Credit Card
When I declared bankruptcy, I did not surrender one of my cedit cards. It had a zero balance, and I had forgotten that I had it because I had not used it in over 3 years. I did not do this on purpose. Anyway, I am about 1 month away from being discharged, and I just remembered that I still have this card. It is still active as I called the credit card company and their automated service indicates my available credit limit, with a zero balance, and no past due payments. Is it considered fraud for me to use this credit card after my discharge? or should I call my trustee and surrender this card immediately? Thank you.
I can’t tell you how or if they credit card companies would be able to trace these purchases, the only thought on this matter I have is that perhaps they have retained copies of any signatures that would have been required upon receipt.
Upon filing a bankruptcy there is a stay of proceedings that comes into place that prevents most of your unsecured creditors from contacting you or pursuing collection against you. When you are discharged there may be some small disbursement to the creditors but typically the debts are essentially written off by the lending organizations.
For more information you can contact one of the trustee and they will be able to provide a more detailed explanation as to how this operates and when it would come into effect.
Call your trustee and surrender the card immediately. It is an offence under the Act for you to have kept it and while you haven’t used it (which is good) you are required to surrender all of your credit cards on filing, even cards with no balance.