guitarsan Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 you cannot get blood out of stone,and so many of us are suffering,stressed out and paranoid and sick from the harassment.To bide some time you should move,and do not leave a forwarding address.In your new digs,do not get a landline,use a cell phone.get a p.o. box or mailboxes etc.to get your mail.under no circumstances accept certified or registered letters.A better idea is to get a trac phone,and discard it for a new one every couple months.Yes eventually they will find us but this gives you time to get up some cash to file for bankruptcy.Like I said,you cant get blood out of stone.The credit card companies will scream the loudest,let them scream.I do not advocate not paying your debt,but if you do not have the money,how can you pay even what they demand.And remember,never actually list your real address with your mailing address,always use a box.this wont stop the day of reckoning,but will give you time to think and plan bankruptcy without all the harrasment.good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Hiding will only compound an already bad situation. I know this.There are ways to win and prevail without bankruptcy, it matters that one perseveres and understand this will not be without some pain and sacrifice.One needs to balance the long haul of pain against the reality of the financial situation.This is who we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looksbothways Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 If you truly had no ability to pay and were planning bankruptcy, ignoring phone call is not THAT big of a hassle, not nearly as much of a hassle as doing what you described to stay hidden.The actions you describe are not taken by someone who is truly broke and can't make payments. Those people either ignore the creditors knowing they have nothing for them to take, or they file bankruptcy and get rid of the problem. The actions you describe are taken by someone who can make payments but doesn't want to. The actions you describe take time, money, and a concerted effort to hide from your debts. If you have the money to move, pay for a PO Box, and buy new disposable phones, you have money to pay on your debt, even if it's just a little. If you have the time to maintain that sort of hidden existence, you have the time to deal with your creditors and work out a payment arrangement that will work for you (or you have time to file bankruptcy).The absolute worst a creditor can do to you is get a judgment and garnish your wages/seize your bank account. Is avoiding that REALLY enough incentive to live like a fugitive from the law? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetscarbie Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Running from collectors never works.If you run long enough...sometimes they get a default judgement against you, without you ever knowing......until one day your bank account is wiped out....or your paycheck.There are hundreds that post here each year with the title that says....Help! So & so just wiped out my bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALVA Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 You can C&D them and use cell phones exlusively anyway. Moving around and changing phones and hiding your address like a fugitive doesn't seem a better, calmer, less stressful life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Running away from problems is a fool's game; one the fool will almost always loose.I would also suggest that if a consumer truly has "nothing" (i.e. no blood in the stone) then going through all the hoops of moving, changing phones every month and all the rest is pointless...if hiding from creditors is ever a good idea then it would only be so for those who have something that a creditor can take.If a consumer has nothing then there is nothing for them to take - hiding is stupid.Interesting too that the title of the thread is "lets be honest"...what's "honest" about purposely hiding from your creditors??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eloise Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Sometimes you're not really trying to hide, yet for some unknown reason, they have not tracked you down. My son found himself in financial difficulty way back in the summer of 2005. That was the last time he made a payment on any of his debts. He has not applied for or used any credit since. He's lived in the same place for about 3 years now and had the same job for 3 years. He's had the same prepaid cell phone for 3 years. He has no bank account, and receives his pay on a prepaid debit card. He rides a bike to work. He has nothing to seize in the way of property or bank accounts.He has never received a call on his cell or at work from a collection firm. Lucky me, they all come here - but I have a machine that diverts the bad calls without ringing my phone. I never pick up strange calls so I have not inadvertently given them any information. The mail they send comes here and I gather it up and send it to him.Trust me, we didn't raise this child not to pay his debts but with the humungus amount of interest and fees he has no way to pay these debts. The SOL should be running out this summer. I don't even know how they would sue him since they can't seem to find him.So he's been hiding in plain sight. I don't know what to say or what advice to give him. I think he'd be foolish to call them since he can't pay them. He can't even afford to pay the fee to a lawyer to file for a Chapter 7.I guess I'm not really asking for advice because I don't know that he has that many options, but it's my first post here and figured it was time to jump in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Sometimes you're not really trying to hide, yet for some unknown reason, they have not tracked you down. My son found himself in financial difficulty way back in the summer of 2005. That was the last time he made a payment on any of his debts. He has not applied for or used any credit since. He's lived in the same place for about 3 years now and had the same job for 3 years. He's had the same prepaid cell phone for 3 years. He has no bank account, and receives his pay on a prepaid debit card. He rides a bike to work. He has nothing to seize in the way of property or bank accounts.He has never received a call on his cell or at work from a collection firm. Lucky me, they all come here - but I have a machine that diverts the bad calls without ringing my phone. I never pick up strange calls so I have not inadvertently given them any information. The mail they send comes here and I gather it up and send it to him.Trust me, we didn't raise this child not to pay his debts but with the humungus amount of interest and fees he has no way to pay these debts. The SOL should be running out this summer. I don't even know how they would sue him since they can't seem to find him.So he's been hiding in plain sight. I don't know what to say or what advice to give him. I think he'd be foolish to call them since he can't pay them. He can't even afford to pay the fee to a lawyer to file for a Chapter 7.I guess I'm not really asking for advice because I don't know that he has that many options, but it's my first post here and figured it was time to jump in.This is going to sound pretty mean although I don't intend it to be but a man faces his problems, a boy doesn't.If he doesn't start facing these issues he may well find his financial life in a shambles for many, many years...whether it's buying a home...getting a good job...or even renting a decent apartment and other desires could be unobtainable for a very long time.Sorry for preaching and I know that there is little you can do as this is ultimately for him to work through. It's just that I've been around long enough to know that situations like the one you've described generally just keep getting worse if left to fester.I wish you well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1time2many Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 "He has no bank account, and receives his pay on a prepaid debit card."WTF, Hell no. I would never let this happen, and is the first time I have seen this actualy occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eloise Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Robert Nashville - you are not sounding mean at all. I agree with everything you've said. He really needs to deal with this but thus far, he has not. He left a high paying job because he could no longer deal with the stress of it so he pretty much made his own bed. He's already led the good life once. At least he's not married and isn't dragging a family down with him. At some point he's going to decide he wants to have stuff again and some sort of life. Hopefully he will then get his act together and file.One good thing has come of this, for the past 3 years he has managed to live within his means & has learned to budget his paycheck (minus the old CC debt). He has vowed never to use another card. 1timetoomany: There are tons of folks out there living off the debit cards. Instead of a direct deposit into a bank account, it's deposited on a card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetscarbie Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Eloise..I wish you all the best. Hopefully, as a parent, you can only hope that one day they wake up. And I hope that happens to your son.Yes, debit card for your paycheck are becoming common. Lots of people can't get bank accounts...or don't want them...and they just pay the fee to have their paycheck deposited on a debit card. My husband works with several guys who do this. One guy even got his card from one of those check cashing places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Nashville/Savannah Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 1timetoomany: There are tons of folks out there living off the debit cards. Instead of a direct deposit into a bank account, it's deposited on a card.Actually, I second that.I refuse to give my money to a bank. So...I have a credit union savings account and two totally separate debit cards (which are the only kind of "plastic" I use); my paycheck gets split between my savings, my investments and my debit card accounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nascar Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 my paycheck gets split between my savings, my investments and my debit card accounts.My paycheck gets split between my wife and my kids ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetscarbie Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 My paycheck gets split between my wife and my kids ...hahahaha:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtorshusband Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 My paycheck gets split between my wife and my kids ...I'm sure Uncle Sam takes his cut.DH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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