Calling creditors (my job or attorney job?)

[drowninginflori]

Since this past Tuesday when we paid our retainer and turned all of our paperwork in I have made a strong effort of trying to contact as many creditors as possible notifying them of our intent which has not been fun because some refuse to listen and continue to call back. Should I spend anymore time trying to contact them all individually or should my attorney's office be doing this? His paralegal said I could start referring them to her, however, some of them are being very threatening and it is making my stress level go through the roof. I thought once the paperwork was turned in I would feel better but until the calls cease I can't help but worry.

[AngelinaCat]

If your paperwork has NOT actually been filed yet, then the creditors have not been notified. Once the paperwork is actually filed with the court, then the court sends out notices to all your creditors, and the Automatic Stay kicks in, and they have to stop bothering you.

We were lucky in that for the most part, when we answered the phone and found it to be a creditor or collection agency, we told them: "Sir (or Madam), we are in the process of filing for bankruptcy. Please contact my attorney at XXX-XXX-XXXX." We kept copies of her card taped to all the telephone handsets in the house. That usually took care of it. Two or three times we sent certified letters, with courtesy copies to the attorney, reminding harassers of the Fair Debt Collection Act. I included a link below to more information:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

My best~~~

[drowninginflori]

Wow-what a god send! This information is great. Thanks!!!!!!

[AngelinaCatHub]

Wife is right "as usual". Nothing is official until they get the copy of the paper from the Court. Neither of you have to do anything. 'Hub

[parsoc48]

When they call you can refer them to your attorney if you want but don't waste time calling them. The calls really DO stop after the filing. But I DID get satisfaction out of referring them to the attny, no one got rude or threatening, they just took the info. That was more of a stress-buster than actually filing the petition

[liz417]

Right after we retained our attorney, he told us to give the creditors his info. The cc companies started calling after about 2 weeks into the missed payments. The cc's have all been real nice (Discover card being the nicest, I hope that's a good thing! Maybe they are preparing their case against me!), I've only had problems with Chase, they keep calling and calling everyday and I keep giving them the info...they are pretending that they don't have it on file....

[epiphany]

It sounds like you should be filed soon? Wouldn't worry about it then. If you are that close to filing, then your attorney's office will notify the creditors and that will be the end of that.

But if are holding on for any significant amount of time before filing, I recommend that you return any phone calls you get and let them know you are filing. That has taken care of most of my communication worries and ensures that they will not call others in an effort to find you.

I don't recommend ignoring the phone calls if having the creditors call others (work, family, etc) in order to find you is a concern.

Good luck!

ep

[Flamingo]

Since this past Tuesday when we paid our retainer and turned all of our paperwork in I have made a strong effort of trying to contact as many creditors as possible notifying them of our intent which has not been fun because some refuse to listen and continue to call back. Should I spend anymore time trying to contact them all individually or should my attorney's office be doing this? His paralegal said I could start referring them to her, however, some of them are being very threatening and it is making my stress level go through the roof. I thought once the paperwork was turned in I would feel better but until the calls cease I can't help but worry.

You really don't have to do anything although I know the calls can be insane. What we did when we filed we answered all calls and kept a listing of those calls by our home phone. We wrote down the name of each creditor that called. Each of those creditors was provided our attorney's name and contact information and case number. The calls dramatically decreased after we started doing that and the creditors started receiving the bankruptcy filing papers from the Court. It could take 2 to 4 weeks but by the end of that time you will enjoy the quiet.

[drowninginflori]

We paid the rest of our fee this morning (we were waiting for spouses paycheck to deposit). Does anyone know how quickly will we get a case number? Our lawyer is out of town for the holiday week and we are dealing with one of his paralegals right now. Most of the creditors have stated that they will stop calling once they have the case number. The only one we are extremely concerned about is our past credit union because one of our cars is financed through them and it is current and we plan to keep it. The whole cross-collateral thing is a big pain. Though we have changed banks we were informed that the car could be taken until they have a case number. I am just on pins and needles right now. Thanks for all the great input!

[AngelinaCat]

Once your paperwork is filed with the Court, then you will get a case number. If the lawyer or paralegal files online via PACER, which is what ours did, you will get a case number on the spot. I'm just concerned about the lawyer being off this week. Also will you get a chance to review their draft of your paperwork before its filed? Even as bad as our attorney was, we did get a chance to review. Sadly, we were so poorly educated in BK matters at the time, that we missed many errors.

[drowninginflori]

The paralegal said that we would need to sign the paperwork so I am assuming we will need to look at everything but that is not for sure. I hope this does not drag out until next week because our old credit union said something about needing a case number by the 5th of July.

[AngelinaCat]

Since July 5 is a Saturday, I am guessing that your old CU is trying to be a *putz*. Have you signed reaffirmation papers with them or is this waiting 'til you sign the BK papers. I'd call the paralegal tomorrow and ask more about it.

[Flamingo]

The paralegal said that we would need to sign the paperwork so I am assuming we will need to look at everything but that is not for sure. I hope this does not drag out until next week because our old credit union said something about needing a case number by the 5th of July.

Don't worry about it - enjoy the holiday weekend! You will file when you file and you will get your case number and the credit union will not collapse in a few days waiting for that information. You've retained an attorney - what is their issue? Tell them to call your attorney's office for the case number if they call again.

[justplaintired]

We did not attempt to contact any of our creditors, we let them contact us, then gave them our attorney's name and number, which pretty much stopped the collection calls. I called the attorney out of curiosity to see if they actually called and the paralegal said they had all called. Anyway, it did help stop the calls, and all were nice, understanding and none gave us a hard time. Far as calling them, I wouldn't bother, let them come to you, believe me they will.