credit card

[thegiver]

I should recieve my completed forms in a couple days so I can file.....I have never been late on a pmt. let alone missed one except this month , my pmt to at&t card was due the 9th.........I have had 25 calls from them yesterday and its already started this am....i called them last night because they said my card was over extended, which I knew it was not according to this months bill....but they added the pmt of 163.00 late charge ....and interest of all which added up to 235.00 plus next months bill which all totals 560.00.....all the interest they had added had overextended the card ! and wanted the 560.00 NOW.....I dont feel bad any longer about filing....I feel they could have shown a little compassion, being not even 2 weeks late ..but there is no such thing as a little understanding on their part...and guess i shouldnt have expected it anyway.....it was just a shock at what just being a couple wks overdue could do to a person.

[Minnymouth]

ATT cards are mostly owned by CitiBank - if your looking for compassion from them - DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH.......
WON'T HAPPEN!!!
And yes, they will ring your phone off till you file and their notified by the court......

Good Luck,

Minny

[dmg]

I had an AT&T card at one time. It had a great interest rate of about 9%, if I'm not mistaken. Then one Christmas, I went over my limit by $50.00. I received the January bill and it showed that I owed about $400 on it. They upped my interest to 26% or 28% (I can't remember which. It was a few years ago.) But this was an upped interest on $10,000. I was never late on the card and always paid over the minimum. (We moved one of my husband's credit cards to this one because of the low interest.)

When I called them, they told me that I was too far over my limit for anyone to be able to help me. I told them that the only reason I'm now this far over my limit is due to the higher interest rate financial charges. She said, "Sorry, but we can't help you. Maybe if you pay good for 1 year, they may lower your interest." I told her that I wouldn't be keeping the card for more than one month. I then went to my credit union and got a consolidation loan.

But they could care less about it. I've also had problems with First USA (now Chase.) They upped my interest due to running a credit report and seeing how much credit I have. That's one of the reasons why we turned to BK. We were living paycheck to paycheck and trying to pay everything down. Then these companies were raising our rates when we were doing everything right with them.

I'm not working right now. We told the attorney during the initial meeting that I was thinking about working for several more months and then going back to school to go into teaching. He told us during our paperwork meeting that due to our salaries (which is quite pathetic), we made too much money to do Chapter 7. So, I ended up quitting my job a bit earlier than planned. I'm just waiting on when I can get a part-time job at least to help out a little also.

[thegiver]

yes Im sure a lot of us have had this bad experience.....I hope things look up for you and all of us...no I didn't look for compassion but was not prepared for such a drastic penalty and i know i should have been ....the int rate went from..1.9......and 5.9 to 30%..............I expected it to be a lot but not that much !......I helped my kids a lot with my cards...but there comes a time when you cant afford it any more. and my time has come

[Minnymouth]

Hello,
I went thru the same thing with Citibank and Chase.....had a Citibank for 25 years 2.9%, they run a credit report, raised it to 27.9%. When I inquired, they said "sorry, policy".....DUH... When Chase did the same thing, and their actions put me in a financial bind because of the medical bills too......
WHEN NEITHER would work something out - I said "SO BE IT !! NOW YOU CAN EAT IT - BANKRUPTCY !!
I "did" what I had to do - to survive......cause they sure weren't going to help it any....or work anything out....and I had been working 2 jobs for 3 years paying on everything fine...
So yes, notice your credit card interest, they will sure raise it quickly - especially now with people claiming BK....

Minny
Have been discharged from all of them (unsecured) along with the chocking medical bills from my mom's illness....

[edwards2]

dmg - just curious - how much do you make that disallows you from filing a Chapter 7? You said it was pathetic but your attorney says it is too much? My husband and I make well over the median income. Of course that would be the incoming - once they saw the outgoing they were not that impressed.

[dmg]

dmg - just curious - how much do you make that disallows you from filing a Chapter 7? You said it was pathetic but your attorney says it is too much? My husband and I make well over the median income. Of course that would be the incoming - once they saw the outgoing they were not that impressed.

My husband makes $33K and I made $28K. (Although if I stayed at my job, it would have went up to $32K, but it wasn't worth it. I worked for a Court in Florida and it was a very high stress job. I wanted to get out of it anyway, I just didn't think it was that responsible of me to get out before we had a few things paid off.)

- Debbie

[Minnymouth]

Are you saying you quit a job paying $28k right as you claimed BK???
Did the lawyer include your previous income on your bk petition - (putting you in a Chapter 13) and now you have quit your job and your income is not the same??

Minny

[dmg]

I quit before filing, but not much before filing. Our attorney said that I would need to if we wanted to file as a Chapter 7. It was already something that I was planning on doing around December and I was absolutely miserable there. I was on the verge everyday just to tell my supervisor that I quit. I had to keep holding my tongue and even though I'm not a cryer, almost every other day while leaving work, I felt tears in my eyes. It was a horrible atmosphere and the Court knew it. I'm looking into going back to school now to go into teaching. My bachelor's degree was in Family, Child and Consumer Sciences with a minor in Psychology. I'm just debating on whether or not to just get certified, get a degree in Early Childhood Education or get a Masters in Education. I have to look at the costs and look at when classes start.

Since I quit, I have my daughter now at home with me. (Daycare cost $500/ month when she was going full time. She's going 3 hours now for Pre-K, and I don't have to pay anything. I figured that I would start by just taking a morning class or look into taking classes online.

Do you think it will be a problem that I quit my job. My attorney didn't think so, but my attorney didn't ask a lot of questions or tell us a lot. We had to figure out the questions to ask and even then, during our paperwork meeting, he threw a few curve balls at us. I didn't realize that there would be a payment to the trustee.

The attorney did tell me not to get even a part-time job until after everything is over.

[Minnymouth]

Your attorney needs to answer any questions you may have....
My attorney also told me - No partime job, till this is over.......

And yes if you have ANY excess income ($100 or more) over and above your bills - then you are almost forced into a 13
repayment plan....

Keep us posted on you case and what is happening with it

Minny