Store Cards and Dell Financial

[Nightmares]

Hello,

I've been lurking for the past 6 months. Talked to three different lawyers all of which I could not afford to file my Ch.7. I've had one lawyer who was kind and told me to email him any questions I might have. I seriously doubt he would answer the questions I have now as it would imply that I will not be retaining his services. So, can anyone tell me if I list my store cards (Sears, Macy's) and Dell Financial services card on Schedule D - Creditors Holding Secured Claims? or Do they go on schedule F? The Dell account is really throwing me off.

Thanks in advance!
I return to lurking, I love this forum!

[justbroke]

It's up to you to decide which schedule to put them on. Some people will put them on Schedule F because they don't know (unsure) that they may be secured. (Yep, most people don't know that the majority of department store cards carry a PMSI lien on everything they buy!)

FWIW, they are all secured lenders. Just look at your credit card agreement and you'll see a paragraph titled "Security Interest" or something similar. This makes it a secured debt.

[SMinGA]

For the accounts - did you buy multiple items over time, and make payments over time? If so - I'd say to consider them unsecured. It would be hard to reconcile what items had been paid off, what remained with a 'security interest'. If you bought 1 or 2 major items on a store account, they may have an argument for security interest. If so - be sure to list the asset at its current value. If you no longer have it, I believe you'd list it as $0 value and the account would automatically be unsecured.

[justbroke]

I actually listed most of my store cards as unsecured (Schedule F). A few ended up on Schedule D.

[tigergem]

If it was me, I would put them on schedule F and wait and see if they file a claim, and change it if the claim states secured. A lot of times those creditors don't check the check boxes on the claims! In this district, that is not treated as such a big deal, but I guess from what I've heard, in some districts, misuse of the check boxes is cause enough to have a claim dismissed upon objection.

[Nightmares]

Thanks very much everyone!

Ok, a one more question about secured claims. I'm currently having my paycheck garnished by two separate credit cards, capital one and a collection agency who purchased the bad debt from another cc. Are those garnishments considered secured debt?

http://www.bkforum.com/images/smilies/blush2.gif

Question two, do I still have to attach schedules that don't pertain to my situation. I don't own any real property no unsecured priority claims. I've been marking them in my summary of schedules as "yes" under attached and listing dollar amounts a "0".

[tigergem]

No. Garnishments in and of themselves are not considered to be secured debt, but always it depends upon the nature of the underlying debt and what you purchased to incur it.

Here is a link to the Nolo legal dictionary so you can look up and understand the terminology you are dealing with. http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/home.html

In one of the forms you will find a question about certain amounts being paid to creditors in the last few months before you filed. You need to put the dates and amounts of the garnishments in there.

And yes, you should file all schedules, even if they are blank or $0.

[Nightmares]

Thanks Tigergem and thank god for this forum!