BK Ch 7, Unpaid Engagement dilema

[Whittier]

My ex-fiancee and I purchased a ring in 10/2009 for $3999+tax, he paid $150
on his credit card (his limit was only $2K as he is very conservative with debt and had a secured card with his credit union) and I charge the rest on my (about $2800) D.Jewelry store account. Well lord and behold in December 2009 we break things off after 7 yrs of being together. During the transition of moving out and having people in and out the darn ring came up missing and now I owe about $2,600 since I will file for BK and need to pay an attorney I'm putting the payment ($150/monthly) for the ring toward the attorney I will retain (I don't seem the point of paying for a ring I do not have plus I do not have the means to pay for both). All the attorneys I called won't file my case until paid in full (Los Angeles, CA). So I had to make the decision to put all available monies towards getting my BK filed since now I got stuck with a mortgage alone and two small kids (I fkd up by giving the milk for free , actually we would of gotten married 5 years ago but we ended up using our money to pay for my mom's medical bills......then time just passed us by...........................

I don't want anyone to think I'm pulling anything please....what can I do since I have no ring to return to the creditor and the Trustee will/might ask for it.......it's missing sound weird. But it's the truth.

[Flamingo]

Did you have renter's or homeowner's insurance at the time the ring was lost and did you report it? For a ring of that cost, most people take our a rider to add the ring to their insurance; otherwise, most policies have a limit for lost or stolen jewelry, say like $1,000. You state "mortgage" above so I am assuming you had house insurance. If you did not report it to your homeowner's insurance, you may be questioned why.

[Whittier]

Did you have renter's or homeowner's insurance at the time the ring was lost and did you report it? For a ring of that cost, most people take our a rider to add the ring to their insurance; otherwise, most policies have a limit for lost or stolen jewelry, say like $1,000. You state "mortgage" above so I am assuming you had house insurance. If you did not report it to your homeowner's insurance, you may be questioned why.

I didn't report it as I didn't realize it was missing, I was hopeful it would turn out somewhere in the house. I didn't even think to add insurance to it, it never cross my mind it would come up missing or that we would break up (he didn't take it that I know for sure).....only took it off because of the break-up. Didn't know my mortgage insurance would cover it and the deductible it's $1000 (which I truely cannot pay right not to replace a ring I don't need for now) but not sure if it covers rings and other.....I though it cover the house (structure to rebuilt and such)

[BCA2009]

Basically all you can do is go ahead and file and hope that the company does not file an adversarial proceding. For the amount of money involved, there is a good chance they wont. But worst case, if they do and win, you will still have to pay the balance off after BK.

Some on this baord might tell you to make the minimum payments for a few more months to put some time between the charge and your filing date. That would be a decision you will have to make based on your overall situation.

We were worried about our income going up slightly, so I filed as soon as I could and wasn't worried about anyone filing a AP. It was a risk I was willing to take. But if you know that you will qualify for a while, there is no real reason to hurry other than the stress factor of wanting to get it overwith.

If at the time you bought the ring, your were not in financial trouble (I assume with the boyfriend's income you could afford the ring) and you have made a few payments, it shouldn't be an issue. The Jewelry store would have to spend as much as you owe on the ring to challenge the charge. Plus the jewelry store probably only paid about $800 for the ring in the first place.

Good Luck

[StartingOver08]

From your post, it looks like you used the store credit card to buy this ring. That means the creditor has a Purchase Money Security Interest in the ring.

It is very possible that the store will ask for the ring to be returned because of the PMSI. There are many posts where other stores have had a purchase money security interest and have asked for the return of the merchandise. Make sure to bring up this subject with your attorney to see what he suggests in your district. You can search here on this forum to see what others have done in similar situations. Some examples include the following:
1) ignored the creditors request (this is most common for Best Buy type items)
2) surrender the item (but this is not an option if you don't have the ring)
3) make a deal for $X

[OhioFiler]

The court may have a difficult time accepting the notion the ring disappeared especially if the lender pursues the matter.

[Whittier]

I didn't even think about the ring until I read this forum, it was so upsetting break off that I just sat it and cannot seem to locate it. I have search and search. The freaking store is called Daniel's Jeweler's and they have ghetto people to deal with over the phone that I do cannot get a word out before something stupid or condescending is said to offer a settlement. Don't know if they will spend the money to fight it but the people in their "acct corp offices" are plain horrible to work with. I was at my local courthouse and they sure file lots of small claims where most debtors don't know, you typically do not need an attorney in small claims and the process is simple....don't know what's the cost difference with BK though.

I'm not filing until July as I first need to come up with money to pay off the counsel for Ch 7 BK.