When going belly up, has anyone pondered the benefits of not answering the phone at all, letting an answering machine get the calls, or answering and speaking to the CA or OC. My thinking is if there's no answer they may be more likey to sue. If the number's disconnected they might hire a skip trace service. If you keep a machine connected and just ignore it they will at least think they are making progress by getting to mess with your head. Any thoughts?
Just let the machine take your calls. If the amounts are high enough anf the economics are worth while, you will be sued no matter what you do. What are your specific circumstances?
Enigma is right. Moreover, if you can establish a pattern of practive wherein the call volume rises to the level of abuse and harrassment, you would have a counter should it come to that.
My credit is perfect. It's my mother's that about to take a dive. She had a stroke and is now in a home on Medicaid. She has about 200k in credit card debt (she used cash advances to pay med bills before Medicaid kicked in). I was wondering should I have her number disconnected, no answer or leave the machine on to see if they hang themselves. I personally don't care to listen to sixteen or so calls daily but who knows, some day she may recover and need credit. I figured if leaving the machine on would help stave off lawsuits, then I would let them leave their messages.
I am sorry hear of her illness. Since she is on Medicaid, I can assume she has no assets? Do you have power of attorney and/or is she competent to make her own financial decisions? Are you in a community property state? Does she have life insurance? I ask because at $200k worth of debt, it is going to be worth someones time and effort to pursue it through the courts.
Contact a bankruptcy lawyer. If her income is only disability payments, and has no other assetts she should qualify for a Chapter 7
Yes I have power of attorney. This is in Florida. She has no assets. The 200k of debt is spread across 15 different credit cards.
Most likely she will be judgement proof. If you feel she may need credit again later a Chapter 7 may be a possibility, it's possible to rebuild credit after a bk but it takes time & effort. 200K in CO's though, imo will be much harder to overcome than a bk will. Most BK attornies have free consults, maybye go see one? Good luck & I hope your mom gets better soon. Tegleg
