Keeping Bestbuy, Home Depot, and Juniper

[lostinmich]

I am currently going through a ch 7 BK. My 341 meeting is tomorrow. I have a few questions.

1) I owe about $200 on a Bestbuy CC. I would like to pay that off and keep it. Will Bestbuy let me do that? Will the trustee let me do that?

2) Same question for a Juniper card that has $500 on it. Can I keep the card, pay it off and keep it open?

3) Same question for a Home Depot card with $100 on it.

I know people are wondering why I would want to do this but I figure if I can keep these cards it would go a long way towards helping me rebuild my credit. I can easily pay them off now but my lawyer said to not make any more unsecured payments.

[HHM]

Honestly, most store based credit cards, especially BestBuy, will close your account whether you pay it off or not, so why throw good money after bad.

Whether a credit card account stays open is up to the creditor. As a general matter, if a card has a ZERO balance going into the BK, odds are that card will stay open. Otherwise, most creditors will close the account upon you filing BK. And since you already filed BK...there is not much you can do now.

[lostinmich]

Yes, I see your point and I would never send them more money if they weren't going to let me keep the account open. Sad thing is I tried very hard to keep those cards current and never late. Once I decided that BK was my only option that payment history went right out the window.

I guess I should just stick to the plan of cleaning up my report, getting a secured Orchard or something similar, and paying my student loans.

I don't want to ever get in this situation again but I DO want to rebuild my credit to purchase a home again someday.

Thanks for the reply.

[Walnut]

A good question - and in some cases you can negotiate via your attorney reaffirmation agreements with unsecured creditors - but most will tell you to get bent. They all will get notified upon your filing and most will immediately close your accounts and you won't hear from them again. What you are attempting is basically preference. I have a $6400 line of credit (VISA) with my credit union and I had no choice but to include it, even though I was current and had to stop sending them payments. It was not easy and it had a nice interest rate (12.9%), no late fees, no overlimit fees - one I would love to reaffirm, but a $180 minimum monthly payment would show disposable income and I would kiss my 7 goodbye. Chapter 7 is a very hard decision - I waited too long and as my income rose, the laws were changed making it harder - and now the situation has become untenable - no way to pay them off in like ten years or more without someone dropping dead and leaving me a bunch of money. So - I meet with my attorney on the 29th and there's no going back after that. Good luck to you.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

I think its a bad idea. Its preferential, being you still owe money on these cards, and its unsecured. I'd just include them in your bk and rebuild your credit when your bk is over with.

[SinkingFast]

They're already in the BK. There's really nothing to do at this point.

If they are billing you, that's a violation of the Automatic Stay. If you are paying them, that's Preferential Payments as FOMO said.

Really nothing you can do at this point. Your hands are legally bound.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

And furthermore, these are all bk friendly lenders. Best buy is GEMB. Home Depot Card is a subsidiary of citibank, much like the Circuit City Chase card, and they are both managed separately from the main banks themselves and have much more lenient lending requirements. Juniper is Juniper, which is also bk friendly. Some of them may blacklist you, but not all. Its more important that you eliminate the debt then maintain it, as you will be able to reestablish credit much more easily than you think.

[lostinmich]

Thanks all for the comments. I guess I'll see what happens. Not sure if BB will come for collateral but my lawyer says we'll offer $100 to settle. I guess I don't understand why I would do that instead of just paying the complete amount?? Of course, BB might still tell me to go get bent if I ask to keep the CC open. I can't imagine Home Depot would let me keep the account since I have another Citi card included in the BK. Juniper is, as you said, Juniper. I don't really care about keeping that card I just want to start rebuilding asap.

I'll just play it by ear... It's just nice to be able to use the BB and HD cards for the 0% financing plans.