File now or in 90 days?

[paradise lost]

I see one should not use the cc's for 90 days. Is it best to 1)file now, we are going to do it at some point in time so do it now 2)wait for 90 days w/o using cc's (should I pay some or none of the cc bills and suffer the phone slings and arrows)

We cut the cards up-- don't exist any more as a means of paying. ALSO-- should I pay off the small balance cc's (Chevron, Home Depot) or no. The paperwork I see asks if you paid more than $400 over a minimum. Is that a bad thing?? Still not paying as of a week and a half or so ago.

On a side note-- I hope to use all the pleasant icons on the side there soon. Here's hoping.

[StartingOver08]

The idea is to not have the Trustee flag your file for abuse.

There is a "presumption of abuse" if you have charged on your cr cards within 90 days of filing. That is why you see the advice to NOT file if you have made charges, balance transfers, cash advances within the past 70/90 days. (If you have a BT or CA within 70 days). The theory is you knew you were insolvent when you made the charge within 90 days so you had no intention to repay. Many people wait longer than 90 days to make absolutely certain that there is nothing charged before filing. The longer the time period of no charges, the better for your filing.

[paradise lost]

So shall I pay what I can then file or is there a best scenario. Can't pay all the bills in full or we have no money to live.... Uggh.

[justbroke]

So shall I pay what I can then file or is there a best scenario. Can't pay all the bills in full or we have no money to live.... Uggh.

No, if you're insolvent now, then you stop paying now.

However, I'll caveat it this way. If you just got the card, and didn't make any payments at all on the card, you may want to make a few payments.

You shouldn't need to, nor should you, pay money to cards that you're going to discharge anyhow. It's a waste of your money.

The key here is to not make it look like (fall under the presumption that) you never intended to pay back your debts. If it was for the health or welfare of you or your dependents, it is overlooked (for obvious reasons). However, if you went out and bought a big screen TV, and other non-neccessities within or close to the 90 days, it looks more suspecious. Especially if you never even attempted to make a payment.

A lot depends on your particular Trustee's general opinion and the District you file in. Some trustees are tougher than others.

The absolute bottom line is... you want to distance your filing as far away from charging anything... as much as possible. The minimum is 90 days.

[ThreadsSnapping]

Our last charge was about 2 weeks before we filed and it was for $77 for our Sirius radio subscription. I had forgotten all about that being auto-billed. No objections from that creditor.

We had used our cards up until about 30 days before we filed but it was all gas and food and again no objections from any creditor.

Everything was current until we decided to file. From the time we decided to file to the actual filing date was about 30 days. Once we decided to file, I didn't pay anything except for the car loans as we kept them.

TS

[2strong]

Just curious do they ever go back more than 90 days.

[justbroke]

Just curious do they ever go back more than 90 days.

If it is fraud or appears to be fraud, they can look way way back.

The key is, the 90 days is an automatic presumption of fraud. The lookback for greater periods will be based on the types of transactions and whether you made misrepresentations to the creditors.

It's unlikely that a creditor will go back further, as they would have to prove fraud or misrepresentation which is hard to do. That's why the 90-days is a good rule of thumb.

If the creditor think they can prove that you made a material misrepresentation in order to be extended credit, then they may pursue getting the debt declared non-dischargeable.

[2strong]

Thanks. I don't want to file but just in case I have to I want to make sure I plan it out, that's if that's possible but from reading on this forum I have been reading about how people wished they wpould have dome things differently like buy a reliable car before etc... I hear your on a tight budget from the trustee so I might want to stock up on household good before

[paradise lost]

I hear you re the car. My 95 Tracker was not going to make 5 years, so I got an 02 Jeep Wrangler with a 36 month 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. And I got 6.35% APR... we stopped paying a few weeks back so I lucked out. Feels counter intuitive to get a newer vehicle in this situation but if the old car died I'd be up a creek-- tough to do on the island (serious lack of public transportation).