I've run into some serious trouble with too many credit cards and too high of balances. I just can't pay them because my husband and I aren't making the income we were months ago. We currently have good credit as far as that we have always paid on time and that I've had these cards for years, but this month I can't stretch our money to pay even the minimum payment. I tried consolidating with Ameridebt, but even that montly payment is too much for me to pay, so I backed out. My question is, if I decide to bail on these cards: Balances ranging from $5000 to $7000 (totalling $35,000) what's going to happen to me if I don't file for bankrupcy? I know that creditors will start calling, and that our credit will be ruined for 7 years, but what else? What dangers am I facing? This is what I'm imagining: Someone coming into my house and carrying away items of value, my checking account being drained, lawsuits, etc. Can someone let me know? Should I barracade myself in my home? Thanks - Desperate in Denver!!
Do you have any sort of insurance or credit protection on any of these accounts? I know that when my mother had an accident and was unemployed several of her credit cards and a loan through her bank had insurance that kicked in until she was in a better situation. I believe at the time she was even working part time. To be honest with you, and I am not sure if everyone here would agree or not, do not let your cards default especially if you already have great credit. My balances when I was in college were only like $500.00 per card and if I had only worked a little more with the creditors of those cards, I would have never let such small balances default into such higher balances and into charge offs. I would recommend seeing if you could contact your creditors see if there is something they can do to assist you temporarily while you try to discover other solutions. These are just my thoughts.
Have you tried calling the credit card companies? I'm not sure how helpful they could be but I remember my mother was in a similar situation a couple of years ago and because she called them and let them know what was going on, they worked with her and didn't report any late payments. It's worth a try... prissypoo
Been there. Done that. I recommend that you make a small investment right now. Run out to your local bookstore and buy a copy of "Money Troubles" by Nolo Press. Read it cover to cover this weekend. It is one of the best books on how to deal with situations like yours. The short version. Your creditors can't do anything like you are worrying about until they sue you and win a judgement. That will take a little bit of time. When you stop paying, you are sent to internal collections, then external collections, then the lawyers. You have 4 months or so to prepare for battle. The key is to prevent your creditors from getting a judgement on you. That means making sure that they do not succeed in suing you. The reason is that judgements are very, very bad. Personally, I'd rather declare BK than allow a creditor to get a judgement. As my lawyer once told me... "Judgements are forever." No. They aren't going to show up and start hauling away your furniture. They can loot your accounts and garnish your paycheck. All of these things are done AFTER JUDGEMENT. A bankruptcy will stop them. With the new BK reform going through congress right now (which pretty much makes bankruptcy illegal for the average American - a nice piece of law bought and paid for by the US credit card industry). Once you become delinquent, your credit is toast for a long time. Don't worry about it for a couple of years. You have more important things to worry about. I don't want to take up too much space here. Can you please read that book this weekend, and then come back and post your questions here. Trust me. You will feel much better. Cheers Cable.... serious deadbeat.
One last thing. The CA's are going to try to make your life hell. We will discuss that issue and how to deal with them on another thread. That is a topic worthy of it's own board sometimes. Just be prepared for it and don't let them ruffle you. It is going to be part of the process. Just remember, their bark is worse then their bite. The lounder they bark, the more likely they are to fold when you stand up to them. It is the quiet and methodical ones that scare me. They follow the rules, dot their I's and cross their T's. These CA's, albet rare, are damn tough to shake.
Have you and your husband been considering second jobs or selling something of value until you get back on your feet again? You really don't want to go through 7 years of credit hell. I'm in year 5 now, and I'm just BARELY beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. If I knew then what I know now, there is no way I would have let those cards just charge off.
Wow, thank you all for the advice. I think that we will probably file for a chapter 7. We have an appointment with a lawyer on Tuesday. I hate to go this route, but we are up to our eyeballs in debt and I just can't handle it anymore. I'm thankful we can still pay our mortgage and that our cars are paid for. It's just our credit cards really. I'm going to read the book "Money Troubles" as was suggested. Thanks!!! - Kim
I'd have to say the best so far is OSI. What is funny is that have a bad reputation, and the first round they went with me they screwed up. Every corresponence I now get from them contains a full page explaining me MY rights, and what OSI is prohibited from doing. They don't call. They send me very polite letters now. No threats. I think I am being handled by the "professional' division", their careful CA's versus they usual law-breaking jerks they hire. Either that, or the FTC is on their case now. Fortunately, they missed the SOL deadline, so if they sue me I can shut them down.
NCO went this route with me. First, they hit me with the knuckle-draggers, guys who sounded like they were mafia rejects. They even had names like mafia guys, Anthony Rizzo or something like that was one, and there was another with an Italian-sounding name. They threatened lawsuits and garnishments and called me at work. When I threatened to sue, they started having this woman call me who was real nice and sincere, and never, ever uttered a single threat. She didn't call me at work, either. Based on this, I believe NCO has some kind of structured collection system, where they try good cop/bad cop and other games like that to get you to pay, and they probably put debtors in different catagories based on their interactions with them, and assign different types of collectors to different types of debtors.
