What should I do with a settlement but it isn't enough to pay off everything

[Anonymous]

Hey Fire,
I wasn't talking about NFCU because I can't so anything with that balance right now. But I also had an actual AMEX with a balance of $1300. I was wondering if it is worth paying to avoid burning them.
My lawyer didn't mention including 0 balances on the bankruptcy but that I should close them because once I file they'll close and it will look better if I close them

[Anonymous]

Thank you Comp, I will check out that link. How old were your cards with Amex? Mine is only 3years old and I wonder if they'll do the same. I'm kinda tempted to pay the discover it as well but I want to keep some of my money. That balance is about $2000.

[Anonymous]

I've had my AMEX cards -- two personal and two business -- since 1989. 

If I were you, I'd play the long game, and pay off the cards to zero in an attempt to keep them. 

I thought for sure AMEX would close my accounts when I filed, even though I didn't owe them anything and when they didn't, I was shocked. Here's my story:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/How-AMEX-Stood-By-Me-Post-BK7/m-p/5842001

Both AMEX and Discover may cancel your accounts when you file even if you don't owe them anything, but you never know what might happen, but, we have to wonder, why would they cancel you if you owe them nothing, and they know that post-BK, you can't get out of paying them for the next decade? Trying to keep your cards is a risk I'd take to get a big head start on rebuilding. You wouldn't lose account aging, and you've have some credit left to start rebuilding immediately. 

If I had included my AMEX cards in my BK, even with a zero balance, I am certain I would've been Blacklisted. My attorney told me not to include them, and he was prescient, and right!  

[Anonymous]

Oh, and you should also be wary of looking like your giving preferential treatment to one card over another -- and that might get you in trouble. If you continue to make some sort of payment on all your cards, you should be okay, but check with your attorney. Paying off one card to save it, while you don't pay other cards, is not good form. I was fortunate that my AMEX cards never had a balance, so I wasn't prefering them over another card in payment in the preparation for filing. 

[Anonymous]

Lawyer said it would be ok because it was a small amount. I'll ask him again to be sure. But keeping that money and losing Amex forever is kinda ok with me. LOL

They don't let you back in right?

[Anonymous]

I think timing is a big part of it -- paying off a CC the day before you file to try to keep the card doesn't look good to the court, but paying of a CC to zero 60 days before you file may look a bit better. Sounds like your lawyer is on top of the matter, and he knows the details of your filing.

As I understand it, AMEX won't let you back in unless you pay them something. My attorney said AMEX is a little kinder now, and he gets offers every day from AMEX for his clients to get back in if they pay "pennies on the dollar" to settle what they owed. He doesn't recommend doing that at that point. He says if your BK is discharged, you don't go back and resurrect an old debt to maybe, maybe not, get back in. 

[Anonymous]

I've decided to let Amex go and hold onto as much cash as possible. For a variety of reasons cash is more important right now than the possibility of maybe holding onto AMEX.
My income is low, I need an apartment and etc.
I already see my mind set changing. I need business supplies and even though I technically have $400 I could spend on them I've organized my supplies and was able to determine what I need vs want and only have to spend $100. And I can only do that if I have the cash that's not from my settlement.

[Anonymous]

Clevername here.  I got locked out of my account. 

I found some credit unions I'm interested in applying to, but do I have to wait until my discharge date? Right now my meeting is 2/18/20.

THe creditors are still calling me though.  Don't they know by now?