Credit Card Lawsuit
63Sued by Credit Card Company
Credit Card Lawsuits
One of the things that sends most people into a panic is receiving a summons from the court for a credit card that you have defaulted on. There are several options available to you if you are being sued by a credit card company. Depending the state that the lawsuit was filed there are several steps you should take to resolve a lawsuit that is filed against you by a credit card company. If you have received a summons from the court for a credit card company then you can do the following:
1) Answer the summons- If you feel that you have a valid defense to what the credit card company is stating in their complaint then you need to file an answer to the complaint. The summons will provide you with how much time you have available from the time that they served you to file a response to the complaint. If you do not know how to approach filing a response then you can generally get assistance at some court locations in filing the documents. Keep in mind that not being able to pay the debt is not a valid defense to the complaint.
2) Call the Law Firm - Depending on the law office that is handling the matter they may be willing to work out with you a payment arrangement. In return you should bargain for having the lawsuit dropped in exchange for setting up a payment arrangement. Whether the law firm will be willing to accept and bargain with you for dropping the lawsuit will vary. Some law firms are more flexible in working with you than others. Other law firms will continue with the lawsuit but will setup a payment plan. The reason that they will continue with the lawsuit is that they want to have it as back up in case you fail to make your payments.
3) Talk to a Local Bankruptcy Attorney - Filing for bankruptcy can stop the lawsuit from proceeding any further. Consult with a local bankruptcy attorney to determine if bankruptcy is a good option for your situation. If you have debt and cannot afford to make payments on the debt then filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be the right option for you. Once your bankruptcy case is filed it will stop the credit card lawsuit from proceeding any further.
What Happens if You Do Nothing?
If you are being sued by a credit card company and you fail to do nothing to resolve the situation then there are several things that can occur. Generally if you do not respond to the lawsuit then the creditor will be able to obtain a default judgment. Once a default judgment is obtained then the creditor will have several options available to them. Depending on the state that you are in the creditor may be able to do the following:
1) Wage Garnishment - Many states will allow the creditor to garnish you wages. The amount that the creditor will be allowed to garnish to pay off your debt will depend on the state you are in. Your employer will be served with a wage garnishment order that will require them to deduct a specified amount from your check to pay off the debt. If you are being garnished, filing for bankruptcy can stop the garnishment from proceeding any further.
2) Levy Bank Account - If the creditor is able to locate your bank account then they may be able to levy the bank account. This means they will be able to freeze the bank account and take the money to pay off the debt that they claim you owe them. If your bank account is frozen then you may be able to obtain the money back if you file for bankruptcy.
3) Lien on Your Property- Some creditors will be able to place a lien on your property. If you own a house they may record a lien against your property for the money that is owed to them. This lien will appear on the county records and will have to be paid off in order to clear the lien off your property. Bankruptcy may allow you to avoid this lien and remove it from your property, if the creditor has already recorded a lien against your property.
If you are being sued by a credit card company take some action to resolve the situation. There are numerous options available to resolve your financial situation. The worst thing you can do is take no action.
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Kevin Dale 3 months ago
Another thing I've noticed is the fact for many people, bad credit is the response to circumstances past their control. Such as they may be really saddled with an illness and because of this they have more bills going to collections. Maybe it's due to a occupation loss or perhaps the inability to do the job. Sometimes divorce or separation can send the financial situation in an opposite direction. Many thanks sharing your thinking on this weblog.
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