Avoiding getting sued.
Date: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 17:07
Thanks!!!
Cassie
As you have more than one card, and can't make payments on those
As you have more than one card, and can't make payments on those, debt consolidation is your best option. Rather than settling, you can try to consolidate your debts.You can either take out a new loan to pay off the cards, or transfer the balance from all the cards to another card with 0% balance transfer. In debt consolidation all your debts are consolidated into one. Thus, instead of making several payments each month, you can make a single payment.
As for the lawsuits, you will be able to know about it ahead of time. The creditors are required to serve you with proper notice about the lawsuit. If you don't get any notice about this lawsuit, and if any judgment is entered against you, you will be able to vacate it. However, you immediately need to talk to all of your creditors so that they may not sue you for non payment of dues. If you can't consolidate your debts on your own, you can also join a debt consolidation program.
Thank you for your advice. I have been in constant contact with
Thank you for your advice. I have been in constant contact with my creditors. My husband's employer of 16 years closed down and that is the only reason we are not able to pay minimum payments on our cards. I have explained this to every creditor and I am calling them all once a week. My husband is starting a new job that pays pretty well and that is why I was thinking of saving up money and trying to settle the cards one at a time. I just do not want to be sued...that is my biggest worry.
cassie
Greetings "anonymous", Just my 1 cents worth of advice. Howe
Greetings "anonymous",
Just my 1 cents worth of advice.
However you decide to proceed, consolidation or settlement, your stated main objective is not to be sued.
From my experiance it's best to create a spreadsheet (or just good notes) of when the calls were made and to whom you spoke with.
You are taking the correct path, communicating with the creditors, in my opinion will lession the chance of being sued.
I really believe that the cc's have law suit criteria based upon in part communciations.
Good Luck,
King "Kash" Jabba
Thank you for your advice! I have a notebook that I write down e
Thank you for your advice! I have a notebook that I write down every call I make or answer from each creditor. So you are saying if I continue to answer calls and call them at least once a week that the chances of being sued are lower?
Is it when you ignore the creditor that they usually sue?
Cassie
Greetings Cassie, I'm just speaking from my ds journey. The c
Greetings Cassie,
I'm just speaking from my ds journey.
The calls started only after I was only one week late!
And call they did. Between all of the ccc's, I bet that I was getting 20-30 calls a day.
Now bear in mind that these calls were generated by an auto dialer.
But that auto dialer was being "instructed" to dial via some type of accounting software. My cell phone recorded the numbers and I logged them into my spreadsheet.
Almost everyday I returned one call to each creditor.
Told them my story and held to it.
After about three weeks the calls started to slack off and I returned them according to the call frequency.
After six weeks they were only calling a couple of times a week.
And then chase and boa-the snake just stopped calling.
So I started calling them back once a week.
Then chase offered me a settlement and then the others followed in line.
All in all it took about 5-6 months to wrap it up.
I sincerely believe that if you ignore the creditor, they will get very hostile and do anything to secure the asset (your account) and that includes dragging you into court.
Here's a tip.
When I telephoned them, I always asked them if they could "see" that I was communicating in my account log. That seemed to help, as it validated what I said from call to call. And the csr said they appreciated that.
Good Luck.
King "Kash" Jabba Labba
Cassie, 2 of your creditors do sue regularly and another one su
Cassie,
2 of your creditors do sue regularly and another one sues aggressively depending on your state of residence.
There does exist some rhyme and reason for determining to file suit i.e. are you employed, own a home etc... with most creditors (aside from CapOne who seems to file indiscriminate of logic).
SC did not go far enough in his description of "serve you with proper notice".
Proper notice is to serve you a summons and complaint. This means you are being sued and of course, have the right to participate in the process. Your concern of small town and friends at the court house will be realized at this point because you have been "served" which means it is now filed with the court (unless you live in a hip pocket state like MN where the process can begin without an initial court filing).
Your clearest warning that you are one step from being sued is when you receive a collection letter from an in state attorney or one in a neighboring state with offices or license to practice in your state. Having received a collection letter from an attorney that meets this criteria certainly does not mean you are sure to be sued, just that the likelihood has increased dramatically.
I think SC was responding to your concern you mentioned after reading more on this site where you have read about people being sued without knowing about it. That is more about "sewer service" of process than it is about the actual risk or advance warning that the risk of suit looms large.
Enrolling in a debt management plan as SC suggested will eliminate the risk of being sued as will filing bankruptcy (which may be handled in a court other than where your friends work, but will become a matter of public record).
If a lawsuit is your biggest concern, settlement is the option that will lead to the highest risk of it happening.
Wish I had something more positive to share....
Mileage may vary
Banks won't sue you until after the debt is charged off - 180 da
Banks won't sue you until after the debt is charged off - 180 days, so you have some time. Even if they do sue you, you can still settle for less than you owe as long as you respond to the lawsuit. If you don't respond, they will get a default judgment.
I would settle with Capital One first, since they are agressive and the most likely to sue.
Then I would settle the largest balances first, if you can.