If you take a quick look at the vast majority of bankruptcy cases appearing before judges all over the country the common denominator amongst them is that the people involved ignored all the warning signs of their impending financial meltdown. This obviously included ignoring demands from their creditors for months, or even years in some cases. So when your repayments dried up your creditors are left with no choice but to pursue you for payment, but a simple phone call to them in the first place could have resolved this and potentially prevented you from having to declare bankruptcy. You see most creditors are quite happy to establish some form of repayment plan with you, understanding that it’s better to get some money from you rather than none at all. This is pretty much exactly what a Chapter 13 filing achieves for you, so why not pre-empt the entire process and start paying your bills right now instead? Now we come to the point of actually negotiating with creditors and how you should handle that. We can sum that up in a single word – carefully! Remember that your creditors have far, far more experience than you in dealing with situations like this and they now exactly what they are and are not entitled to legally – giving them an unfair advantage in the situation. So here are some of the most common pitfalls in dealing with creditors which you need to watch out for:     You have no legal protection when negotiating with them directly – this an “informal” agreement between you and the creditor    Your creditor does not have to agree with anything you propose – they’re in a position of dominance here    Your creditor can also change their mind and withdraw from your “informal agreement” at any time which suits them, leaving you having to repay the debt anyway- See more at: http://www.rudikhlaw.com/blog/#sthash.TW5sKgnv.dpuf