Serious Question re: Chapter 7.... please help

[markcanty]

I have a question. My wife and I have retained an attorney here in CT for $300 earlier this summer. We have about $28k in unsecured debt/medical bills probably 80-20 ratio. We are able to file for Chapter 7. The thing is is that we had to delay until now to actually move forward with it for money reasons and some other situations. My question is, we can't afford to do BK now because we are moving, aso I guess I'm wondering how long can we actually go before filing? Before it gets too much with possible judgments, etc... from the collections agencies? What are the signals that it might be getting too late? Any help is appreciated.

[SinkingFast]

Are you still being contacted by the Original Creditors or have any accts moved to outside collections?? That's an indicator that things are beginning to escalate.

Typically, Creditors go thru a process. You acct stays in regular servicing for several months as the Creditor hopes you will catch up. Then your acct moves to internal collections. A few months down the road, if internal collections is unsuccessful, the Creditor will turn your acct over to a 3rd party collections agency. This process can take anywhere from 5-6 months to a year or so, depending on the Creditor and how much you owe.

Bigger Creditors tend to move slower because your debt is relatively small to them. Smaller Creditors tend to move faster because your debt is a larger piece of their total pie.

[HHM]

It's never TOO LATE to file Bankruptcy, but the longer you let things go, the more hassle it can become. I.e. if you let things go to judgment, you have to take extra steps to expunge the judgment that you would not have had to if you filed before a judgment was taking againt you.

But SinkingFast is right. Basically, if the accounts are now with 3rd party collections agencies, then things are accelerating. But, you still probably have many months before a lawsuit will get filed. Also, collections agencies and lawyers don't just sue anyone, they want to know that there is something to collect (i.e. wages to garnish, etc.).

[SinkingFast]

HHM makes a good point.

Creditors will investigate. They will look for property owned. Cash assets in banks. Do you have a job? If so, how much are your earnings?

The more they think there is to get, the better your chances are that you will get served with a Law Suit for a Judgement or Wage Garnishment if allowed in your State.

[markcanty]

I have no assets, I make $500 a week at my job. I just want to know if we might have another 4-6 months when we probably would have more mulah

[BK'd-Betty]

They do investigate - I was STUNNED when I pulled my credit report post BK and saw how many of my creditors were pulling my credit reports just prior to my filing and how many times they did it - some did it every single day.

I looked at mine post BK - but it really was a barometer as to which creditor's were agressively persuing us.

That could be a good clue for you - get your credit reports from all 3 CRA's and check the hard and soft credit pulls, and see which ones seem the most interested in you.

HHM makes a good point.

Creditors will investigate. They will look for property owned. Cash assets in banks. Do you have a job? If so, how much are your earnings?

The more they think there is to get, the better your chances are that you will get served with a Law Suit for a Judgement or Wage Garnishment if allowed in your State.

[SinkingFast]

They do investigate - I was STUNNED when I pulled my credit report post BK and saw how many of my creditors were pulling my credit reports just prior to my filing and how many times they did it - some did it every single day.

I looked at mine post BK - but it really was a barometer as to which creditor's were agressively persuing us.

That could be a good clue for you - get your credit reports from all 3 CRA's and check the hard and soft credit pulls, and see which ones seem the most interested in you.

We started working on cleaning up our Credit Reports right after our 341.

BoA pulled, pulled, pulled on us. Every month, starting in June, right up to when we filed.

[BK'd-Betty]

BINGO! That's the one - they were doing a soft pull every day and a hard pull about once a month.

They were also RELENTLESS in their calls to our home, sometimes calling 12-15 times a day (we weren't answering the phone).

Even after I told them we were filing, they tried to get me to pay back the full amount a 3% interest so I wouldn't "damage" my credit.

ROFL!

They are also one of the ones that is reporting incorrectly.

We started working on cleaning up our Credit Reports right after our 341.

BoA pulled, pulled, pulled on us. Every month, starting in June, right up to when we filed.

[onlineuse]

Bank of America are scum. They are the only ones through this whole process that were nasty. I had a 17 year relationship with them that only turned sour in the last 5 months. Even still they made far more off me in interest than they ever lost.

We are post 341 and awaiting discharge. BOA has repeatedly denied including our accounts as IIB and continues to dispute/fight as charged off. They never technically charged them off and even up to the day of bankruptcy we still received bills from them and emails. However, they continue to show it as "Charge Off/Bad Debt".

I would not use them again for anything in my life. I won't use their ATM's, won't use any bank branch they own etc. Citi, Chase, Discover were all good and professional, Bank of America is the same scumbags featured on MSNBC last year for ruining some poor service womans life over identity theft and denying it right up to the end.

Bank of America has done so much harm to so many. We were the victim of credit card fraudulent transactions on corporate and personal accounts after the merger with Fleet here in New England. Each time we had to run around chasing our tails. In one case our account was used to pay a Road Runner bill in California yet BOA wouldn't reveal to us whos account it paid.

Here's a great article on just how unlawful the business practices of BOA are.

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/02/her_atm_card_bu.html