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Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

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goodygoody
Regular Contributor

Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

Hi there,

 

Credit card companies and creditors keep calling my cell, and I've been dodging them for the most part - my husband and I are meeting with a bankruptcy attorney next week for a consultation. But today Discover called me at work, and to get off the phone, I told her to call me back on my cell at 5. Is there any reason I shouldn't tell her that we're meeting with a bankruptcy attorney? I know this won't change Discover's desire to get their money, but I'd rather just tell her that than get stuck on the phone talking about our finances and working out a plan that I probably won't end up paying anyway if we go bankrupt.

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
TRC_WA
Senior Contributor

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

If you are 100% certain you are filing I'd tell them... doesn't mean they won't stop calling you until they get notice by the court... but they might.

FICO8 current as of : ----- EQ: --- TU: --- EX: ---
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Total CL: $45,000 --- Total CC UTI: --% --- AAoA: 5.5 years --- Income: $200k
Last app: 11-30-23
Message 2 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

I did with a few of mine. And i even apologized to them "for having to file". I simply told them i wanted to give them a heads up, especially to the one's i stay current with and plan on retaining in the bankruptcy..like my car loan,mortgage. I told them i didnt want them to recieve the notice in the mail and wonder wth happened. Medical bills, credit cards im leting go. Most of them asked if i had a "case #" yet, and at the time i didnt. But i told them i was meeting with an attorney on such and such date. Basically they said they would "document it" but "collection attempts may not stop", which they have to tell you, really. They wont stop till you file. I just filed 1/27th. I received in the mail yesterday by notice from the court and the 341 meeting is early March. Fingers crossed. 

Message 3 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

There's absolutely no reason to tell your creditors. Telling them has absolutely no effect at all on their collection efforts, so there's no benefit to telling them. If they call you at work, tell them they no longer have permission to call you at work. If they call on your cell phone, block the number.

Message 4 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

We told our creditors and they all stopped calling as soon as we did. We were current on everything until we made an appt with our attorney. She said there was no reason to continue to pay so we stopped in Sept....Our phone was literally ringing constantly between 7am-9pm starting about two weeks after we didn't make our first cc payment. Our attorney will take phone calls as soon as a deposit is made so I think we paid her $200 right away and then gave her number to our creditors as they called. I'm honestly not sure if they called the office or not. The attorney said that if they do call they just tell them that they do in fact plan on representing their clients and give them an anticipated date of filing and that in her experience most creditors stop calling. 

 

Honestly it was a huge relief to NOT have to worry about the calls. We are planning on filing within the next few weeks so we would have had five months of calls!!

Message 5 of 8
DaveInAZ
Senior Contributor

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?


@Anonymous wrote:

We told our creditors and they all stopped calling as soon as we did. We were current on everything until we made an appt with our attorney. She said there was no reason to continue to pay so we stopped in Sept....Our phone was literally ringing constantly between 7am-9pm starting about two weeks after we didn't make our first cc payment. Our attorney will take phone calls as soon as a deposit is made so I think we paid her $200 right away and then gave her number to our creditors as they called. I'm honestly not sure if they called the office or not. The attorney said that if they do call they just tell them that they do in fact plan on representing their clients and give them an anticipated date of filing and that in her experience most creditors stop calling. 

 

Honestly it was a huge relief to NOT have to worry about the calls. We are planning on filing within the next few weeks so we would have had five months of calls!!


The more time I spend her on MYFico the more I realize how lousy my BK attorney was. I paid in in full at our first consultation.I had been using checks from one CC to make the minimum payments on other CCs, so my attorney told me we had to wait 90 days to file as those were considered cash advances and could be disputed as non-dischargable. I asked what I should do when collections started calling. He asked if I had caller ID and I said yes, and he said "well, don't answer the calls from creditors", never offering to give them his number. By the end of the 90 days the calls had to be 30-40/day. The worst was Chase, they used some outfit in India that used fake caller ID that said various things but never "Chase". The couple I answered wanted permission to charge the past due payments to my bank account on record with them. I told them "No, there's no money in that account". Actually, I had closed that account. Good thing, as I had several notices of Chase attempting to charge the account and would have hundreds in OD charges if it was still open. Some of the India reps must have claimed I told them "Sure, go right ahead & take the payments from my account" - what do you expect when you outsource collections to a country with alot of people getting paid next to nothing?

Message 6 of 8
USF813
Frequent Contributor

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?

Ha I've been to India. It isn't THAT third world. Half your meds come from there after all! It just has too many people, but some dang good curry.
Message 7 of 8
DaveInAZ
Senior Contributor

Re: Any reason NOT to tell creditors we're meeting with bankruptcy attorney?


@USF813 wrote:
Ha I've been to India. It isn't THAT third world. Half your meds come from there after all! It just has too many people, but some dang good curry.

I thought about that when I posted,, didn't want to come off as putting it down. Post edited. I don't really blame the folks who tried to take payments from my bank account, they work for dollars per day and getting a payment on a seriously delinquent account was probably a nice commisison. I blame Chase for outsourcing to probably the cheapest place were English is commonly spoken.

 

I've been India too & thought . . . well, that was on the mid 1980s, I'm sure alot has changed in 30 years. Good curry, but after a month I was hungering for a big, juicy steak....

Message 8 of 8
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