Does AMEX card survive Chapt 7?

[BKDefender]

Paying unsecured creditors is a 'preference' but the Trustee is only authorized to pursue reversal of preference payments if the payments to any one creditor is $600 or more during the 90 days prior to filing (or 1 yr if an insider.) If it is less than $600, the trustee lacks authority to force return of the payment(s).

--William

[ryan]

I'm not seeing how maintaining payments on one card is smart.

I've been told that it would show 'preference' and would be viewed negatively by the BK trustee. Is this no longer the case?

[backtoschool]

Amex is very bankruptcy unfriendly, and they do regular in-depth credit report reviews of their customers. If somehow your amex survived, (it would have to have a zero balance when you file to survive, otherwise you have to include it in your petition), they will close you when they review your credit reports and see the bankruptcy.

[BKDefender]

Because BK hits your credit by 100-200 points (at least that's what I've seen on most clients), if you have not defaulted on your cards then it hurts less and you recover quickly. If the client can afford to pay the minimum on the cards then I tell them the pros & cons to doing so - pro=you're only down 75-100pts after one year, cons=you're down 100-200pts for default and 100-200 points for BK so after a year you'll probably have recovered to where your drop was 250-300 pts.

--William

[HakunaMatata]

I paid nearly every card up to filing. They dumped me (including two Amex cards that didn't have balances). A few zero balance cards seemingly survived. I'm waiting for at least one of them to disappear (highly doubtful discharged debt Citi wants to extend $10k to me these days!). My pre-filing missed mortgage payments were hard-hitting in the credit score domain.

[DebtStinks]

I had a card survive BK. Also, I paid right up to when I filed so that I wouldn't have any lates so my credit would bounce back quickly.

Everybody's situation is different and my attorney advised me to stop paying my cards but in the past I had worked with people who had been through a BK and I ran all of there credit reports and the people with a 'cleaner' report prior to BK had their credit rebound more quickly.

Most people disagree with me on that subject but all I know is I had no problems getting credit cards pretty quick out of BK and I have more credit than I need today--2.5 years later.

Logan

Our BK was very strategic... we didn't have a single late payment but the writing was on the wall. It was game over and it was just a matter of time before we couldn't cover our payments without hitting exempt assets (401k, etc.). We made the decision to stop paying on everything 3-4 months prior to our filing date. It worked out well, we paid for the attorney, put some cash into savings, and were just under the exemptions for a CH7 in CA.

My goal is to get back into a home here in the next couple of years. We have the down payment and our mortgage will be about half of what the same house would rent for. If I had to do it all over again I would have sucked it up for those extra months and filed our bankruptcy while being current on all our payments. The main drop in our credit scores came from all the late payments that happened prior to filing.

Like Logan said... everyone's situation is different. However, if we had a chance to do it again we'd stay current up till the filing date.

[Logan]

Homebody,
Credit card companies monitor your credit report and if they ever find out you filed bankruptcy, they'll close your account even if you've been an excellent customer for 20 years.
I would agree with the previous posters - stop paying on your AMEX, tell them you're about to file bankruptcy, save your actual cash to use for monthly expenses, and get ready to file BK.

--William

I had a card survive BK. Also, I paid right up to when I filed so that I wouldn't have any lates so my credit would bounce back quickly.

Everybody's situation is different and my attorney advised me to stop paying my cards but in the past I had worked with people who had been through a BK and I ran all of there credit reports and the people with a 'cleaner' report prior to BK had their credit rebound more quickly.

Most people disagree with me on that subject but all I know is I had no problems getting credit cards pretty quick out of BK and I have more credit than I need today--2.5 years later.

Logan

[ItsJustMe]

I would agree there. I'm just over 60 days late on mine and they've already called my parents looking for me about a umm err "business matter". My mom left me a message. Haven't spoken with her yet. Trying to think of good story. Maybe explain it as possible scam artist trying to phish information. Yeah, that's it.

Agreeing here, too. They were the reason we filed BK. Our payments doubled and while we were working it out w/them, they started calling around our relatives and neighbors . They (well, their CA) even called my parents and called my mom and idiot and lovely things like that . Awful.

My only card to survive was US Bank.

[SweetGeorgia]

Wondering the same thing, but I know Amex is very unforgiving - not just over bankruptcy! I owed them $300 for 3 months once... in 1994.

I paid them, they closed the account, and that sucker is STILL on my credit report. Now it just says "closed at creditor's request," and I long ago stopped trying to get a deletion because it's like some weird persistent-but-powerless stalker.

[DebtStinks]

Amex is very BK unfriendly...

Even if you made it through somehow they run regular credit checks and financial audits, if they find the BK it's game over. Just do a google on "financial review" for amex and you will see the nightmares.

[BROKEDED]

I had 3. Not only did they not survive. If they had, I'd still never use them.
AMEX was the worst of the worst when it comes to collection calls. Neighbors, obscure distant relatives, they really go way beyond legitimate collection.

I would agree there. I'm just over 60 days late on mine and they've already called my parents looking for me about a umm err "business matter". My mom left me a message. Haven't spoken with her yet. Trying to think of good story. Maybe explain it as possible scam artist trying to phish information. Yeah, that's it.

[goingcrzy]

My Costco Amex survived. But I haven't used it. I am sure once I use it, it will be canceled.

Most likely your Business Amex is personally guaranteed (mine was). once you file, that account will close. Save your money.

[music12]

two discovers plus an amex survived... but i know they can be closed any time.

[Chowder]

.........or any other card.

Lots of us have had cards slip through for one reason or another. I ended up with 5 accounts surviving.

I'm using two -VERY SPARINGLY- to rebuild.

[BKDefender]

Homebody,
Credit card companies monitor your credit report and if they ever find out you filed bankruptcy, they'll close your account even if you've been an excellent customer for 20 years.
I would agree with the previous posters - stop paying on your AMEX, tell them you're about to file bankruptcy, save your actual cash to use for monthly expenses, and get ready to file BK.

--William