180 days late - should i talk to creditors???

[DebtorDan]

we are about to file chapter 7. our attorney has been paid.
they are preparing the paperwork. seems like its taking a long time. go everything in right before christmas and they ay they still need 2 weeks or so. but it is a one guy operation with a part time paralegal helping him out. so maybe its okay, anyway.

our cards are now starting to come up on 180 days late. so far we've avoided speaking with any of them. is there any advantage at this point to letting them know we are filing.
at 180 days are they likely to do anything that telling them we're filing would slow down?

just curious if there's any advantage to talking to them at this point and giving them our attorneys information.

[MomIcantFindmy]

Nope.........cus to them it does not make any difference. They are told 100's of times that a debtor is filing BK and then the debtor never does. You might tell the truth but they will assume you are not. I wouldn't bother speaking with them since you are so close to filing.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Agree with Mom, no point in talking with them. But you DO need to light a fire under your atty if he doesn't file soon, say by the end of this month, because the longer they go unpaid before bk may affect your credit score coming out of bk. The way it works is that even though the account will show up "IIB" (included in bankruptcy) the actual payment history will also still show, even though it is no longer scored as being in past due status because of the bk. So... it won't make *much* difference, but it will make some. Of course, you may not care about the more subtle differences if you do not intend to obtain credit anytime soon after bk. Good luck!!!

[magyar123]

You should not contact them. If they contact you just tell them that you're filing and give them your attorney's name and phone number.

[TabulaRasa]

... The way it works is that even though the account will show up "IIB" (included in bankruptcy) the actual payment history will also still show, even though it is no longer scored as being in past due status because of the bk. So... it won't make *much* difference, but it will make some. ...

Wow, really?

Looks like at most I'd be 180 days overdue on most my accounts when this goes down. I figured my credit would be zero after BK...

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Actually, amazing as it seems, bk has the tendency to *raise* scores, esp if they're already in the toilet. A bk means that whatever your trade lines are *today* (most likely IIB) they are not in collections. Add that to rebuilding good credit step by step afterwards, and a bk can be very good news.

[DebtorDan]

Thanks.

Just wanted to thank those that chimed in.

I'll just keep doing what I've been doing then, and keep all the creditors on my list of numbers that go automatically to my voicemail. Just wanted to be sure now that I have an attorney there was no advantage to giving them his name and number.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Actually Dan, once you give them your attorney's name and number, by law (FDCPA) they have to stop calling you anyway. Most do, some don't care how illegal it is and call anyway, but you can send them to voicemail as you suggested. I'm sorry, I misunderstood your original post -- I thought you were talking about conversing with them *yourself* and no, there's no point in that. But do give them the attorney's name and number and tell them to call him instead of you. No need to mention bk (it won't matter to them until you file anyway) but it will stanch the flow of unwanted collector calls. Good luck!!!

[TabulaRasa]

Actually Dan, once you give them your attorney's name and number, by law (FDCPA) they have to stop calling you anyway. Most do, some don't care how illegal it is and call anyway, but you can send them to voicemail as you suggested. I'm sorry, I misunderstood your original post -- I thought you were talking about conversing with them *yourself* and no, there's no point in that. But do give them the attorney's name and number and tell them to call him instead of you. No need to mention bk (it won't matter to them until you file anyway) but it will stanch the flow of unwanted collector calls. Good luck!!!

We're talking original creditors here and not collections scum...er, people?

[FreshLikeADaisy]

We're talking original creditors here and not collections scum...er, people?

*laugh!*

At 180 days, I'd imagine the debts had already been handed off to collections agencies, or about to be. At some point they may even be sold outright as junk debts. The FDCPA does not apply to original creditors, but even they generally stop calling once you give them your atty's name and number.

[DebtorDan]

a few are with ca's, but most are still in house

Amex and Chase have been handed off to collection agencies. Amex is now on their third (one collection agency, two attorney's offices). Chase is with the 2d collection agency. Our other's though are still in house. Card Services even just today offered a 75 percent reduction! Now if they all would have done that, might have been able to avoid this whole mess.

But, yes I expect that now we're at 180 days, they will tire of this game and I've been concerned about being sued, etc.

Wish our attorney would hurry up and get it done and file.
My wife is concerned about her job. She's up for a promotion at work and worried they'll check her credit or see the filing (not published in the paper here, but a local business journal which only prints via pdf for subscribers does list them) and she'll not get it. They supposedly check credit for new hires, she's been with them just at one year, but they didn't pull a report when she was hired. At least no inquiry showed on any of her reports.