Yes, once a person has case number after filing either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a creditor is prohibited from trying contact the debtor in any attempt to collect a debt.
Whether you are filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will be required to attend a creditor’s meeting (also known as a 341 Meeting of Creditors). The Court schedules the date and time of your creditors meeting after your bankruptcy has been filed and a bankruptcy Trustee has been assigned to your case.
A trustee is an individual appointed by the federal government in charge of overseeing bankruptcy proceedings. Chapter 7 bankruptcy and Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustees are usually bankruptcy attorneys or accountants.
A reaffirmation agreement is a legally binding document filed with the bankruptcy court in which you agree to keep making payments on a debt. For example, you are required to sign a reaffirmation agreement if you would like to retain personal property, such as an automobile, and keep making payments after filing your bankruptcy.
Today CNN is running an eye opening article about the tactics and strategies used by debt collectors or creditors. The article covers 10 different people who used to call and harass people for a living. They unveil some of the extreme tactics that creditors use to get money from debtors. A common theme that is seen throughout the ten different stories is the fact that these people make their money by collecting money.
Many of these creditors are on commission and the more money they bring in the more money they make for a living. Is this the best way to ethically collect debt? We too often see that creditors will bend or even break consumer protection laws simply to make a little more money. If they aren’t being commissioned then maybe there would be more civility in the debt collection profession. Regardless, this is a great article by CNN – check it out. The article is called Confessions of Former Debt Collectors.
Although, it’s important to keep statements that you receive in the mail regarding your debts, you should also consider obtaining a credit report.
For many people, it is difficult to remember original creditors, collections agencies, amounts owed, and so on from years past. A credit report is a great way to visually see all of your debts listed out for you, especially if you did not keep statements. Our recommendation would be to look at your statements first, then back it up with a credit report. For many people, this will cover your bases in regards to who you owe, but remember this does not guarantee to be all of your creditors. This is why it’s important to keep up with your statements and also view your free credit report yearly. By doing this, it allows you to see whom you owe, if it’s accurate, and when and where the debt was incurred.
You are entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from www.AnnualCreditReport.com. It is one of the only legitimately free places to obtain a credit report. It will not, however, give you your actual credit score. Use this website, if you have not already done so in the past 12 months, to view your debts and names of your creditors. We recommend checking this annually so you can be sure the creditors on your report are accurate. When filing bankruptcy, it is essential that all of your creditors are listed, so be sure to use both statements and a credit report to back up what you already know regarding your debt.
It’s also a good idea to be sure you get your free credit report again a few months after you file bankruptcy. It will help you rebuild your credit after bankruptcy.
Each month the Trustee receives a payment from you, he will distribute payments to your creditors based on a priority as established by the Chapter 13 plan. If you do not make a payment to the Trustee, he will not distribute payments to your creditors.
These are common questions that many people have about bankruptcy. In an effort to provide you with information we have provided these frequent questions. However, it is important to realize that each state has different rules and these answers are not meant to be legal advice. Contact a bankruptcy attorney to learn more.
Now I know most people will look at this question like, “why in the world would I want to keep my cards if I’m eliminating my debt?!” But occasionally, you will have one company in which you are still in good standing and will want to keep that card in hopes of somewhat holding on to what bit of credit that you have left. It’s just not as simple as that.
Have you ever been in a wreck? The next few days following the wreck, you will be bombarded with advertisements from attorneys claiming that they can help you in whatever service you may need from being in the accident. Many wonder how they even knew about the wreck in the first place! Well filing bankruptcy is a similar situation, once you file it is public knowledge and your creditors, whether they were included in the bankruptcy or not, will likely find out about the bankruptcy and will cut the usage of your account off. Most creditors’ fear violating the bankruptcy’s automatic stay so they will discontinue usage of the credit card. So in the situation of a credit card in which you wish to keep, you may have never missed a payment and have been in good standing and they will still cut the usage of the card off, which is why we recommend that you list ALL of your debts.
Should you wish to try to keep a credit card out of the bankruptcy and wish to continue making the payment, then you need to contact that credit card company and give them a heads up on what your intentions are and ask for permission to have that card be kept out of the bankruptcy filing. It will be completely and solely the discretion of the company whether or not they allow you to keep the card out of the bankruptcy and continue to make the payments, and report the standing to the credit reporting agencies.
If you don’t list down a credit card, with the hopes of keeping it, and then after filing the bankruptcy they shut it down anyways, you are still responsible for the debt. For example, if you have a Visa credit card with Wal-Mart and you talk with Visa and explain you are filing bankruptcy and they say they will allow you to keep the card but, after filing, they still shut it down, you are responsible for any remaining balance on the card. You may still be able to go back and amend the bankruptcy after the credit card company refuses to allow you to keep the card but there will be court costs involved in amending the bankruptcy.
Again, we always encourage our clients to list down all of their debts. You can rebuild your credit after bankruptcy and in order to get your fresh financial start it usually means wiping out all of your debts.
If you have received notice of a sale date on your home, we strongly suggest you schedule a consultation as soon as possible, since there is considerable information needed to file your bankruptcy prior to the sale of the property and avoid the eviction.
Charlotte: (704) 563-1224
Greensboro: (336) 856-1234
Winston-Salem: (336) 245-4294
