Well if that's the way you want it

[Nowwhatohio]

Ok, I admit it, I really really REALLY don't want to declare bankruptcy. Today in my final attempt to keep myself affloat I called BOA to ask to get a lower monthly payment on one account. Keep in mind I have a perfect payment history with them and everyone else for that matter.

They closed all my accounts and referred me to TakeChargeAmerica.

Is it wrong that I want to declare now just for spite? You call to get some help then they give you a push off the cliff? What's the motivation paying off a closed account.

[Nowwhatohio]

As a follow up - how long after defaulting should I declare bankruptcy? I want to get my ducks in a row and I also want to stop throwing money away towards minimum payments - I don't want to give the CCs time to sue me. Should I default 1,2 or 3 months before bankruptcy? Any opinions?

[Beach Bum]

The exact same thing happened to me with BOFA. I had no lates either.
They also maxed all my rates to 30%.

[Beach Bum]

Most here say 90 days. My Attny said right away as long as we didn't make any cash advances or charges over $600??? in the last few months.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Unfortunately, they may have left you with no other choice at this point.

If one of these 2 conditions exist, bk is something you should seriously consider:

1. If BOA's closing of those credit lines now puts you over 100% utilization. Utilization = total debt divided by total open credit lines. If your utilization is now greater than open credit lines, there is little chance of recovery.

2. If BOA transferred the accounts elsewhere. Collections will soon follow. Even if they are still holding the accounts, they have done ratejacked you.

[Nowwhatohio]

Thank god I found a really nice attorney today who I actually had dealings with in the past (credit reporting issues).

He says it's full steam ahead. We're picking the date to file and the icing on the cake is this: I recently did a BT using Cap One to pay down one of my BOA's at a lower APR. This was this month.

My attorney says it's no problem, the Trustee is just going to take the payment from BOA and give it back to Cap One. Those jerks at BOA aren't going to get another red cent from me - I got the greenlight to default and they're even going to lose the extra money I drummed up to pay them down. Screwballs.

[jal1129]

Sometimes it really makes me wonder about collection techniques. I was in the same position as you were, really did'nt want to file and if we had to I wanted to wait to get one particular local creditor paid off so as not to bk them. DH was in an accident and unable to work for several months with no income. I called up this creditor at least half a dozen times begging them to work something out with me, explaining the situation, asking to pay a fee to have payments moved to the end, etc. They absolutely refused and in fact told me if I did'nt have payment in thier office by noon on a certain date they would be sueing me and garnishing my wages. At that point I was only 2 weeks late. I was so mad!! That sealed the deal for me and we filed a couple of weeks later.

I was particularly pleased they did'nt get any more money. If they would've just worked with me they would've got thier money out of me but since they wanted to play hardball, I played back!

[HHM]

Sometimes it really makes me wonder about collection techniques. I was in the same position as you were, really did'nt want to file and if we had to I wanted to wait to get one particular local creditor paid off so as not to bk them. DH was in an accident and unable to work for several months with no income. I called up this creditor at least half a dozen times begging them to work something out with me, explaining the situation, asking to pay a fee to have payments moved to the end, etc. They absolutely refused and in fact told me if I did'nt have payment in thier office by noon on a certain date they would be sueing me and garnishing my wages. At that point I was only 2 weeks late. I was so mad!! That sealed the deal for me and we filed a couple of weeks later.

I was particularly pleased they did'nt get any more money. If they would've just worked with me they would've got thier money out of me but since they wanted to play hardball, I played back!

Yeah but lets put some perspective on this...Bank of America did $116 Billion, that is "Billion" with a "B" in Gross Revenue in 2006. Off of that Gross Revenue, they earned $21.1 Billion in Net Profit.

Although our ego's think that we should be treated like the only customer, the fact is, the few hundred to few thousand dollars of interest they earn off of us is meaningless in the large scheme of things.

[Nowwhatohio]

Yeah but lets put some perspective on this...Bank of America did $116 Billion, that is "Billion" with a "B" in Gross Revenue in 2006. Off of that Gross Revenue, they earned $21.1 Billion in Net Profit.

Although our ego's think that we should be treated like the only customer, the fact is, the few hundred to few thousand dollars of interest they earn off of us is meaningless in the large scheme of things.

Yes but I would think the shareholders wouldn't appreciate the fact that a little finesse might result in larger profits as people do their best to pay back what they owe instead of leaving BOA holding the bag.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

Yes but I would think the shareholders wouldn't appreciate the fact that a little finesse might result in larger profits as people do their best to pay back what they owe instead of leaving BOA holding the bag.

They use it as a tax writeoff. So instead of losing profit they simply pay less taxes.

[lrprn]

They use it as a tax writeoff. So instead of losing profit they simply pay less taxes.

FOMO is 100% right. Trust me - if BoA or any of the other big credit boys could make more money by rolling back their obscene APRs and creating reasonable payment plans so we could actually pay back what we owe, they most certainly would do that. For them, it's all about profit. They actually make more overall forcing us into bankruptcy and then writing us off than working with us. It's shameful that the US tax and financial laws allow that to happen.

[Nowwhatohio]

It sucks. I do want to pay my bills. I would pay every cent back if I could find a monthly payment I could afford.

Does anyone know of a good consolidation place? lol

[BKTango]

It sucks. I do want to pay my bills. I would pay every cent back if I could find a monthly payment I could afford.

Does anyone know of a good consolidation place? lol

I felt the same way as you, and tried to make some sort of arrangements and payments for awhile. Then I did the whole debt settlement thing, a year later I was deeper in debt thanks to all the late fees and had lawsuits out the wazoo. Good times they were lol.

If you go the consolidated route, please please please make sure they are a non-profit legitimate group (which are getting harder to find). Unfortunately though most of those places, don't really lower your monthly payment just the amount of years you would be paying. For example, the one we visited before bk, after the debt settlement fiasco, they offered us up a plan with payments at $800 a month, meanwhile I knew we qualified for chapter 7 and I knew that when we were still paying all the creditors that was $525 a month and we couldn't afford that...so how could we afford $800? So bk was our choice in the end. It's just business.

[WantToBeDebtFre]

The same exact thing happened to me. I called BOA last week to see if we could negotiate a better payment - I explained things have been hard lately financially. I've never missed a payment and have really good credit. So yesterday I get a letter in the mail that they are closing my account and I need to tear up my credit cards and checks. Now I'm really worried because after I talked to them last week I used one of their checks to give myself a cash advance of $1000. So I'm wondering if the check is going to end up bouncing in my bank account. I'll be so mad because I didn't know they were closing my account.

[glc4122]

debt consolidation

yes i have a question about the ninty days or $600.00 amount. what happens if i use my cards in the preceeding 90 days before i file? do i have to pay this amount back? and also the $600.00 amount is this all totals of credit cards or one purchase of $600.00?

thank you