Will the laws ever change?

[mydebtsucks]

Will these laws ever change to look at the TRUE credit past of a person? Why didn't they get smart and look at how WELL people paid in the past for most of their lives? They can do a "look-back" and see how POORLY you have done in a year, but what about how many times you were on time! I have had one of my CC for 15 years! And was NEVER late!!! But things change (unfortunately I have now found out - VERY RAPIDLY!!). The true measure of abuse should go back much further if that's what they truly wanted to prevent. No one would find anything to even come NEAR abuse. Debt doesn't happen in a year, it happens over decades at times as you work your butt off. It's CUMULATIVE! No furs or fancy gems here - Just never any luck. Grow up poor, live as an adult poor, pay for my own education, never had a home, got sick, got screwed over a few times, blah blah blah and on and on. And boom - BK.
Let me guess, the CC companies were the biggest lobbyists for these new laws?

**If I sound bitter - then at least I know I can convey it well in writing because YES, I am.

[aa06a47]

That is how it came upon most people, but not all people. My x-wife (I just found out yesterday looking up names on pacer) filed 1 year after our divorce. She left the marriage with me paying every stinking penny of every debt she incurred, both debt before and during our marriage. Her debt was incurred in a realative short amount of time. Knowing her, she bought all of whatever and planned on bk. (It wasn't for medical or anything like that...she has top notch medical benifits from her job). I also looked and saw her boyfriend at the time filed as well.

Anyway, venting myself here. (It was funny she left me 2 days after I told her we could not physically pay all the bills that month.)

[aa06a47]

I am not really sure the "abuse" section works against people facing bk. Face it, 70 days for cash advances and 90 days for large expenses doesn't seem, at least to me, unreasonable. And as far as that goes, it isn't hard to actually wait the 90 days to file after you quit using your cards. Yes, the phone goes crazy from time to time, you get cranky with the letters..ect. (I know, I waited about 120 days past my last advance to file, and could have waited longer, but got so sick of it all)

I do think most trustees look back at your past payment practices when looking for abuse. If you charged things for a year, and never paid a dime, I think they would rule abuse. If you paid 5 years and was never late or missed a payment, how can they say you "abused" the system.

If this isn't what you were talking about, I apologize for ranting about it so long.

[edwards2]

Boy can I identify with you mydebtsucks...I paid a Providan account for 10 years and was NEVER late and the minute I was late - the month before we filed - they doubled my payment and came after me with a vengeance. Not only that they reported me 60 days late which was outrageous. Of course I challenged it and am in the process AGAIN of submitting paperwork but it really upset me. I know cc companies dont have a heart or soul but it was still very upsetting. I agree with you about checking your total history and trustees do look for patterns. We had nearly perfect credit when tragedy struck. We didnt have new cars, etc. either. I dont think that is the norm anyway. Things happen - bad things and more often than not, uncontrollable things. Despite our catastrophie we continued to make payments for almost 3 years and then literally realized we could no longer rob Peter to pay Paul because there wasnt any Peter any longer. It was embarrassing but there were no options left. Unfortunately, I think a lot of lenders do look at your most recent history. They want to know "what have you done for me lately?" BK is not terminal though and it takes time to rebuild but a lot of us on this forum have done just that. I still feel compelled to tell our story when asked about our BK because there are lenders out there who still view BK as a situation created by irresponsible people who could not manage their finances. There is light at the end of the tunnel though because we have already gotten over the hurdle of being able to get a decent card...not a high limit -$1K but that's all I want anyway. My husband and I both have several cards so maybe by August we will be able to refinance. A lender told us we needed to wait 1 year before we try...good luck...and by the way dont be shy about telling a potential lender your credit history(pre-BK)...I do.

[SinkingFast]

All the attnys here said they wanted a copy of our Credit Reports. I ran those early in February before anything really started to show.

I about died.

25 years of pays as agreed was going down the toilet.

All these loans we've had and paid off.

We're going into Foreclosure on one house, but we've owned 2 others that we successfully bought, maintained, and sold. Notes paid in full.

An Ivory Soap credit history, 99.44%, down the tubes.

[Minnymouth]

For all of you who had excellent credit history and scores before having to file bankruptcy.
You will be AMAZED that filing bankruptcy really isn't going to hurt you like you think.
After a waiting period of 1 year or so, you will be able to obtain credit easily and lower interest rate also.
Potential lenders DO LOOK AT PAST HISTORY of paying. How many accounts you had, paying habits, and whether you had accounts paid in full over the years.
I was amazed that claiming BK did not affect my score that much......all because of 40 years of excellent credit history behind me....

Minny

[debtisbad]

Thanks for the post, Minny. I am so worried about this. I had credit in the 700's for 15+ years. Now it has tanked. I just want to be able to buy a car, rent an apt, or whatever without having to have a loan shark rate!