Postpone BK 7 to payoff charged off Amex?

[kerinmiami]

Hi everyone,

Yes, it may sound stupid but I do not want to burn my Amex in BK7 - Platinum, Delta Platinum and ED (about 3k-) I think within 60-90 days or so of filing you should not have any spending over $600. If I pay off those cards in collections (yes, I recevied the rebuilder card offer from them). So should I pay them off? Then wait 60-90 days and then file BK7? No one is from any other card holder besides one or two - BOA may or someone.

I have read many different comments online here and other places - If you burn Amex banned your banned for LIFE!  banned for 10 years, banned until you pay off the amount you owe and burned, but can they even take money from anyone after BK7 is that even legal?

Does the amount you owe matter that got burned?

I saw a post here - burned Amex 10 years ago got approved for Gold CC. Then another post 5.1 years after filing but do not included in Bk. I'd rather wait 5.1 vs 10. But hell 10 is better than a life time!

I worked really hard to get my Platinum card and the others. I was able to have it for 5 years. Living in the past - don't judge me please.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't this be showing favoritism to a certain creditor?

I wouldn't risk it, especially just for a piece of metal/plastic. 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Repaying-AMEX-Post-BK/td-p/6010353 

Sometimes, you just have to move on. There'll always be other options, now and 5 years from now.

[Anonymous]

IMO? No, No No.

The priority is correcting your financial situation - don't worry about a relationship with a lender. 

There are plenty of others to do business with on the other side. 

[Jnbmom]

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@Anonymous wrote:

IMO? No, No No.

The priority is correcting your financial situation - don't worry about a relationship with a lender. 

There are plenty of others to do business with on the other side. 

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This 💯. Your finances should be your only concern right now , not staying in the good graces of a creditor.

[Anonymous]

The bankruptcy trustees frown on favoring a creditor*, and they may just claw back the money you paid AmEx and redistribute it and you'll be banned by AmEx anyway for just as long as if you had thrown them in the pile. Plus you'll be out whatever you paid them and bankrupt anyway.

It also jeopardizes your bankruptcy case. Either play by the rules or don't file bankruptcy.

*(Unless you have a good reason, like "I have a car loan and I need to keep that to get to work and make my doctor's appointments." In that case, your attorney should be able to figure out the best course of action.)

[pizza1]

in short....absolutely not. Thats showing favoritism to a lender prior to filing, and that could actually get your BK dismissed even after you filed.

[Anonymous]

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@pizza1 wrote:
in short....absolutely not. Thats showing favoritism to a lender prior to filing, and that could actually get your BK dismissed even after you filed.

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They could probably re-file 180 days later, but that lifts the automatic stay for 180 days and you'd better believe the creditor will let the fur fly then.

It'll definitely be smash, grab, take it for 6 months and, in some cases, if your prior bankruptcy was dismissed, EVERYTHING on it is now impossible to discharge.

You really need to make sure you get it right the first time, and that usually means hiring an attorney even if it looks like it's stupid to pay them $900 or in that neighborhood to fill out some papers.

(Attorney means ATTORNEY not bankruptcy preparer. Don't use a preparer.)

My attorney charged $795 (gotta shop around) and was a very cheap insurance policy against $100,000 in debt coming down on me like an atomic bomb.

[pizza1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@pizza1 wrote:
in short....absolutely not. Thats showing favoritism to a lender prior to filing, and that could actually get your BK dismissed even after you filed.

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They could probably re-file 180 days later, but that lifts the automatic stay for 180 days and you'd better believe the creditor will let the fur fly then.

It'll definitely be smash, grab, take it for 6 months and, in some cases, if your prior bankruptcy was dismissed, EVERYTHING on it is now impossible to discharge.

You really need to make sure you get it right the first time, and that usually means hiring an attorney even if it looks like it's stupid to pay them $900 or in that neighborhood to fill out some papers.

(Attorney means ATTORNEY not bankruptcy preparer. Don't use a preparer.)

My attorney charged $795 (gotta shop around) and was a very cheap insurance policy against $100,000 in debt coming down on me like an atomic bomb.

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@Anonymous , we are not here to encourage" refiling" so someone can take care of a prior debt just to be able to get back in with them a little sooner after BK, and then dodge bullets for 6 months until they can refile. That's unethical, and could come back and bite them.  Trustees are not stupid. They could deny his refiling 6 months later, and then what will the OP do? 

[Anonymous]

What part of my post made it sound like I was encouraging a refile?

I basically said "They will have six months to smash, grab, and take from you.", "The court might not allow a discharge (from a refile).", and "Get yourself a lawyer even if it looks simple because it can turn into a major disaster quickly when it looked like just filing forms."

Roughly 23%, iirc, who file a BK7 without a lawyer only live to regret it, and so they could save what? Less than 1% of what they probably owe the creditor people?

[DebtStinks]

@kerinmiami As others have said, even if you wait the necessary period of time so it's not considered "preferential treatment" of an individual credtitor, you're delaying your filing and rebuild, running the risk of lawsuit/garnishment from other creditors, etc. IMO, once you want to file, don't wait. Many of us, like myself, only regret not filing sooner.

With regards to AMEX, you'd have to wait a minimum 5 yrs 1 month whether you included them or not. (known guidelines as of late)

In addition, much like with a lot of credit unions like NFCU, you can choose to repay a debt even after it was included in BK. AMEX is a different animal and we've seen people with success getting back in with AMEX after IIB and then some who never had an AMEX account who struggle to get approved after 5-10 years. YMMV.

In conclusion, in my unprofessional non-attorney opinion, file now. Put it in the past. If you choose to repay AMEX down the road, so be it. Otherwise, there are plenty of other creditors out there. American Express, IMO, no longer carries the prestige it once had.

Best of luck! See you on the other side of BK!