considering chapter 7, cannot pay credit card, how do I deal with collection calls?

[Anonymous]

I cannot pay one of my credit card bills. I've never been late before, but now I am about 30 days late. They call me multiple times per day. I talked with them a couple times, but I cannot come up with the minimum payment they want. How do I get them to leave me alone without triggering some sort of lawsuit?

[washpadude]

In my experience, most creditors will charge off your account at six months. Lawsuits are unlikely before that time and many creditors will not pursue legal action. Discover and Capital One are exceptions, if you owe either you can count on being sued after the chargeoff. Other accounts will be sold to collection agencies that may decide to sue depending on the dollar amount involved.

The short story is that you have time if you need it. I waited a year after I stopped paying my creditors. Discover sued and obtained a judgement which motivated me to get on with filing ch7. The $1350 attorney fee had been holding me back.

In retrospect, I should have filed much earlier as I would now be further along in rebuilding. On the flip side, living without credit for two years was a good learning experience. Also, ch7 did wonders for my credit. I now have far more credit on much better terms than I ever did before.

[wa3more]

 send them a letter to contact you by mail only. Your state may have its own version of FDCPA that will apply to original creditors.

Use BK as last resort. Some creditors you can use arbitration and others will settle. BK is nuclear option.

[enjoimorenow]

You should just answer one of the calls, explain your situation, and see if they can work with you.  You didn't state the balance of your card, but filing BK over ONE CC bill seems a little silly unless you really see no way of ever being able to repay it.  If you're 30 days late you can probably just talk and try to settle with them, and after some more on time payments you could try a GW letter to get the late(s) removed.  

[wa3more]

i agree with enjoi. Not sure what balance is but to BK one card with 5 or 10k is crazy. BK follows you around a long time.

[cem13]

Keep in mind that your ceditors know your financial condition.  They know this via soft pulls.  So if you are truely in trouble, you need to ask them for help.  

The last thing they want is BK7/13, then they get little to nothing back.  Call them, tell them the truth about your situation and they will likely work with you.

Now for the required BUT........   I had several late CC accounts when I lost my high paying job in the automotive industry in 2008.  Everyone except Disco was willing to put me on a repayment plan.  Disco filed a lawsuit against me and I was forced to file BK7.

After my discharge, I called my Disco personal Customer Care Manager and asked her "why does Disco file lawsuits against people who are willing to pay?"  She said at that time, there were so many defaults that they could not process everyone.  So the order from Senior Management was lawsuit, no negotiation.

I laughed at her and said, "Now you get nothing and I get all my debts wiped clean."  She responded by saying, "Its not my money anyway.  I dont care"  So there you have it.

I think Disco was the exception and not the rule.  Most companies want their money and will work with you.

Good luck and keep us informed.

[wa3more]

I had a number of accounts with chase and 1 with Amex. No one wanted to work with me. They did not care. They just wanted their money. You have a 401k ? drain in to pay them they will say. They can't touch 401k accounts. Now i dont do business with chase or amex. They will ask you to fill out a financial statement which is like a debtors exam to make it easier to find assets when they get a default judgment. It's a numbers game they play. Payment plan ? sure. They know you will eventually default.