Midland harassing ex post bankruptcy...

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2022

Long story short, I filed bankruptcy roughly 3 years ago and included all of my then wife's debt as community property. Every bank accepted that and moved on, but one of the debts ended up with Midland. They've been reporting it to the agencies and it's destroying my now ex-wife's credit. I'm posting here because I'd really like to help her sort this out. She's attempted to challenge the collections reports with the bureaus (not sure which one specifically) but got rejected. Her debts were included in the bankruptcy and should have been written off. What recourse do we have, if any? Short of negotiating with these vultures, how do we resolve this situation so that her credit isn't perpetually hijacked by Midland?

Cowboys4Life · ‎02-06-2022

@Anonymous wrote:
Long story short, I filed bankruptcy roughly 3 years ago and included all of my then wife's debt as community property. Every bank accepted that and moved on, but one of the debts ended up with Midland. They've been reporting it to the agencies and it's destroying my now ex-wife's credit. I'm posting here because I'd really like to help her sort this out. She's attempted to challenge the collections reports with the bureaus (not sure which one specifically) but got rejected. Her debts were included in the bankruptcy and should have been written off. What recourse do we have, if any? Short of negotiating with these vultures, how do we resolve this situation so that her credit isn't perpetually hijacked by Midland?

Unfortunately what you may be facing is the issue that YOU filing BK on a community property debt only absolves your responsibility to pay it. It does nothing to absolve HER responsibility for the debt especially considering it was her account. You need to check with the attorney that represented you. If they are violating BK law a quick letter from the firm should straighten it out.

sihmud · ‎02-06-2022

@Anonymous wrote:
Long story short, I filed bankruptcy roughly 3 years ago and included all of my then wife's debt as community property. Every bank accepted that and moved on, but one of the debts ended up with Midland. They've been reporting it to the agencies and it's destroying my now ex-wife's credit. I'm posting here because I'd really like to help her sort this out. She's attempted to challenge the collections reports with the bureaus (not sure which one specifically) but got rejected. Her debts were included in the bankruptcy and should have been written off. What recourse do we have, if any? Short of negotiating with these vultures, how do we resolve this situation so that her credit isn't perpetually hijacked by Midland?

Was midland included in the BK?

if so forward them the discharge paperwork showing them and the debt discharged. If the debt was with the primary lender at the time of BK and somehow got sold to midland after the fact. Forward them the discharge paperwork with the debt included on the discharge with the primary lender information.

despritfreya · ‎02-07-2022

@Cowboys4Life wrote:
Unfortunately what you may be facing is the issue that YOU filing BK on a community property debt only absolves your responsibility to pay it. It does nothing to absolve HER responsibility. . .

The above post is on the right track. When you were married, you obtained a "community" discharge. That type of discharge does not discharge the sole and separate obligation of the non-filing spouse. Regardless, your divorce severed the "community" therefore there is no longer a "community discharge".

All creditors listed in your bk have the right to go after your ex-wife on her sole & separate liability. If some have chosen not to do this then she is lucky as it relates to those creditors.

Des.

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2022

Just to clarify, we're not officially divorced as of yet... we're still going through that process. Their attempt to collect is unrelated to the divorce.

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2022

One other point that I failed to mention, is that Midland attempted to serve her with a lawsuit last year. After forwarding the discharge paperwork to them, they dropped the suit. They have not stopped their collection attempts however, which is negatively impacting her credit score. Should we try to negotitate in writing to pay 20% and should that letter come from my ex-wife, a lawyer, a third party company that offers credit repair services, etc? Is there any other way forward, besides negotiating with these vermin?

despritfreya · ‎02-07-2022

@Anonymous wrote:
Just to clarify, we're not officially divorced as of yet... we're still going through that process. Their attempt to collect is unrelated to the divorce.

Creditors can still go after her on her sole & separate liability, having nothing to do with the community discharge. If the creditor obtains a judgment, it cannot collect from community property but, again, a divorce will sever the "community".

What your spouse is facing is the reason I typically advise against leaving one spouse off the bk.

Des.

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2022

Since they received the discharge notice and are unaware of the pending divorce, is there any recourse we can take to get them to lay off? As of today, it's still legally recognized as community property. How can we get Midland to drop their reports to the bureaus?

FireMedic1 · ‎02-08-2022

Once Midland is settled or PIF. They will delete themselves from reports if its more than 2yrs old. How much are you talking about?

BK Free Aug25

Anonymous · ‎02-09-2022

What's PIF? About 16k, I think.

(edit: figured out, paid in full)

Since the discharge papers have been sent to them and they've dropped a lawsuit in response, is there not also a way to get them to lay off the collections reporting? They know they can't legally go after her, since they've been delivered the discharged documents. Why can't we also get them to cease hijacking her credit with the bureaus?