Is this abuse? Please advise on what to do...

[sjr1]

My husband and I bought a tv for around $700 in December using our Circuit City card. We did it b/c Circuit City offered no payments/interest for 12 months. We figured by December '08 our financial situation would have CERTAINLY improved (insert eyeroll here), and we would be able to make the payments starting at the end of 2008.

So, we never made payments on it b/c the payments weren't supposed to start until December. Now, we're filing Chapter 7. If we include the CC card, which we have to do, won't that be considered abuse b/c we haven't paid on it?

Should I start paying on it and tell the attorney that I want to pay that card off? Is that reaffirming? I don't care if it's canceled after our filing. I just want to pay for the tv b/c I had every intention of paying for it.

[Cali]

when do you expect to file?

[sjr1]

we should be filing in a week or two

[momof5]

I was going to ask a similar question. We have a Value city card that we purchased a bedroom set on last October. It was a no interest/no payments until October of 2008. They are included as a creditor as you have to add all creditors but I am not sure what happens after we file. I am okay with giving up the furniture (i do love it though!) but am also willing to pay. I am not sure if they can take the furniture as we paid $500 cash towards it as well. The card limit was $1500. But there has been no payments made because none were due.

The attorney sort of gave us a real generic answer to this question and said that its a wait and see thing.

I dont know how they can consider it abuse. As long as you had every intention of paying when it was purchased. Who was to foresee my husband losing his job and our life turning upside down 5 months after charging the furniture? That will be my defense if its questioned.

[poor@budgeting]

Its been five months....no abuse here, I think.
Some vendor accounts/cards can claim portion of the value of the product as 'secured'.

[JRScott]

It's been a long time, however since you both paid with the store card it seems I think that is a secured debt. It is something you should ask or mention to your lawyer. If it is secured you probably can reaffirm the debt if you wish, however if it is unsecured you can't reaffirm it.

[keepmine]

Nothing in the bk code prevents you from repaying anyone you please post bk.

[MomIcantFindmy]

If it is secured you probably can reaffirm the debt if you wish, however if it is unsecured you can't reaffirm it.

You can reaffirm ANY debt. We initially thought we might want to reaffirm one of our Visa cards. Then I woke up. However, the first set of papers were drawn up with the visa being reaffirmed.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

SJR & Mom, just so you're clear on this, IF you choose to reaffirm a given debt, that takes any question of fraud regarding that particular debt out of the picture. Fraud is only an issue with a debt that a filer is trying to have discharged.

And, as has already been pointed out, you can reaffirm any debt you like. When you file (or your atty files for you, and you are reviewing the paperwork) pay special attention to Form 8, the Statement of Intent. This is where you list what debts, if any, you intend to reaffirm. The law assumes that if you are keeping the property securing a debt that you intend to reaffirm that debt, which is why that form is structured the way it is. There's no option for "keep the stuff and don't pay" on a secured debt. But you can reaffirm any debt, secured or unsecured.

Whether those specific purchases you both made are considered secured, I really don't know. But if you want to keep the stuff and you can afford to make the payments post-bk, then definitely reaffirm. Stating your intention on Form 8 alerts the creditor to your intentions so that they will know how to proceed. It's not set in stone; you can file your intentions one way and then change your mind after filing, so you're not locking yourself into anything by checking the box, just giving them a heads up.

The other thing... don't be surprised if filing bk accelerates the "no payments until ___" date. I have no idea without looking at your contracts (that, and I'm not an atty ) but if filing bk constitutes a technical default according to your contract, you may have to start making payments earlier than you thought. Not a big deal, but I wanted you to know ahead of time in case a creditor contacts you wanting payment after you file. Just remember that once you file, YOU are in the driver's seat: if you don't like the payment terms offered to you, don't reaffirm.

Good luck to you both!!!

[JollyGG]

We had a washer and dryer from Sears with one of those no payments no interest plans in December before we file. We filed in October. We had made one or two payments, mabey.

We had no issues. We didn't hear anything from Sears.

It sounds to me like you are facing basically, a wait and see situation in regards to what your creditor will do. However, I don't think you will have any issues with fraud.

[Cali]

That is good to hear. We have front loaders we got from Sears and I would really hate to see them go.

We had a washer and dryer from Sears with one of those no payments no interest plans in December before we file. We filed in October. We had made one or two payments, mabey.

We had no issues. We didn't hear anything from Sears.

It sounds to me like you are facing basically, a wait and see situation in regards to what your creditor will do. However, I don't think you will have any issues with fraud.

[CindyLou]

I will stand my ground again, that no one should reafirm any unsecured debt unless the creditor files an objection or it has been less than the 90 days.

That's my opinion. Chances are a creditor is not going to file an objection unless you are within the 90 days and they are a hard nosed credtior like AMEX.

[justplaintired]

We purchased a tv from walmart the same way. 1 yr no interest. We bought it in the beginning of Jan with full intentions of paying it off. We did not think at the time we would ever file BK. About 2 weeks later we got a statement from another card that upped our rate from 14% to 31.24. We couldn't make the payments. So needless to say, BK became our only way out. So the tv became a problem. we had made one payment. Then we stopped. We are waiting for the 90+ days to file and hope it won't become a issue, if so we will make the payments. We are not opposed to paying on this tv, frankly I don't even care if they come and get it. It was DH idea not mine. It was 799.99.

[PaKettle]

The chances of the creditor coming out to get your tv or furniture is slim if it's been over 3 months since you bought them.

IF the furniture store is a small "mom and pop" type they might, however.

But generally speaking it's not worth their while to come get used electronics or furniture.

There have been some members here who received letters from dept. stores stating that they were going to come get their used computer or whatever... but they never actually did claim them. It's rare unless you bought something within 70 days of filing and made no payments or maybe only one.