What can I do if I am being sued by Palisades collection agency?

I stopped paying my chase credit card in 2003. I split up with my live in and got stuck with this debt. I moved and they (collection agency) found me and I am now being sued. Is there any advise anyone can give me before I go to court. I owe 24,000+ and still have no extra money to pay them. What will happen? I have no idea what to expect or what info to take with me to try and get out of paying this. I know I should pay, but unless they accept $100.00 per month, I will not be able to pay. If Chase has already charged this off, how do I know if the agency was actually hired by Chase.
P.S here is an address for the attorney for Palisades that is listed on my court order. 5215 North O'Connor blv, suite 1060 irving tx 75039. 1-877-682-5800, (972)910-9190, fax 972-910-9122 Firm name Wolpoff & Abramson,LLP attorny name, Anthony Waddell

Hi, when was the last payment you did on this account?

Not exactly sure but it was 2003

Don't miss the court date. Because if you do, the judge will give them the judgment and they can then garnish your wages up to 25%! So go to court and take all relevant paperwork with you in regards to this debt. Also, take all information regarding how much you make and what kind of expenses you have. Tell the judge you can only afford $100 a month. You never know what he will decide. You should take a look at naca.net and find an attorney to represent you. Most will offer a free initial consultation. But an attorney may be able to get the amount reduced.
good luck and let us know how it goes.

Since I really do own this money, do you think I really need to actually hire a lawyer? Can afford that though. If the judge issues a judgment against me, what if I still can pay? Will they put me in jail?

You said the last payment was done somewhere in 2003. Call the credit company and verify the last payment date. You may get this info in your credit report also. Check the SOL of your state and confirm if it's within the statutes. You cannot be sued if the debt is already past the statutes. The date will be calculated from the date you last paid on the account. The latest payment will renew the SOL clock and you will come back into legal troubles if the company takes you to the court. You will need to send a dispute letter to the collection agency mentioning the expiry of the SOL. Take a copy of the letter to the court and explain your point. The judge will rule the case in your favor if the statutes are past. You cannot be sent to jail for not paying the debts. No need to worry about that.

No you can't go to jail for that. In court they will get all of your employment info. that's so they can garnish your wages if you don't pay. It's good that you want to pay the money you owe, but some collection agencies charge outrageous fees and that ain't right. I feel that as consumers we pay enough in high interest rates for our poor credit. Anyway, check out that website I mentioned. They have attorneys that even if you are low income and can't pay, they may be able to work with you. I'm afraid once it has gotten to court and there is a court date, not much you can do at this point other than show up.
One thing you could do though, call the court you are supposed to show up and just make sure there is a case against you. I've seen in this forum that collection agencies never really filed a case in court when they said that they have.
If the debt did make it to court, you will have to plead with the judge on a monthly amount. JUST DON'T MISS YOUR COURT DATE! That will just give Palisades the judgment and then garnishment. I don't know about you, but 25% of my paycheck is a lot especially when it's paycheck to paycheck living.

Thanks alot all. I'm pretty sure the suit is valid since a sheriff hand delivered papers to my home. I will check the last payment date. SOL in Texas is 4 years. This is my fourth year but as far as what month, I will have to check. I went to the website suggested and I will contact some attorneys from it. I think since I purchased two more vehicles in my name and opened a second checking account for money that I received from selling furniture, that made then collector think they have a case. I wonder if me not receiving child support for my child will help my case? My ex is behind about $30,000.00 in chold support to me.

Good luck and keep us posted. We all learn from everyone else as they go through the process. There are lots of attorneys that work on contingency. And if your ex is behind that much, you need to go after him as well. That is not cool that he is not oweing up to his responsibility in that department.

Thanks I will let everyone know how it goes. And yes my ex sucks, especially since over half of this $24,000 were for his expenses and toys. That's what I get for being a doormat, unfortunatley everything was in my name cuz his credit was bad.

W&A usually will try to work out something with you. Really, all the courts will do is render a garnishment against you and garnish your wages until the debt is paid. Usually, you don't need legal services for such thing (although, if you choose to, you may want to consider contacting your local legal aid services for assistance).

I don't know why places such as these tell individuals that they will go to jail for not paying a debt. You cannot go to jail like in the days of old for not paying a debt.

When you do go to court (and please, do go to court), explain to the judge what you have paid and your true reasons why you have not kept up your payments and see if you can compromise for a settlement. If not, the most that they can do if garnish your wages. But they cannot send you to jail.

BTW, W&A are not really lawyers. They are collection agency under the gist of a law firm. Most of these wonderful law vultures are merely collecting agencies when they claim to be "law office".

Should I contact W&A and negotiate with them before court? I heard that they can continue to add finance charges. For what I can afford to pay it will take me 80 years to pay this off especially if they start adding finance charges.Plus court fees....geeze they sure don't make it easy for you to get this crap paid off...

I have and am still dealing with W&A. Texas is a nongarnishment state ,at least for unsecured cc.

As for the SOL as long as the case was filed (even if hearing is not scheduled until after sol period)before the sol ran out it would still be a valid case against you.

Mine was for alot less then yours but heres how mine went.Of course they tried to settle with me on the phone but on a 4700.00 debt they wanted 1500.00 down and 900.00 a month for 3 months.So hopefully in your case if you talk to them and try to settle or set something up they will negotaiate a little better with you.

Heres how my court hearing went. 1st court date: I showed they didnt apparently they asked for continuance and i wasnt notified until 2 days later. 2nd hearing:We both showed they talked to me alone before hand but they did not bring what I thought was enough validation that I had asked for with them ,so I simply said no thank you we'll talk to the judge.well they again asked for another continuance for 60 days to gather the info I asked for. 3rd: I showed they did not so judge dismissed it without prejudice.

If you talk to them and try to work something out before hand just be prepared for them to play hardball at first, they will ask if you have friends or relatives you can borrow from, if you can take a home equity loan,etc.

It never hurts to try to talk to them but do not let them push you into anything you cannot realitically afford. I am not trying to scare you just lettting you know my dealings with them. Hopefully you will have better luck then I did with them.Even though mine was dismissed It was dismissed without prejudice meaning that they have a year to bring the same claim against me again if they choose.

No garnishment in Texas huh?! Well that's good. Thanks for the info, I have a little better idea of what to expect.

Your Welcome.I should mention though there are other routes besides garnishment that they could go though.One being Writ of execution, meaning that they can seize and sell some of your personal belongings to satisfy the judgment if they get one.If that would happen you need to find out what is exempt in your state from seizure.They could also put a lien on your home if you own one, meaning that if you were to sell or refinance they would get the money from the proceeds.Also any bank accounts that you may have they could seize.
Let us know how everything works out for you.

Whatever, you do, make sure you answer the complaint within the time listed on the summons. An answer must be written, and you must admit or deny the allegations in the complaint, and list all defenses you may have. Send a copy to W&A and the court. You will probably have to pay a filing fee, as well.

This is the sort of thing you should probably have an attorney help you with. Check naca.net to find a consumer attorney in your area.