So upset! advice please? Trying to file in December but cc had charge in October

[BKlooker]

I think a lot of this worry about using ccs before filing is a little overplayed. There are reports on this forum of people racking up 6 grand in the 3-4 months before filing and not hearing a peep. I have yet to see/read anyone on this board being forced to do APs for less than thousands of dollars, and usually for really out-there stuff. I read where one lady had a dental emergency and charged it to a card AFTER she filed, and all they did was make her pay for that out of pocket in a settlement deal...her lawyer just called the lawyer for the CC company, sent a settlement over for the amount(it was like $1600 or something), charge her a couple hundred for writing the deal, and that was it....rest of the debt was discharged, no problem. There was another guy who had a creditor object, and it had to do with some personal loan he took out with some local federal credit union that was tied to some auto loan-yada yada, to the tune of some 10 grand, and this was just 2 months prior to filing. They also end up settling out of court for some amount, a fraction of what he spent....rest of the debt discharged no problem.

You have to understand it costs them money to come after you, the CC company has to get a lawyer involved who gets a percentage of what they get back from the debtor, so think about any lawyer taking a case for $40 bucks; yea right. The company would lose waaaaay more money chasing you down for your measly $39 (that you don't have, cause you are insolvent), when they have much bigger fish to fry. I was worse than you...i stopped using my ccs just 6 weeks ago and filed yesterday. My attorney assured me not to worry because i had been paying and current on all my cards up until the month i filed (and had pumped about $4 grand into each card to pay them down from savings before i thought about BK), and i hadn't really charged much over the past few months, less than $1K in total, and mostly on necessities (car maintenance, groceries, etc.).

If it makes you feel better, check online for your state's BK statistics. In my state, out of the average 1.5-2 THOUSAND chapter 7s filed each MONTH, do you know what the AP rate is?? 2.5%!! As in out of over 2,000 people, only about 50-70 per month has issues, and i promise you more than that have used the CC and taken out excess debt leading up to filing than that, probably to the tune of thousands of dollars. Most APs are related to local creditors (car loans at credit unions, personal loans for business deals, etc.). Now think about it...do you think that your little $39 charge is going to plunk you into the 2% unlucky pile? Sleep easy, man. You will be fine....AP's are rare, especially on unsecured debt.

[kartoons19]

Prior to filing I had a similar situation in which my insurance was posted and as I didn't have enough to cover it in my checking account, it drew out approx. $75 from my line of credit account. I was upset because the insurance changed their billing cycle and didn't notify me, so the payment was made 10 days earlier than normal. Long story short, I just paid back the $75 a day later. This happened 30-40 days prior to filing.

As others mentioned $39 is such a small amount. So either pay it back or see if the newspaper will credit it back the charge as long as you pay with another form of payment. If this is the only thing holding you up, then I wouldn't let it stop you from filing. Good luck to you.

[tobee43]

I know that one. I am a scaredy cat. I am still having my periodic panic attacks about Carecredit. I had the 5500. dental emergency in April. had made 2 payments, had already stopped paying all the other CC's in april.
Then my attorney tells me to quit making that payment too. . I'm saying but, but, but....He put his foot down said STOP.
That is the ONE i am afraid off.........

well, you can imagin us...waiting two years to file and still had one happen (an AP)...of course they backed right down...almost before it got filed...even the trustee was like...excuse me???

but we had to still deal with it, which was an added pain to an already very stressful situation. and, of course after waiting so long to file we thought we were in the clear only to find out that necessarily does not stop a creditor from filing....and the amount was not much at all...under $500...which is what shocked us completely! like i said, it went no where, but it was just an added burden.

[oregonpilot]

I know that one. I am a scaredy cat. I am still having my periodic panic attacks about Carecredit. I had the 5500. dental emergency in April. had made 2 payments, had already stopped paying all the other CC's in april.
Then my attorney tells me to quit making that payment too. . I'm saying but, but, but....He put his foot down said STOP.
That is the ONE i am afraid off.........

[tobee43]

No disrespect Tobee43.
But if Bloodflowers waits for the 39. to fall off the radar but then not qualify to file??? Just wondering
Like i said i dont know diddlie squat!
I know its best not to have ANYTHING to be questioned, but at what cost.

oh by no means none taken oregon...it's just i have been there and done that with an AP and it's terrible...i don't want to wish it on anyone and we waited and still had to go through it.

and on the board lately, it's a bit scary with what these trustees seem to be doing....i just would feel better if nothing or everything was clear for the 90 days because why...I AM PARANOID!!!!! don't mean to be..it just seems as though after going thru all this it just that feeling doesn't seem to go away that quickly.

it's the only reason i suggested it...but if op's atty thinks it's ok, then and they feel comfortable with it, go for it. i'm just a big scaredy owl........LOL!!!!

[brokejoker]

We had a credit card that was attached to our credit union and we had to pay it or they would lock up our accounts. So we would pay then take a cash advance and put the money back into out account to pay the next month's bill. We did that even on the month we filed and we had no problems with our BK. The worst thing that could happen is they make you pay the $39 charge. Samll potatoes, go ahead and file!

[oregonpilot]

No disrespect Tobee43.
But if Bloodflowers waits for the 39. to fall off the radar but then not qualify to file??? Just wondering
Like i said i dont know diddlie squat!
I know its best not to have ANYTHING to be questioned, but at what cost.

[tobee43]

I am preparing to file next month. My attorney indicated I needed to wait 90 days after last credit card use. Well....I got a credit card statement yesterday that indicates a 39 auto charge was made on 10/19 for the local newspaper. I knew this was on autopay a few times a year and I took steps to change this 2 months ago so this situation should have never occured! Obviously the newspaper didn't change their info....this is a small rural paper that I could only make changes to by mailing in a paper form.

I called my attorney but he's away until Monday. The assistant there believes this will postpone my bankruptcy by at least 60 to 90 days from the date of this charge. I cant wait to file...waiting that much longer will likely mean I won't be able to qualify anymore.

Any advice or experience? Is there a rule you can't file if you had charges or is it the attorney's discretion? Do you think it would matter if the newspaper credited back the charge they should have never made?

Thanks for your help!

i don't think that amount will much matter....however, sometimes the trustee does ask you when was the last time YOU charged....well, in this case you didn't exactly "charge" anything...but it could cause them to take a "closer" look.

personally i would try to get the charges removed if you can...immediately stop auto payment ...we went directly to the bank itself and gave and rec'd a written document to stop immediately any and all auto pay.

if i were you..i would, as difficult as it may be ...i'd wait out the 90 day period...the atty works for YOU...and only you can really know what's best for you. if it were me, i would wait just to be certain...i wanted no stone unturned.

[drowning123]

I'm technically out of the club today (day 61). LOL.

[oregonpilot]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am breathing again.

Yes, i plan to go see the local newspaper and get them to credit it back or whatever it is they do.

I feel like I can at least get through the holiday week to hear from my attorney now. This whole process is so anxiety-provoking that I just want to keep things going and not stretch this out any longer than I have to. I'm sure everyone feels like that.

It's good to keep everything going. I can attest to that. Met w/attorney in June. dragged my feet till august thinking there had to be a better way even after paying 200. retainer.
ACK I only had income of 25. and 39. the 2 months b4 filing. So it was pretty pointless hanging on. I could have been out of the 60 day club by now. Great people in this 60 day club though.
Gonna miss you drowning123....technically. LOL

[tcreegan]

Hi Bloodflowers,

plan to go see the local newspaper and get them to credit it back or whatever it is they do.

Not worth your time nor theirs, switch to a paper bill since the cc will get closed in the BK.

You're fine, take a deep breath....relax.....slowly exhale....

Tom in Colo

[drowning123]

$500 and above is cause for alarm. Bloodflowers, proceed with your filing. The trustee is looking for obvious abusers and 39 bucks ain't abusive, plus it's a silly autopay error. Stop sweatin' it and file as fast you can. My own experience on this is I took out a payday loan for $300 about 30 days before filing and never paid one penny back. I didn't hear squat about it. You're fine. File away.

[Bloodflowers]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I am breathing again.

Yes, i plan to go see the local newspaper and get them to credit it back or whatever it is they do.

I feel like I can at least get through the holiday week to hear from my attorney now. This whole process is so anxiety-provoking that I just want to keep things going and not stretch this out any longer than I have to. I'm sure everyone feels like that.

[DebtEnder]

Umm kinda a bad thing but on the day I filed I had no money for gas to get to the office to sign the paperwork, so I used the CC. Never heard a word about it. Again small charge under a few hundred. It is not worth the CC's time to go after small charges. They can't dismiss your case only ask the recent charges to be non-discharged. The rest still would be however.

[frogger]

For $39.00, I wouldn't sweat it. It is best to have 90 days or more in, but this shouldn't be a problem. I would see if the newspaper would credit back the charge however.