Based on your experience...how often do creditors sue?

It is quite possible that you get sued while in a debt settlement plan. That???s why it becomes that more important to associate yourself with a good and reputed debt settlement company who have lawyers to settle such suits. Again good settlement companies rely on good working relationship with big lenders. It also has qualified professionals to negotiate efficiently with the creditors to get maximum result out of the deal. That???s why while selecting a settlement company you should see two things: -
1. it is a law firm
2. it has good accreditation
3. it has IAPDA professionals to professionally negotiate with the creditors

Has anyone gone through debt settlement and NOT been sued?

I've been in a debt settlement program for a year now, and have been sued twice. One suit came from Advanta, and I was offered an alternative 10% settlement, which I took. Since my funds in my settlement program were committed to paying off another settlement at the time, I had to do it on my own outside of the program. (My settlement company then subtracted that account, and their fee for it, and refigured my monthly payments). The other suit came from Target, and my settlement company was able to negotiate a deal before it went to court. It came as no big shock though; they were very up front with me in the beginning that this was always a possibility.

Law firms aren't necessarily a good indicator of a good debt settlement company. Check out Hess and Kennedy. And even aside from them, take a company who has 500 clients and 10% of them get sued - I guarantee their "lawyers" won't go for bat for these clients. Will they represent you in court? No way.

If you get sued, then you're getting forced into a settlement or a payment plan at that time. This can be arranged by anyone w/o a law degree.

"Again good settlement companies rely on good working relationship with big lenders." - This statement is untrue. Do you really think that an international conglomerate like Bank of America will listen to a measly debt settlement company. Accounts are typically transferred to a third party collections on pennies on the dollar - this is where settlement takes place 99% of the time.

Debt settlement is a great program and works well. Just know the risks getting into it so you're not surprised down the road and do research on how the process works.

Absolutely true, Jack! I have found a lot of complaints on this site about settlement companies are from people who probably signed up in a hurry, without understanding how the process works or researching the companies in particular. OF COURSE there are a lot of bad companies out there that are scams, and they are springing up at a rapid rate. My local radio station is running ads for about a half-dozen different ones right now. But the process does work, pitfalls and all, if you know what you are getting into and have chosen a good, solid legitimate company. YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! Bam2009 has asked a great question.

Am I crazy - maybe getting sued isn't a bad thing as long as I have the $ to settle. I guess what I'm scared of is getting sued and being forced to pay 100%! Has anyone ever been sued and NOT been given a last minute settlement ofer to not go to court?

Yes, that can happen - hopefully someone will jump in here with a personal story about it. Usually the court will order a payment plan you can live with, or they can garnish wages - but you want to settle before court if you can, so you don't have that judgement against you. Job applications sometimes ask if you have ever had a judgement against you. Judgements can affect future employment opportunities, loans, etc. in ADDITION to having bad credit. So lawsuits aren't something to take lightly. Avoid them if at all possible! If you have the money to settle, work like the dickens to get it settled!

I also want to point out something else - you can be sued even if you are settling yourself, and not going through a company. If you have several accounts you are trying to juggle, you may well run into impatient creditors who don't want to wait if you can only settle one account at a time. Getting sued has nothing to do with whether or not you are in a program.

It all depends on the balance,the amount of assets the debtor has, and the bank's policies.
When I settled, I got no suits. This was in 2002 before the new laws. My average balance was $4500. I had a limo business which was doing fair. I looked into BK but an attorney advised against it, because my limos could possibly be taken as assets.

My brother, a paralegal, explained it: It is expensive to sue. So the balance and assets need to be high enough to be worth it. The assets are looked at and looked for. If real estate with is there, a lien can be attached to it, if the debtor has no $. If a guy has no real estate, an old car, only personal possessions, he could be seen as "judgment-proof".

There was a chiropractor with a good practice file for BK. The lawyer mishandled it, and one credit card, balance $20,000, sued anyway. They wanted the practice.

I had a friend with a good paying steady job who tried to settle at 1-3 mos behind on payments. Not much luck. The offers averaged 80%. Balances were around $5000 per card. Discover sued. I heard from several places that Discover is bad like that.

My point is that if the creditor smells $, they will go after it. If not, they will take what they are offered.

Target sued me on a $2500 account. And with the added fees and interest, the "deal" of 79% made the settlement around the amount of the original debt. Had to take it though, to stay out of court. Thank heaven it was my smallest account.

We were sued after about 9 months of non payment. I filed a response, and we went to our court date. Judge was really nice and we said we weren't disputing that we owed it, but wanted to work out a settlement. Case closed, and the judge told us to continue working with the law firm to come to payment arrangement or settlement.

We are with a settlement company and have been served papers with 1 company -- which was my lowest account and we just settled, but for more then the average 50% that the settlement co. gets. It also was for about the original amount of the debt before months of late fees and interest. But that was fine with me, i just wanted it taken care of. Bank of America has just started sending us arbitration papers. So i figure they are heading that way. I would think that there is more of a chance of being sued if you were doing it on your own. Surely some cc companies will wait of the debt settlement -- at least that way they know they are going to get paid. It will just take some time for the person to accumulate the funds. Seems a no brainer to me.

Another thing when we got sued by Chase, our settlement co. said that it depents on the company and what state they have offices in. If you live in a state where they have offices (we live in IL and Chase has offices in Chicago) they are more likely to sue because it is easier to file the paperwork. Our settlement co. said that the worst that would happen is that we would set up a payment plan with the cc company directly instead of saving money in our account to pay it off in the end. Then they would subtract that amount for our total.

Our settlement company was very upfront with us about the possibility of being sued. But heck, we were up a creek without a paddle with our cc's so we had to do something. I can't imagine what would have happened if we tried to do this on our own, without their help and advice. This also FORCEd us to save the money. I would have been worried it we did it on our own that when times go tough, we would dip into that savings -- or just try to pay every month. This way, we have the money in our own account. But we are accountable for the money -- makes us leave it alone. And now we can't use our cards anymore so there is no quick "well lets just use this cc this one time" type of thing. I t hink a debt settlement program really helps you fact the facts and start living within your means (which is what we were not doing at the time).

I think when doing it yourself you have a way better chance of NOT being sued. Because you can settle your accounts much faster with the money you would have payed towards your fees. Think about the all the money you'd have right away if it wasn't going towards fees. And the settlement co's do not have any relationship with the OC's that's a bunch of bs. I have settled almost all of my accounts at and below 50% with one being at 60% because I knew they would be more likely to sue because they have a laywer in my state. Plus the OC's are more likely to negotiate with you personally than if you are with a settlement co.

The collection agency is out of maryland , but i received a call from someone in my state and close to the city where i live.
does this mean i will proably get sued.

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