Debt Settlement and Collections

I am in a Debt Settlement program and have received a summons twice. The first time, it came with an alternative settlement offer, which was a good one, so I took it. Since my funds with the company were committed to paying off another account right at that moment, I settled the account myself and the case was dismissed. My settlement company then removed that account and their fee for it out of the program, making my monthly payment quite a bit less (it was a $22,000 debt). The other time, I informed my settlement company and they negotiated a settlement with the creditor, and again, the case was dismissed. If no agreement can be reached before the court date, you have to show up. Several things can happen, most likely the judge will see first if there is some sort of payment plan you can handle. If not, they may garnish your wages, depending on what state you live in. Or, they can put a lien on your home if you are a homeowner, meaning that when you go to sell the home at some point in the future, the creditor gets their cut at that time.

If you are doing settlements, you can be still be sued if you are settling yourself, especially if you have a lot of accounts to deal with. Some creditors just get antsy and it doesn't matter if you are with a company or not.

I would not be to worried about getting taken to court over your debts. You obiously know that you need a "out" and you are taking control to get it under control. The faster you get it done, the less likely you are going to get sued. But you can only do what you can do at the time. My husband was worried about it being in the paper and all of that sort of stuff, but they dont do that. I had a company that ended up taking me to court, I had nothing except for my home and they put the lein on it. after getting a good refund I paid them off. The judge will do what is fair and will take your situation in consideration. I expressed i was going through a debt settlement company and that this particular company did not want to comply or negotiate with them. The fact that they did not show up to the hearing angered him, and the fact that they would not work with me angered him even more. He looked at it that i was trying to take care of my obligations and they wasted his time there for, put no time limit on it, or anything. He told me pay it when i can, If i dont have any intentions of leaving my home to not worry about it. It seems to me the court frowns on this type of behavior from creditors. It all seems scary at first, but its not really as bad as you think it would be