If you have fallen behind on your payments, the credit card company may sue you depending upon the amount you owe. There are some credit card companies that may file a lawsuit when you're only 60-90 days behind on payments. To avoid being sued, negotiate with your creditors so that they offer you a payment plan you can afford. If you don't feel comfortable negotiating with your creditors on your own, get help from a debt relief company. Go for a free counseling session with a reputable debt solutions company and find out your options to get rid of credit card debt. If you are curious to know about what happens when the credit card companies actually sue you, then take a look at the topics given below:
In most cases, a credit card company will threaten to sue you if you haven't made any attempts to pay off the bills. However, they may not actually sue you because it's expensive and time-consuming. However, if there is a joint account holder on your credit card account, the credit card company may call the cosigner and try to recover payments rather than filing a lawsuit against you. Most often credit card companies transfer or sell off your debt to a collection agency that will try to collect payments from you. They may even agree to negotiate a settlement on your account.
Certain credit card companies are more prone to taking legal action when they feel that debtors are trying to escape their credit card payments. But if the Statute of Limitations on your debt account expires, you cannot be sued for credit card debts. The Statute of Limitations (SOL) varies from one state to another and is different for each type of account.
If the SOL has not expired, the credit card company can file a lawsuit and get a judgment against you for the full amount of the debt, plus interest, penalties, court costs, and attorney fees. Through the judgment, the court orders you to pay off credit card bills. The judgment also gives the credit card company the right to ask the court to garnish your wages if your state's law permits it. However, there are some states, like Texas, that do not allow wage garnishment unless it is the only way for a creditor to satisfy the judgment.
States that do not allow garnishment may seize your bank accounts (and sometimes part of a joint account), sell off non-exempt property, or place a lien on your property. However, no state can order a forced sale of your primary residence unless the debt is your mortgage. In an equitable property state (a non-community property state), your creditors can only reach 1/2 of all joint assets. In community property states like Texas, if you are sued for credit card debts, your creditors can seize or place a lien on joint marital property even if your spouse's name is not on the account.
Here's what you need to do when you’re sued for credit card debts.
Use SOL defense: If you're sued for unpaid credit card bills even after the SOL has expired, send an Expired SOL Notification Letter to the creditor stating that he cannot take a legal action against you because your account is well past the SOL. You will have to show proof that the SOL has expired, such as statements with the dates when you defaulted and when you were charged-off. Copies of your credit report showing the exact date of default will also serve as proof of the SOL.
Reply to court summons: If the SOL hasn't expired and you're sued for credit card debts, then you will receive a court summons, which you need to reply to within a certain time period. The time you have to reply to a summons varies from state to state, for example, New York law gives you 20 days from the day you receive the summons to reply.
In order to reply to the summons, you need to file two documents, known as the "Answer" and "Appearance" with the court. In the "Answer", you dispute the allegations made in the complaint. You need to send a copy of the "Answer" and "Appearance" to the attorney representing the creditor via certified mail. The copy should be sent by Certified Mail with a Return Receipt Request.
By replying to the summons, you prevent your creditor from getting a default judgment, which will end the case. Moreover, replying to the summons gives you additional time to negotiate with your creditor and prevent a judgment.
If you're sued and the creditor receives a judgment, it stays on your credit report for 7 years from the date the judgment is filed. This brings down your credit score by 50-100 points and makes it difficult for you to qualify for credit (at least for the next 2-3 years) at a favorable interest rate. So the best way to avoid a lawsuit is to negotiate a payment plan or a settlement with your creditor.
answer the judgment with the courts send a copy to the attorney certified mail and wait. In the meantime start getting some money together to settle it out. If you cannot get the money together ask for a stipulation of judgment. This will allow you to make payments on the debt without the judgment being enforced. Hope that helped
Oh yeah one more thing. DON'T PANIC. They want you to panic so you pay off the balance just offer a settlement or a stipulation, I promise you they will except.
what is the sol in illinois on credit card debt
i received a lawsuit delivered to my door. then the next week i got a letter in the mail from a different law office saying they bought the account from the first law office. so now what do i do?
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send that law office a DV letter.send it certified mail return receipt.also check with your court clerk to see if a suit was actually filed.if not,look into your legal possibilties against the first law firm.one question.who are the law firms?
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I am being sued by HSBC for $2000. At first I was stressed but all the creditors do this as a reasurance via the court that debt will be paid. The suit is essentially telling the debtor "to poop or get off the pot". In my suit the creditor is willing to settle and put me on a payment plan the law suit just gives them recoarse if you fall behind or fail to make payments, it's a paper game.
http://www.cardreport.com/laws/eft.html#205.10
Ohio Code stating out of state PDLs are illegal
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/1321.36
Ohio Attorney General
http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/
BBB
http://www.bbb.org/us/
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/cons...edit/cre27.pdf
To find out who's been calling
www.800notes.com
www.whocallsme.com
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Hello...I am glad this info is here. I cannot believe this has happened.. someone wrote not to panic, because that is the desired effect, but believe me u panic when u get lawsuit papers and have no idea at first what you are even looking at! and one of the pages in big letters across the top reads: YOU ARE BEING SUED!
Anyway, i had lawsuit papers in my mailbox when i got home from work. it was sent certified mail, but nobody signed for it. i am assuming the mailman did this and left it i don't know. Anyway, I guess I am being sued by CHASE on one of my credit card accounts for the amt of 14k, plus the small legal documentation fee and some other fee which added about $60. Anyway, i NEVER thought this would happen. i have been pre-occupied with saving my house, ctching up on mortgage payments, partly done by taking some money from my 401k. anyway, i AM behind about 3 months on payments, during this time i was looking for a debt consolication or credit counseling agency and i did find one that i am contacting but i guess it's not fast enuf. I know i prob. should have talked with them, but i did not. But geez this seems really fast to jump into a lawsuit...i dont' think it even went to a collection agency. your info is helpful, and they included the "answer" page that i'd have to fill out to answer this suit. and one of my things i can do is to try and negotiate, and/or to get a lawyer, etc. If i want to do this i am supposed to contact them directly BUT if there is a lawyer named, to contact the law office. there is a lawyer..so i guess i should call there? I had ,. of course, planned to include this debt in whatever kind of plan that I come up with when i speak to the place I chose to help me....I have chosen Ontrack Financial Group...but now,,, i guess i HAVE to negotiate repayment with them separate from my other debt? For various reasons i have fallen behind, mainly due to husband getting ill, hosptialized for a few weeks, and we didn't get very much in disability payment...we were already struggling when this happened....Then a little bit after he got back to work, they let him go, and he's now collecting unemployment. So that started the spiral, and i just paid what i HAD to, utilities, etc.... and the mortgage was 3 months behind, so i was concentrating on that. for right now, that situation is up to date and i am negotiating with my mtge company to see if we can lower the mtge payment (CitiMortgage).... I live in New Jersey.... so, i am the only one working, husband is unemployed since July..... So, any suggestions here? I REALLY hope i do not get lawsuits from all the other credit card companies! This is so awful and such a big, dramatic move from them!! I guess lesson i have learned so far is that it would have helped me to communicate with them but i thought i had a little more time... in the past i paid all my bills! a few months of bad luck and they are all on top of you !! I don't think these debts are so old that i don't owe them anymore,,it would be hard to tell because my debts are prob. from orig. purchases made, and then paying them off a little at a time, and believe me, all the interest and fees have added a significant amount to what i owe..... Anyway, this was such a shock.... Thanks for your time........
I owe on some credit cards. I went to court on jan. 26, 2009 and 10-16-09 they decided to garnish my check. I only work nine months out of the year as a asst. teacher. Is it to late to stop this garnishment and use a debt consolidated?
I made the mistake of letting a default judegment bagainst be granted in court. I was dealing with so much with my family that I thought it wasn't serious.now they are about to garnish my wages.I need all my paycheck to pay my kids tuition!I am so scared.i live in nys.thank you for any help;i am terrified so much.
2001? In my state, that goes beyond the statue of limitations and they do not have a case. Show up in court with your defense, and more than likely it will get thrown away.
First find out the statute of limitations on revolving debt in your state. Sounds like they are trying to re - age something from 2001? Thats 8 years!
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