At how many days past due will Chase begin legal precedings? Do they give any warnings? I', 80 days past due and they haven't mentioned it yet. I really want to avoid being sued.

It's hard to say since the creditor can sue (if it wishes) anytime when a borrower defaults.

it varies from creditor to creditor, it also depends on communication, how much time you have spent on the phone with them and that you are willing to negotiate with them

__________________
my blog about saving money during a recession, And my personal story about Provanta's debt settlement program and how it worked for my family

I am a few days from charge off. My balance is about 5K, and I have not been sued yet. but I have been speaking with them on the phone from time to time to let them know that I am trying to come up with the money to pay them.

After 3 months Chase wrote me that they had put my case to their lawyers.

Here is the thing about getting sued. In this market, the climate has changed, and although the banks CAN sue you, it just does not make any sense for them too. There are so many people out of work, the time and expense of going to court to garnish your wages are not worth it to the bank. Rather, you are better off negotiating some type of settlement with them.

I am in the same boat, but my debt loads are a lot HIGHER. I have my own business, borrowed of unsecured lines of credit, and now I am looking to default on those lines since the banks froze them, and I cant use them.

Now the money I make, I need to keep, since I can not finance any more of projects. I need to come up with cash, and if I give it to them, its as good as gone.

Will they sue me? Maybe, but it would not be in their best interest. Its unsecured debt, so they would not get anything. I have no money. My business has tanked along with every one elses. So they are going to drag me into court, and get what? NOTHING.. I do not have anything.

Guess what... Neither do most people!

So why sue! Where is the money and what is it in it for the banks to sue us poor consumers that do not have anything.

for the most part i do agree with you, but they are still suing and they can get a judgement on you were depending on your state your wages can be garnished, the judge can force you into a payment plan if he feels your financials can meet what they are asking, he can put a lein on your home, and also attach a bank levy to your bank account. like i said though you will need to check into your states rules and regulations im lucky enough to live in a debtor friendly state but they can do something to regain thier money back.

__________________
my blog about saving money during a recession, And my personal story about Provanta's debt settlement program and how it worked for my family

make sure that all processes were followed to a T. make sure they they validate the debt, etc..

That is not born out by the evidence I see in the registry of deeds in my county. I see a load of executions recorded in 2009 from Citi, Amex, Chase, Discover. Most are in the 2-5K range but I see quite a few with 30-40K judgment amounts.

Thanks for your post unregistered guest. I guess I should prepare to go to court. I am not going without a fight though, and I am going to use every applicable defense, and drag it out as long as I can, and hope for a technicality in getting the case dismissed. I really do not have any other choice. I did not sign the agreements that banks changed my agreements too, and I can not function if I pay them. So I guess I will see them court, and they will get nothing, because I have nothing.. Since the business tanked, I am a housewife.

Another thing that I would like to understand about the judgment amounts you are referencing.

It would good to know how many people actually fought back, or if a lot of people just ignored their summons, and there were a lot of default judgments. I know from this perspective, yes, it would make sense to pursue the debt and sue, if statistically speaking the banks know that most people are not going to fight it.

Unfortunately I have too much expirience with Chase. Between me and my wife we had 5 Chase cards totaling almost 100k. We are about 230 days past due! 2 cards (1 for 32k and 1 for 7k) were outsourced to MRS collections and I settled them at 18%. 1 other card for 6k went to another collection agency and I settled with them at 15%. Now for the problems 2 cards left with a balance of 54k went to legal and they won't settle they acted discusting on the phone and said they are sending me a summons!! Why they sent these to to legal and the rest not is beyond me. I even told them they are forcing me into bk and I will stop paying my other settlements with chase's collection agency but they didn't care. I hope this info helps you!!

you see, thats the thing.. there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason or logic to anything. Its been my experience, when someone TELLS you they are going to sue, its a bully tactic, because if they are going to sue they are going to sue.. I know I if I was going to sue someone, I would not give them the heads up so I could ditch the summons, and buy me some.

I do know that keeping in touch and negotiating will them from escalating things. I know with Bank of America, they put me in a bind, because everytime I paid a line down, they shut the line off. Now, I have to make a choice, to pay them, and not pay my employees, and obviously I am goign to pay my employees. I told them I would have the money after we came out of our busy seasom. The lady just told me tokeep calling back.

Survivor: were the cards in both you and your wife's names or individual accounts? That could have had some bearing on the choices they made.