1 aggressive creditor

What is the name of your state? WI

I have 1 creditor Citi Financial that is VERY aggressive. they call and leave messages all the time, they say the loan will be in legal default as of Friday(they have been saying this for 2 weeks now). And I have avoided there calls until now.

I work 2 jobs, I have avoided them at my full time job and today they called me at my 2nd job. I never expected it, and took the call.

She started in with how I could defer 2 months, etc. blah blah. I told her I am going to give her a name and phone number to call, and proceded, she interupted and asked "are you declaring bankruptcy" I told her I will not discuss it with her, she replied in a rude tone"you can't discuss it with me?" I proceded to giver her the lawyers name and # again, she said "I don't want his number, I want his name and where he is out of" I told her, and she asked if I have fully retained him yet, Here is where I think I said something I possibly shouldn't have. I told her yes, she said "you have!!" and I told her I will not discuss it with her anymore, and hung up.

This concerns me a bit, why would she just want his name and where he is out of? According to the paralegal the papers where supposed to be filed Monday or Yesturday. So I guess I am filed. Is there anything they can do? This is a secured loan, by small household items, there are no big ticket items securing this loan, in fact I don't mind if they take the stuff, it's old and worthless. Also my lawyer said he can get it voided(as far as being secured). Am I again worrying for nothing? This is going smooth except for this 1 creditor, and they are local. Has anyone experienced a local creditor showing up to there meeting? if so how did it go?

Also another thing that concerns me is my income from my 2nd job is not on my bankruptcy papers, because its only about $100 a month (if that), and I was going to quit soon anyways. Now that this creditor knows that I am still at this job, will it be an issue? I may quit sooner than I expected if it is, it really isn't worth keeping the job, my last check was $15

[Ladynred]

Since you're not making all that much on the 2nd, I'd just call your lawyer and ask him/her about it. The papers, if they're filed, can be amended and that small amount of income probably won't make one bit of difference. I'd call the law office though and find out if they HAVE filed and get the case number so you have it if anyone calls again.

If you do intend to quit before the 341 meeting, I wouldn't worry about including the income now.

If your papers have, in fact, been filed, then the automatic stay is in place and ALL collection activity MUST cease and they know that. You did the right thing, give them the name and number of your attyorney and, when you get it, your case number. If they call after they know you've filed, they're violating the Stay and Federal law and can be fined and sanctioned if they don't stop.

Thank you for the reply. I do have a call into the lawyer and was told he will be returning calls this afternoon.

I've been wanting to quit that job for a while, I got it to try and avoid the bankruptcy, but they gave me so few hours, and I have been working 2 jobs for the better part of 10 years now, and I am just tired, I tried my best but never handled the $$$$ very well, and when my ex left me it made matters worse, I spent to try and fill a void, and didn't care.

Now I am standing up straight, taking control of my life, forgetting the ex, and just want to start all over again. I am handling $$$ a lot better, I no longer buy stuff to fill a void, I now see the price of items more clearly. This was/is a hard but necassary learning experience.

I also kind of wonder how close they really look at the papers anymore, my lawyer didn't even see them, and he said the trustee will go through them even faster than he did. The paralegal said they will look at me more closely because I make $44K a year(that has consistantly gone down the last 3 years), and I am single. She said they will question why someone that makes that kind of money, and is single can't pay bills, and I took out 2 loans last year, that I thought may help me get rid of CC debt, but in the long run they were my downfall. Do trustee take into account bad decisions? stupidity(LOL)? Do they understand? or are they more for the creditor? and IMO the fact that I am single makes it more difficult to pay 2 mortgages, food, utilities, clothes, car maint.(on a car with 190K on it), gas which is ever increasing(cost me $50 a week in gas, thats with a car that gets 25 MPG, on bad tires). If I had a spouse even making 1/2 what I do I think I wouldn't be in this situation.

Thanks again, I needed to be put at ease a bit.

[Ladynred]

The paralegal's wrong. The Trustees have seen it all and divorce is high on the list of reasons for filing, as it layoffs and high medical bills. They don't care about any of your 'bad decisions', and won't care either. They know as well as anyone else what's happening with the job market so I wouldn't worry about a Trustee asking those kinds of questions. The 341 meeting with the Trustee takes about 10 minutes (or so people say), so the lawyer's right, he/she will look at the papers quickly. The paralegal's statement that they'll look at you more closely is baloney. The Trustee will ask you if the info is correct on your papers, do you know whats in them, are there any changes to them and a few other questions.

The Trustees are there to get money for your creditors if they can, to find out if you're trying to defraud anyone by using bankruptcy, not to judge individuals and their decisions. If you have nothing that isn't exempt, they take nothing. They are supposed to do an investigation based on your paperwork, but given how swamped they are I wonder how in-depth they get with most people.

The paralegal doesn't go into the courtroom, your lawyer does. The paralegal is not trained in the law, so I'd only worry that he/she fills out your paperwork correctly and ignore any of his/her 'opinions' on Trustees. The lawyers know how the Trustees are, ask the lawyer.

the thing is my ex was just a girlfriend, who never lived with me or paid any of the bills, etc. Although I do think your right. I did have medical bills last year, I was a few feet away from dying when my car rolled over me. I had over $10K in medical bills, that my car insurance paid $5K of, the rest I had to pay. So when I got a loan offer I took it paid the bills, along with some other bills, and everything snowballed from there.

Your not the first to tell me that the paralegal doesn't know what she is saying. She did a great job on the papers, but she seems like dr. jekyl and mr. hyde. at 1 point she will tell me I will have no problems, and all witl go fine, the next time she might say that I may have some difficulties because I took out 2 loans late last year.(over 6 months ago).

the lawyer told me the meeting will last 5-7 mins, they schedule 4 people every 1/2 hour. He said I should have no problems.

And yes since they are so swamped I am certain they really don't look to deep. I'm sure they have thousands of cases to deal with.

i really dont think you have anything to worry about. i filed alone and went to the 341 meeting alone. the people who had attorneys had very basic questions: name, are you working, and did your attorney explain other options in bankruptcy ie.. ch7 versus ch 13. everyone was asked if they expected a tax refund this year and the amount but it didnt seem like the trustee was interested in anything under 2000. i was asked what had changed between last year and this year to make me have to file and my answer was husband was laid off for 3 months. other people said they were working less hours or that their living expenses had increased and their income was not keeping up with those expenses. as long as your most recent loans were taken out 6 months ago i have read nothing to suggest you would have a problem. the trustee spent 5 minutes with most of us at the 341 and part of that was the swearing to tell the truth oath. relax - you should be fine!

Are your living expenses more than you bing home or is there money left over after paying the necessities??

Once you have paid the lawyer. All you need to give collectors is his name and number. I wouldnt even give them the case number once you are filed. As long as you are really filed. They can find it themselves if they want it so bad.

Its amazing how fast the calls stop once you give them the lawyers number. But be careful, they may try to sneak in a lawsuit before the papers are filed. I guess they do this in case you do a 13. Then they get paid first if there is money to get.

Lawyer was good but it took the paralegal 3 freakin months to prepare my papers. Vacations, computer problems, Sending me back home to do the papers by hand. (I though I would help her out by typing some stuff out --- She didnt like that at all).

During all the mess, a major credit card sued and won. I now have a judgement against me. (cant be collected -- it is included in the bankruptcy). But it will probably be there forever unless I can get a Judge to take it off.

As for the meeting. It is a piece of cake. As long as you have very little. They dont want to break you, just want to make sure you are not trying to defraud the system.

That creditor has not called at all since I talked to her, when I told her that he was fully retained she sounded shocked by her reply, almost like "oh sh*t". I was told the court will send something by next week with the court date. So I assume that it is in fact filed.

Honestly it sickens me to see I am $43K in debt. I have no idea where it all went, I don't have a boat, a fancy car, or big TV. In fact all my assests are worth about $5000 MAX(probably a lot less). Newest item I own is a 1 year old DVD player my parents bought me for xmas.

The plus side is my income has gone down the last 3 years. my insurance, and gas/electric have gone up, and gasoline has gone way up.

I have been trying to keep all my receipts so that when the date comes, if he asks what I did with my tax return I have receipts. there are 2 I won't have because I am thinking of telling the trustee that I put some aside to pay my property taxes in July(I'm seriously thinking of getting a money order for that, so it looks better), and to save up for a new refridgerator because mine is dying. with all that it leaves me $1000 of the tax return.

I just hope it all goes smooth. I'm not trying to defraud the system, but part of my personality is that I fear authority and think that no one believes me(probably why I never tell big lies), so I naturally fear this process.

Has anyone ever dealt with Citifinacial in a bankruptcy? one with a secured loan that was local, how did it go with them, did they show up to the meeting.