What happens to money in the bank account?

[Danielle1981]

I am planning the bankruptcy and getting as much information as possible. I have a bank account that really after bills there is maybe like $25 left in it. I was planning on paying my bills like my rent, insurance, and car before filling but what happens to the $20-$25 left in it? Also should I stop my direct deposit from my job?

Thanks,

Danielle

[Danielle1981]

Guess I should have mentioned I'm in Colorado if that makes a difference.

[bkfiler]

i would stop the direct deposit. its the safest way to go. that way you can put it in anybank you wish and control it.

some banks seem to be starting a 'holdand and wait' on your funds even if you dont have unpaid accounts with them. this isnt being done on a large scale but ive seen lawsuits already against the bank for doing it. its illegal.

any money you have anywhere you will try to exempt up to the limits allowed for your court/state.

most people start paying by money order (try walmart, they are cheap) to pay their bills.

if you arnt being sued yet then they cant take your money. except if the bank wants to try its luck lol.

[Danielle1981]

I don't owe them any money. To be honest my bills aren't credit card bills. They are due to my having cancer for two years.

50K on a foreclosed house
100k medical
450 Alarm system in the house
100 Milk
70 Unpaid electric bill
200 Water bill
1600 HOA bill (the grass wasn't mowed for the 8 months I was in the hospital....go figure)

The HOA is currently garnishing me about $200 a month. So after everything is said and done I have $20-25 left in the account. I can't exactly ever pay those bills back...certainly not on my income. I was always responsible with the credit cards and didn't charge anything on them I couldn't pay back at the end of the month. It's just the house and what was in it when I wasn't working that became the problem.

[bkfiler]

credit card bills or medical bills. they will still try to get your money and sinc ei dont know your entire situation i can only tell you how to protect yourself. my comments above still apply and are recommended.

[so-beyond-broke]

Should I stop direct deposit too?

Hi Bk,

How ironic, after months of waiting I finally will have direct deposit starting tomorrow. i haven't filed bk yet, but I will hopefully this spring/summer. My net amount is way under $1,000 twice a month. After I pay my bills, I am lucky to have $10. My son's SSI payment also goes in their (which should be exempt) In NY cash in the bank is exempted up to $2500. Since my money is spent and gone and will not reach this amount, do you think its safe to keep the direct deposit for my pay? I will keep the direct deposit for my son's SSI because its been placed into that acct on the 1st of every month for years.

so-beyond-broke

i would stop the direct deposit. its the safest way to go. that way you can put it in anybank you wish and control it.

some banks seem to be starting a 'holdand and wait' on your funds even if you dont have accounts with them. this isnt being done on a large scale but ive seen lawsuits already against the bank for doing it. its illegal.

any money you have anywhere you will try to exempt up to the limits allowed for your court/state.

most people start paying by money order (try walmart, they are cheap) to pay their bills.

if you arnt being sued yet then they cant take your money. except if the bank wants to try its luck lol.

[bkfiler]

any and all money after your file a bk petition and can exempt is safe.

what im warning about it not having direct deposit regardless of what it is and if you think its exempt. what happens if they grab it and you need it but you have to take time to motion the court for it back? or write letters explaining what money it is? or talking to the bank manager, etc.

why worry? just have the check sent to you. then go cash it as you need to. this covers any and all problems., except that if you get free savings account if you have direct deposit lol. then you dont get it free anymore then do you lol

[SinkingFast]

Glad you brought this up So,.........

We don't have any way around Direct Deposit. It's the only way Hubby's company pays. Many companies are that way these days. Will give you 2 or 3 pay periods to get the info for Direct Deposit. No checks after that.

I worked on emptying out the acct today. Money Orders for bills and Cashier's Check for the rent. But there will be money there again tomorrow. Hubby said go and take it out. I thought I'd need to show legit things the money was spent on. Money order receipts. That kind of thing.

Any suggestions for timing the filing to hit the "right" day??

[so-beyond-broke]

So I am safe if I file with only a $1 in the bank?

Dear bkfiler:

It would really be such a pain in the a## to stop my direct deposit - I mean for the social security. I fear that check being lost or stolen and it belongs to my kid. As for my check since it finally took them months after 3x of sending payroll my voided check to process the direct deposit request (that's NYC for you!!) it would probably take time to stop that as well. But in any case if what you are saying is true, then I will file on a day when I have only a $1 in the bank. After all, if my paycheck comes in the following day its safe right? Is this because when you file you are doing it based on your present circumstances at the time of filing? So that's why I can't be hassled for what occurs the day after filing? Did you have a bank acct when you filed? Was there anything in it?

so-beyond-broke

any and all money after your file a bk petition and can exempt is safe.

what im warning about it not having direct deposit regardless of what it is and if you think its exempt. what happens if they grab it and you need it but you have to take time to motion the court for it back? or write letters explaining what money it is? or talking to the bank manager, etc.

why worry? just have the check sent to you. then go cash it as you need to. this covers any and all problems., except that if you get free savings account if you have direct deposit lol. then you dont get it free anymore then do you lol

[so-beyond-broke]

I need to know the perfect timing too

Hi Sinkingfast:

I plan to file bk too, I need to do some things like plan for it and pray that in the meantime I don't get sued. Anyway I have to figure out the best time to file when there's little money in my acct which is used for social security and my job. After all my bills each month, there's hardly anything left - maybe $10. But you are right about the direct deposit, a lot of companies force it on you. I like the safety of it and to know that I am not paying outrageous fees to cash a check in the check cashing place - their rates in NYC went up. Maybe some people will give us some pointers about the "perfect filing time."If we are taking the money out and making money orders to pay the bills and have the receipts - at least the trustee won't see this as some way of covering up something right?

so-beyond-broke

We don't have any way around Direct Deposit. It's the only way Hubby's company pays. Many companies are that way these days. Will give you 2 or 3 pay periods to get the info for Direct Deposit. No checks after that.

I worked on emptying out the acct today. Money Orders for bills and Cashier's Check for the rent. But there will be money there again tomorrow. Hubby said go and take it out. I thought I'd need to show legit things the money was spent on. Money order receipts. That kind of thing.

Any suggestions for timing the filing to hit the "right" day??

[Danielle1981]

hmm....I wonder if Colorado has any exemptions for bank accounts.

[Danielle1981]

P.S. I was thinking of filling Monday following Friday pay day. I can get the money out that Friday and Saturday and have it all put in money orders for the bills I need.

[SinkingFast]

One attny said something a little wierd in a Consult which we didn't understand at the time. Then BKFiler posted a comment in a thread I had started in the General Forum.

I don't know why, but a lightbulb went on in my head over the weekend. I put the 2 comments together and asked. BKFiler answered.

The attny is a stickler for the 70/90 day rule. He will not file until you've gotten to those points on Cash Advances and CC use. The attny said not to wait out the full amount of time tho. Be sure to come in 30-45 days before you want to file to get things started. We would need to come to his office several times for a couple hours each time to enter info.

I mentioned being worried about foreclosure. BKFiler made a comment about it taking time for the application. I went back to the other thread and asked how long it took to file. BKFiler said it really does take 30 to 45 days from the time you start the application until you actually file. Might wanna keep that in mind.

Here's a link to that thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/t5902...le-pro-se.html

[Danielle1981]

hmmm....I posted that I was thinking of filing the monday after friday pay day but for some reason it didn't show up.

[bkfiler]

ok a few points to mention again:

- you can have money in your account or in your glove box or in your piggy bank at home or cookie jar or in your envelope under the mattress. it doesnt matter. its all cash and you can exempt it up to the amount your state will provide you for exemptions.

- the idea of stopping your direct deposits and taking your money out of the account is not to hid it. you cant hide it. the reason you are doing this is to make sure the bank doesnt 'hold it' like wells fargo has been doing in some cases, not often - but is now getting sued over it here and there.

-the other reason is that if you were sued then they can attach your bank account and keep that money unless you can prove that those funds cant be garnished. like mayb eunemployment. i dont know about ssi.

- the other reason is so that if you have cross collateral accounts with your bank then they wont 'hold' those fund to collect for the unpiad accounts you have with them. credit unions do this all the time. any bank can. this tricks people all the time.

- if you have money tht is exempt for whatever reason you think it is then as long as it isnt co-mingled with otehr money in the account and you can prove it then you can get your money back if you had to.

- remember the point of these ideas it to make sure you have control over your money.

- also remember that most of us never did have our bank accounts touched. i was sued even and never did have mine touched.

- but why take a chance. do what you have to to make sure you can keep paying your bills. if you dont think you need to then dont. but if you dont ever want the problem of having to try to get your money back and are worried about not being able to pay a bill if something goes wrong then protect yourself and keep you money out of the bank.