. So he goes around the country training people how to use the computer equipment that he implements.

This has given us a few pointers and will hopefully lead us to some good questions for a lawyer.

This card is NEVER used for personal use. It is strictly business (hotels, cars, flights, and food_). An expense report is done monthly but again, like it was said, it can take weeks to get reimbursed. That can get hard as we can't take $8000+ out of our own account to pay it off each time.