My dad passed away at age 92 on 12/6/08 and before he passed away he filed for bankruptcy in August 0f 08. He had his 341 meeting October 16th and was pronounced terminally ill 10/31/08 and passed away 37 days later. He received his discharge from the bankruptcy court, Southern District of Mississippi dated 12/29/08.
On 10/15/09 I received a letter from Creditors Interchange for an account with Bill Me Later (which actually was Newegg.com, same account number) in the amount of $3,030.94. This letter wanted to know about his "estate", which there was none since he died penniless and was buried in a pauper's grave.
I did call these people and let them know he had no estate and it was not till later that I realized that this account was on his bankruptcy list of creditors as Newegg.com (same Bill Me Later account number). I both called and wrote Creditors Interchange (certified mail) about this, giving them his case number and date of discharge. I also wrote and informed his bankruptcy attorney.
I did some investigating and called both newegg.com and Bill Me Later and was told by each of them that they had no interest in this account and that it had been written off due to bankruptcy and death. They also referred me to a firm named "ERI" and they even told me it was closed. Nobody at Newegg.com or Bill Me Later had ever heard of Creditors Interchange. Bill Me Later is also in with Cit Bank of Utah but I have not contacted them.
My dad, when he decided to file bankruptcy, in the summer of 2008 stated that he wanted to "go out clean" and basically he wanted to make sure I was not in a position to have to deal with his creditors. Somehow this backfired and now I am having to deal with the one thing he wanted me to escape and which I never thought would happen.
I am not in good health, having had one major stroke and several light ones. This situation is not good for me period. BTW I also filed for bankruptcy shortly after my dad's passing. I filed bankruptcy in order to keep living in the apartment we shared, pay utilities, etc. My only other alternative was the "street".
Now - given all this what is the standing? Since he is (1) deceased and has no estate, (2) has on file a bankruptcy and discharge and finally (3) Newegg.com was on his list of creditors, even though Bill Me Later was cited in the letter from Creditors Interchange (the account number is the exact same). Does Creditors Interchange or anyone else have a "case"? Why in the heck was this began to be pursued a good 10 months after his passing?
In doing a bit of investigation I have learned that all this by Creditors Interchange might be a violation of FDCPA and also the bankruptcy code on the "automatic stay" and the fact that you are not allowed to collect on a debt that has been discharged.
I realize technically I cannot be held responsible for my dad's debits, I feel places like Creditors Interchange would still find some loophole to harass me and in this case I am the only one they could harass since I have no living relatives.
This might be some interesting information for the AG of the State of New York, as well as the FTC. These people have been in trouble before over their actions but I can find no exact match to my particular situation.
If anyone has comments, I'd like to hear them and I hope by giving this information I might help someone else.
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