Hello, everyone. I'll get right to it. My wife and I are in the middle of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case. We've already had our 341 meeting, and the trustee has decided not to look further into selling any of our assets. We are simply waiting for 8/29/17 to arrive, at which point creditors included in our BK will no longer be able to dispute the discharge of any debts.
A week ago to the day (7/16/17), my wife accidentally used one of the credit cards that had a $0 balance before we filed for bankruptcy. The creditor has not closed the account. I regularly log into the few accounts that had a $0 balance before filing, just to make sure nothing funny happens - annual fee, for example. I logged in today and noticed a balance of $3.26. My wife ordered a book from Amazon last week that was $3.26 including taxes. Naturally, I panicked a bit but am hoping this will turn out okay.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I am sure this is extremely rare since it would very unwise to use a credit card before discharge. Part of me wants to kill her, but she had no idea that the card was on the account, and just clicked "order" after selecting the book and placing it into the cart. I've already emailed and will call my attorney tomorrow, but figured I'd start a thread and see if anyone knows how this matter might be handled. I am hoping that a $3.26 charge that was made by mistake will not cause the dismissal of our case. I would be heartbroken.
Thanks in advance for any insight. Regardless of what happens, I will be sure to report back with my attorney's response.
Starting Score: 560 EQ (Scorewatch), ??? EX, 607 TU (BECU Pull)
I completely understand where you're coming from. I hate that she did it as well, but it wasn't purposeful. She just didn't pay attention. I'm so upset but trying to be calm. She bought something on Amazon and didn't pay attention to the payment method. I wish I would've remembered to delete the card from the payment options, but I don't frequent her Amazon account.
I've notified my attorney and hope to hear from him tomorrow. Sent him an email, but he's off on weekends.
Crossing my fingers that this turns out okay. We've got $3.26 in the bank and haven't used the CC's for anything since months before filing. It was an honest mistake. It would be so terrible for a kindle book purchase to cause dismissal of our case, but I do understand how it could look to the trustee.
I've notified my attorney and hope to hear from him tomorrow. Sent him an email, but he's off on weekends.
Crossing my fingers that this turns out okay. We've got $3.26 in the bank and haven't used the CC's for anything since months before filing. It was an honest mistake. It would be so terrible for a kindle book purchase to cause dismissal of our case, but I do understand how it could look to the trustee.
@560AndRising wrote:
I completely understand where you're coming from. I hate that she did it as well, but it wasn't purposeful. She just didn't pay attention. I'm so upset but trying to be calm. She bought something on Amazon and didn't pay attention to the payment method. I wish I would've remembered to delete the card from the payment options, but I don't frequent her Amazon account.
I've notified my attorney and hope to hear from him tomorrow. Sent him an email, but he's off on weekends.
Crossing my fingers that this turns out okay. We've got $3.26 in the bank and haven't used the CC's for anything since months before filing. It was an honest mistake. It would be so terrible for a kindle book purchase to cause dismissal of our case, but I do understand how it could look to the trustee.
Hopefully you have an understanding trustee, and not the kind I had. But you have to realize something, the trustee is there for creditors, not you. Im sure it was a simple mistake, but when someone is filing a BK, they are supposed to be "poor", and not able to spend on friviolous things like a kindle book. Seems extreme I know, but trustees are there for the creditors to make their life better, not yours. Youre literally at the trustees mercy.
If you havent by now, delete all your credit info on your online accts, because once they get wind of the BK anyways, they will close the cards, and tell your wife NO extra spending on anything right now excpet living expenses until youre in the clear, meaning discharged. You still need to get thru your 341 meeting. I know youre nervous about what happened, and you should be, but lets just see what the attorney says. Hang in there
p.s....tell your attorney your wife thought it was her debit card in the payment section, but it turned out it was a cc that you didnt realize was still open. 
I hope he is understanding. Thanks for your insight.
We already had the 341 meeting, so we're literally just waiting for the discharge after 8/28/17. I agree, she shouldn't have even bought the book until after the discharge. It's a tough situation. I feel sick.
I immediately deleted all cards from online accts. We'll see what happens. I should hear from the attorney tomorrow. I'm probably going to go to his office as soon as they open. I won't be able to rest until then.
We already had the 341 meeting, so we're literally just waiting for the discharge after 8/28/17. I agree, she shouldn't have even bought the book until after the discharge. It's a tough situation. I feel sick.
I immediately deleted all cards from online accts. We'll see what happens. I should hear from the attorney tomorrow. I'm probably going to go to his office as soon as they open. I won't be able to rest until then.
I talked to the attorney today. The advice was just as you thought it would be, which is to pay it off and don't worry about it. According to the attorney, it's not a problem since we didn't list any $0 balance cards in the BK. If this has been one of the cards listed with a balance, it would be bad news. We really lucked out here.
@StartingOver10 wrote:
@560AndRising wrote:Hello, everyone. I'll get right to it. My wife and I are in the middle of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case. We've already had our 341 meeting, and the trustee has decided not to look further into selling any of our assets. We are simply waiting for 8/29/17 to arrive, at which point creditors included in our BK will no longer be able to dispute the discharge of any debts.
A week ago to the day (7/16/17), my wife accidentally used one of the credit cards that had a $0 balance before we filed for bankruptcy. The creditor has not closed the account. I regularly log into the few accounts that had a $0 balance before filing, just to make sure nothing funny happens - annual fee, for example. I logged in today and noticed a balance of $3.26. My wife ordered a book from Amazon last week that was $3.26 including taxes. Naturally, I panicked a bit but am hoping this will turn out okay.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I am sure this is extremely rare since it would very unwise to use a credit card before discharge. Part of me wants to kill her, but she had no idea that the card was on the account, and just clicked "order" after selecting the book and placing it into the cart. I've already emailed and will call my attorney tomorrow, but figured I'd start a thread and see if anyone knows how this matter might be handled. I am hoping that a $3.26 charge that was made by mistake will not cause the dismissal of our case. I would be heartbroken.
Thanks in advance for any insight. Regardless of what happens, I will be sure to report back with my attorney's response.
I am glad you have a happy resolution to the problem.
However, I think there is a larger issue with the highlighted statement. The $3 is a symptom of a larger issue. Not understanding how Amazon (and other etailers) work is a major flaw in today's world. I see that you have taken steps and removed the cc's from other websites - thank goodness. Take some time to educate your wife about how these things work. I am more stunned that she didn't understand the purchasing process than over the actual $3. I don't even know how someone can accidently buy something online. There are many steps to ordering - even with 1 click service. I hope that she isn't trying to torpedo the Bk (in her own way). It's easier to educate someone on the mechanics of how things work then to find out if the purchase truly was an accidental one or not. Good luck.
Well said SO10!! Completely agree here.
OP...Im glad things worked out for you. That what my biggest fear that the CC used was one that was IIB (included in your BK filing). If it had been, your outcome may have been completely different. Thankfully it wasnt. Hang in there!!