Re: how long before they come?

Posted by Mike (172.153.26.21) on July 21, 2003 at 12:37:07:

In Reply to: how long before they come? posted by still learning on July 20, 2003 at 23:48:49:

Here's how it went for me.
I lost my job a little over a year ago and had approx 70,000 in credit card debt at the time.
I was current on everything thru about June of last year and had never been late before that.
I stopped paying everyone as of June 2002 due to the fact I had no money to pay anything except my basic living expenses.

The "friendly" reminder calls started about 4~6
after the payment was first due. I never took the calls and they were just messages left on my answering machine. That went on till about Oct~November and I wouldn't characterize any of the calls as being very harsh or aggressive. Just more along the lines of we'd like to help etc..PLEASE contact us, there's things we can do.
The only thing they really could have done was to give me a job because otherwise, I didn't have a cent to pay them. I would then say about mid Nov~Dec...it was a different tone message they were leaving..but still formal.
I also started to receive written offers to pay XX amount of dollars and they'd bring my account current. I guess in late December, early Jan. all my accounts were charged off.
Then came the collection agency calls...and a couple visits from people to my door. ( I wasn't home and they just left a note)
About Feb this year, I started to get Attorney letters.
I then got sued in April by one bank (they won a judgement)..and presently have another suit pending.

In all this time..I have never spoken to a single person from about 10 different companies.
Their messages were just all on the answering machine. The only communication i've had with anyone was when i answered the first suit in April, and that was just an answer to the court.
Of course, I have a stack of letters a mile high
from all their various correspondences but I kind of got used to weeding thru that to get to what I had to pay..namely electric, phone bill etc.

So, from my experience, I'd say people have about 9 months before any lawsuits start to happen. And, these are very large balance accounts as well. Personally, I'd suggest if anyone is in a position like this where you simply cannot come up with any money..try to avoid the phone calls or any conversation or reply at all. It's not going to benefit you at all except to continually hear them telling you
to come up with the money.

My impression for the most part was that in each comment they left on my machine and in their correspondence..they all really did try to be friendly and helpful for the most part during the initial 6 months. This probably in part is due to the fact they're leaving a message on your machine..which could be proof of their saying or doing anything unethical..the same thing as in writing.
Even their attorneys now are very matter of fact
and basically just doing their jobs I guess.
You're getting sued..here you go!

I did try to offer the one attorney who sued me
and won a payment plan that wasn't going to be for much..and he decided not to accept it and just went for the judgement because they obviously feel they'll do better in time with that. He wants ALL their money and wants it now.
Nice thought except I don't happen to have 14 grand laying around.

I wish Bk could be an option for me but it's not at this point. I have something substantial to lose..namely a house that wouldn't be exempt for the most part.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do..I still don't have a job. This economy just sux!!

But, anyways...I'd say you have zero to worry about. If I were you, I would just continue not taking the calls until you decide for sure what you're going to do.
One thing you'll want to watch though if you file bk is how recently you charged on those accounts. Thats something to check with an attorney about.

As far as what your situation is that's causing you to want or need to file bk with accounts only 4~5 wks late..I don't know. If it's an issue that you see no real hope of recovering from though, I think it is the thing to do as quickly as possible. Even with my situation, with no contact at all with them, it's just an issue that drags on and on and wears you down.
I've tried to focus on finding a job but it's hard with so many other problems all around me.

If on the other hand, your issues are ones that you see as being fairly temporary..I do think that creditors in general try very hard to work with you, at least in the early months.
A bk will certainly kill your credit for 10 years. It doesn't rule out being able to get a mortgage again or whatever in a few years but it will certainly make that more difficult.
87k in cr. card debt is alot though and I know well how quickly the next payment rolls around.
When they finally call the whole balance due it's
almost an impossible feat to ever meet that.

Anyways, good luck and I hope i've provided some answers for you or others in this long winded post. ;)

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