What Address Do You Use for Creditors in Bankruptcy?
What address do you use from all of your bills in filing a bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy rules require listing all creditors both on the right schedule for the type of debt but also on the matrix. A bankruptcy noticing center mails notices based on the matrix.
A key question arises: “what is legally required in the bankruptcy filing?” Credit card bills confuse everyone with pages of small print. An address printed at the top of the bill might not match the address at the bottom. The payment address may also be different.
The correct address for the bankruptcy petition is not the payment address, but the “correspondence address”. Finding it may take sifting through the fine print on both sides of the bill. Some credit card companies actually print a ‘Bankruptcy Address’. That’s fine, but the correspondence address is the one to look for.
The address requirement comes from U.S. Bankruptcy Code:
“If, within the 90 days before the commencement of a voluntary case, a creditor supplies the debtor in at least 2 communications sent to the debtor with the current account number of the debtor and the address at which such creditor requests to receive correspondence, then any notice required by this title to be sent by the debtor to such creditor shall be sent to such address and shall include such account number.”
What this means is that it’s worth reading through the bill to find the correspondence address, which may at times be listed under “Write to us here” or some other similar description. Save copies of the bills in case there is ever a question about proper listing of creditors.
This is just one example of the procedural and legal challenges of bankruptcy. Retain an experienced bankruptcy attorney in your jurisdiction to help with traps you may not even realize exist. Look for a member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys [NACBA]. Their website will point you to local members.
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I can't believe how difficult they make this there were six different addresses on one of my statements, and that was on the front. Way in the fine print on the back they said court notices and bankruptcy notices should be sent to yet a different address. Why do they make this so difficult?
I can't answer for credit card companies that are so fast to hike interest charges, fees and all the rest. My only guess is that if incorrect addresses are scheduled on a bankruptcy petition, then later, if they continue to send collections in violation of the automatic stay of bankruptcy or the final discharge they can claim a defense by never having receved proper notice. That's why many bankruptcy attorneys will schedule multiple addresses if it appears a creditor is playing hide and seek.
One of my credit cards from a major company has six different addresses including a bankruptcy address and a correspondence address. Isn't it a waste of time to list them all and what will the trustee say?
The correspondence address given to you in the last 90 days is the one called for in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. And yes, if they provide an additional bankruptcy notice address why wouldn't you list that also. Don't give creditors room to argue that they didn't get notice. Scheduling additional addresses does not cost more.
What do you do if you provide a notice to one of there other stores, because the original store went out of business?
Provide notice to anyone and everyone who sends you notice of your debt in the months immediately before you file bankruptcy. Most stores these days do not handle their own credit accounts. They provide a card with their name on it, but the actual credit is extended by a bank, credit card company or lender to which the store sends its credit card business. Check your credit card bills. Sometimes your credit report also provides name and address of the current creditor and their address. Best bet is to retain a bankruptcy attorney, they keep records of creditor addresses.
This is such good advise! Thank you!