..How Long Does it take before the Calls Begin...

[crazycat]

..How Long Does it take before the Calls Begin...we are current on all payments until next week (planning now for chap 7), when will the phone start ringing? and when it eventually does, if We still do not have a case # or attorney retained, should we answer it? what do you say to them?

[JRScott]

They will probably start shortly after you are late within a week or two.

Tell them nothing . In fact just get an answering machine. Have a clear message that it is you. Let it pick up the phone.

[Hopefull1983]

I stopped paying all the bills (unsecured) which will be included in my CH7 in May. I got phone calls right away. One word of advice is to cancel all direct debit bill pay options you have. I forgot about one and it paid and overdrew my account Other than that you can talk to them if you like or once you retain a attorney you should be able to refer all your calls to that attorney. I get over 100 calls a day and just ignore them. Out of the 100 calls I get about 4 messages which are the same pre-recorded message. Posting questions on this forum also helps ease my nerves

[Phillymanhere]

I stopped paying in April of this year, as in I skipped my April payments. My cell phone (my only phone) now rings about 10 times a day. Strange, it really doesn't bother me. Once a week, I pick up the phone and actually talk to someone. But for the most part, I have caller i.d. and if my phone buzzes, I look at see one of the familiar numbers or a caller i.d. of "unidentifiable," I hit the silencer and go back to work.

I also leave the phone off for many hours during the day. I'm sort of fortunate in that I'm single and don't have a housephone or children I have to worry about when I get all the calls.

But this is the truth: once I realized I need to file for bk and once I went through the guilt and all that and came to the conclusion that this was indeed a thoroughly responsible action on my part, the fear/guilt/shame all just went away. I just calmly tell the people, "I'm probably filing for bk in a couple of months. I can't pay you now. I don't know when I'll be able to pay. Click."

All very polite and low stress. Funny years ago, when I got a call from a creditor, I would freak. The callers are usually quite polite and easy-going. I think once they realized I wasn't afraid, they didn't try to scare me.

[Flamingo]

As soon as you miss a payment on any bill, the calls can start. The longer the bill goes without payment, the more calls you get.

[Cali]

I stopped paying some in January and the rest in February, didn't get a call until end of May. I only received 4 calls total. I filed earlier this month.

[whipster]

They started a couple of days after missing a payment. Luckily I had all the accounts on a grandcentral number, so I can check that instead of hearing the phone ring all day long. Another idea is use a prepaid cellphone like tmobile to-go and put that number as your contact number on all your accounts before you start missing payments. Good luck.

[liz417]

I stopped paying cc in mid April (when I retained an attorney), the calls started a couple of weeks after I was late on the payments. The cc have been all pretty nice (Discover was the nicest), but Chase Credit has called and called even though I gave them my attorney's number and the info, but each time the rep says, "we don't have any attorney info on file"...it's almost as if they want to call and just harrass me. I pick up the phone because I am afraid that if I don't, they will start calling my family members or neighbors!
Hang in there and good luck.

[Cali]

Don't you just love grand central.

They started a couple of days after missing a payment. Luckily I had all the accounts on a grandcentral number, so I can check that instead of hearing the phone ring all day long. Another idea is use a prepaid cellphone like tmobile to-go and put that number as your contact number on all your accounts before you start missing payments. Good luck.

[sharksfan]

My first call came less than 48 hours after I missed a payment (Citi Bank). I was days away from filing at that point.

[momof5]

If you have any accounts that are owned by GE Money you can count on a day or so after being late. Home Depot(forgot who owns that one) is another one that will call immediately.

[Cali]

I have 4 accounts owned by GE Money, and they didn't call me once.

If you have any accounts that are owned by GE Money you can count on a day or so after being late. Home Depot(forgot who owns that one) is another one that will call immediately.

[Hopefull1983]

If you have any accounts that are owned by GE Money you can count on a day or so after being late. Home Depot(forgot who owns that one) is another one that will call immediately.

GE Money is ruthless. I get maybe 15 calls a day from them. I had 7 plus years of on time payments with them. 24 hours after not paying my bill my phone was ringing like mad.

[momof5]

I have 4 accounts owned by GE Money, and they didn't call me once.

I have read your posts about having only received 4 calls total from all your creditors. I cannot help but wonder if maybe you dont have caller ID and its possible you have no idea how many calls you received. Did you change your number from the number listed on your applications?
If you do a search right here on this site alone GE Money does not just let a person who is behind go without trying to contact them by phone. Let alone 4 accounts without a single call.

[Cali]

Interesting you wouldn't believe what I posted, but I will answer your questions.

No I didn't change my number. I have had the same number for over 4 yrs.

Yes I have caller ID. But my caller ID shows how many times a number calls my house.

The only people that called me were Citi, Chase, USAA and BOA.

Any other questions?

I have read your posts about having only received 4 calls total from all your creditors. I cannot help but wonder if maybe you dont have caller ID and its possible you have no idea how many calls you received. Did you change your number from the number listed on your applications?
If you do a search right here on this site alone GE Money does not just let a person who is behind go without trying to contact them by phone. Let alone 4 accounts without a single call.