As is so often true of making big and difficult decisions, your decision to file for bankruptcy will probably provide enormous emotional relief.  Despite its taboos and challenges, filing takes matters out of your hands and puts you on the road to healing your financial health. Still, you have decisions to make about how you want to approach the process, and that includes deciding whether to tell your creditors about your plans.

The answer to whether you should give your lenders a ‘heads-up’ is a matter of your own personal approach and comfort level, as well as your goals. What do you hope to accomplish by telling them?

• If your goal of notifying creditors about your impending filing is to get them to stop pestering you with collection calls and letters, you can save yourself the time and trouble. Once the paperwork has been filed, they will receive an official notification that puts an automatic stay of their efforts into place.
• If your goal is to encourage them to work with you to improve the terms of your current loan, there are some advantages to doing so. Since a bankruptcy – and especially a Chapter 7 bankruptcy – would leave them with no repayment at all, it may be advantageous to them to work with you to stop the process and find a way forward.
• If your goal is to collect information and make sure that you’re providing the bankruptcy court with accurate records ahead of your filing, there’s no reason to necessarily provide your reason for requesting your paperwork. You can just ask the lender’s customer service department to submit the account information that you need, without going into detail.

The process of filing for bankruptcy is extremely well-established and regimented, and as long as you are working with an experienced bankruptcy attorney and you are presenting honest information about your assets and your debts, you can rest assured that all of the people who need to be alerted to the filing will receive their notification in the correct form and at the appropriate time.

To learn more about the bankruptcy process and how our experienced attorneys can help, contact us today to set up a time for us to speak.