help!!! Being sued

Okay -- I'll bite.

You haven't given anyone enough information to help you. You are being sued:

By whom?
For what?
Do they have a case?
How long do you have to respond?
How old is the matter?
What type of court is the suit filed with?
Where do you live?

 

You're not supposed to know, unless you have graduated from law school. Otherwise, you need to pay someone who has.

Do not consider pro se litigation unless it's Small Claims.


Saar

 

You didn't answer all of my questions, and they are all important.

You say it is for an old credit card. How old? In what state do you live? These are important questions because there is a statute of limitations on how long a credit card company has to sue you. The statute varies from state-to-state so where you live has everything to do with how you defend yourself. If the statute of limitations has elapsed, all you do is appear in court and make that argument to the judge.

What was the date of the last payment you made on this account?

 

Well, the SOL in your state is four years. If they are right about the date of your last payment, they have a pretty solid case. Are they right about the date?

If they are you really have three choices:

1. You can do nothing. The bank will get a default judgement against you and they can try to collect it by doing things like attaching your wages or taking property or other assets. They cannot take more than an allowed percentage of your wages and there are certain types of assets they cannot touch. I don't know what the laws are on this subject in your state.

2. You can hire an attorney and try to fight it. You will spend money to do this but perhaps an attorney can negotiate with the bank before the matter goes to court. You may be able to reach a settlement and avoid a judgement -- which will be a huge negative on your credit reports.

3. You can contact the attorney for the bank yourself and try to negotiate a settlement without the need for a judgement. If you can come up with a significant percentage of the money you owe up-front, this has a chance of working.

 

I think that if you try to go that route you are going to have to drop any pretense that you do not owe the money. Just don't sign anything you're not comfortable with.

 

The assumption all 3 above options are based on, is that eventually, she will legally have to pay something. That may or may not be true, and cannot be inferred from the little information that was provided. For all we know, exhibit A may be nothing but an unsigned paper showing only a Dollar amount and a date of last payment.


Saar

 

You're in a difficult spot with this because come next March, the SOL will expire on this debt. This doesn't leave the bank a lot of time to play around with you.

What kind of a settlement you can get is probably going to be a function of how judgement-proof you are. If you make good money at a job or have property or other kinds of valuable assets, their attorney knows that it's going to be very easy to collect any judgement against you. He is then less likely to want to settle for only half of what he knows he can get. And he's not only going to collect on what you owe the bank. The court is going to tack all of his expenses and his fee on to the judgment. More money for him.

If on the other hand you are fairly judgement proof, he might be willing to settle for 50% or less because he knows it's the only way he's going to see a dime.

Being unfamiliar with this kind of situation, you are at a disadvantage. Their attorney does this every day and is going to have the upper hand in negotiations with you. If you are going to try to negotiate an out of court settlement, it is worth contacting an attorney on your own or at least paying a minimal amount for a consultation. You'll find out exactly what your rights are and will have more confidence in your negotiations. Especially since you sound like you might be able to come up with half of the money now, spending $150 or so on a legal consultation won't hurt and could help.

 

Chances are though, if this ever gets in front of a judge it will result in a judgement.

 

Let's not jump to conclusions. If all they have to prove it is exhibit A and her lawyer shows up, the judge is likely to dismiss the lawsuit and award her court costs & attorney fees.

Do not talk with their attorney. The SOL may have passed (depending on when you start counting). Thus, if while you talk you make a statement acknowledging the debt, the SOL period is reset!

I reiterate my initial suggestion. Get an attorney.


Saar

 

Now you're getting past the area where you should accept advise from anyone but an attorney. All I can tell you is to use the "gut-feeling" method. If you have sources of income you think would be easy to find or bank accounts in your name or a car in which you have equity you aren't judgement-proof in my book. I don't think they can touch your house, but they sure can file a lien which will have to be paid before you can sell.

On the other hand if your source of income is not obvious, you don't have bank accounts in your name and have no real property they could go after, I'd think you were pretty judgement-proof.

Spend the money on a legal consultation on Monday.

 

Saar, you and I do not disagree.