Frequently Asked Questions - Creditors

If you charged more than $1000 to the card at any one time, you must list the credit card company as a creditor even if you pay the debt within the grace period.  Adv. Op. No. 89-001.

R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e) requires that you disclose any creditor to whom you owe or owed at any time during the calendar year for which you are filing, more than $1,000 in your own name or in the name of any other person. R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e).

If, as an authorized user of a credit card, you would be responsible for repaying the debt if the primary cardholder defaults, then you are required to disclose the credit card company as a creditor. Similarly, if the cosigner on the loan is required to repay it in the event that the primary borrower defaults, you would be required to list the lender as a creditor. (If you are unsure or your obligation, you may want to contact the credit card company or lender directly, or consult your credit report.)

No. As long as you pay for work as it is done, you are not required to disclose a contractor, auto mechanic, house painter, babysitter, dentist, or other service provider as a creditor. For example, if you agree to pay a contractor half at the start of the job and half when it is concluded, and you pay the contractor as the work is done, you do not have to disclose the contractor as a creditor.  Adv. Op. No. 89-001.

However, if you enter into a payment agreement with a service provider, where you agree to defer payment for a period of time after the job is completed, the service provider is your creditor. In that case, you would be required to disclose the service provider as a creditor on your FDS, unless you use your personal residence as security for the debt. A filer is never required to disclose debt on his or her personal residence or property owned primarily for personal recreation.

No. You are required to list the names of persons residing in or transacting business in Ohio. “Business” is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary, as “[e]mployment, occupation, profession, or commercial activity engaged in for gain or livelihood” and “[a]ctivity or enterprise for gain, benefit, advantage or livelihood.” Black’s Law Dictionary 179 (5th ed. 1979). The state and federal governments do not transact “business.” Further, the state and federal governments are not persons “residing” in Ohio. Therefore, you need not disclose any governmental entity as a creditor. R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e).

If, however, you take a loan to pay off back taxes, you would be required to disclose the source of the loan as a creditor.

R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e) requires that you disclose the names of your creditors residing or transacting business in Ohio to whom you owe or owed at any time during the calendar year for which you are filing, more than $1,000 in your own name or in the name of any other person. So, if a debt of more than $1,000 was discharged in February of the calendar year for which you are reporting, you would need to disclose the creditor because you owed more than $1,000 to that creditor between January and February of that calendar year. However, you would not need to disclose the creditor on your FDS for any year after the debt was discharged. (You should check with your attorney to determine when and if debts have been discharged.)

You should disclose the name of any person to whom you owed the money during the preceding calendar year. This may differ, depending on the situation.

For example, if the debt was assigned to a collection agency in the middle of the year, you may be required to list both the original creditor and the collection agency as your creditors during the year. If, once the debt has been assigned to the collection agency, you no longer owe the original creditor, you would list only the collection agency in subsequent years.

You would have to list a hospital or other health care provider as a creditor if your responsibility to the provider, after insurance, is more than $1,000.

Yes. You must disclose the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed. You may need to check court records to determine who the creditor is.

However, as long as your child support or other court-ordered payments are being made as required by the court, and you are not in arrears for $1000 or more, you are not required to disclose the name of the person to whom the payments are being made as a creditor.

Yes. Just as with a credit card, a loan borrower “owes” the lender in accordance with the loan agreement, regardless of the fact that the lender has agreed to permit the borrower to defer payment until some date in the future.  Adv. Op. No. 89-001.

R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e) requires that you disclose the names of your creditors residing or transacting business in Ohio to whom you owe or owed at any time during the calendar year for which you are filing, more than $1,000 in your own name or in the name of any other person. Therefore, if you would be responsible for repaying the debt if the primary borrower defaults on the loan agreement, then you are required to disclose the lender as a creditor. (If you are unsure or your obligation, you may want to consult your credit report or contact the lender directly.)

Yes, if your family member resides in Ohio. R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e) requires that a filer disclose the names of all persons, including family members, residing or transacting business in the state, to whom the filer owes more than $1,000, either in his own name. There is no exception for loans from family members.  Adv. Op. No. 77-007.

If, as with a standard insurance policy, the “loan” amounts to a temporary withdrawal of the policyholder’s cash value or “reserve,” (even though he is required to return the amount of the “loan,” plus interest to the insurance company) and the policy-holder is, in effect, both the borrower and the lender, R.C. 102.02(A)(2)(e) does not require that a filer disclose the source of the “loan.”  Adv. Op. No. 77-007.