That's what the court letter said, much little else. I was able to find a case in the original county on their website, but unable to see any documents. This is what I don't understand... We never received notice of a suit. We haven't lived in the original county for 2 years now(moved out of state, and we're now back in state, different county). When I pull our credit report, this agency is reported as "Charged off as bad debt" and "profit and loss writeoff". Am I missing something? I had understood that to mean that it was written off and that was the end. This was only a motion, it wasn't approved yet by the judge, but I'm freaking out. This credit card hasn't been sold or sent out to anyone else. Our five year SOL is up at the end of next year (I think) and there are three other cards that could be working on this same thing. Years ago with this and the three other cards we attempted a credit counseling agency which told us we'd have to file bankruptcy, we just didn't make enough to pay the bills. Life happened while we tried to scrape together the funds, we didn't get it filed, and after talking to someone else (I can't remember his title, but basically someone who would charge us $300 a month to file the same validation letters everyone talks about on this forum) he told us not to continue to file for bankruptcy, that it would ruin our credit further, that chances were that nothing would hold up in court now, etc etc., but we couldn't afford him and no letters were send to the CA's. Any advice and encouragement would be greatly appreciated. I'm afraid to send validation letters myself, even though we continue getting calls, for fear that the debts can be validated, and therefore we'd have to pay, which isn't any more possible now then it was 3 years ago.
Welcome to the forum. Hopefully we can provide you with some of the help you're in need of at the moment . So, just because a debt is charged off doesn't mean that's the end. The OC, or a CA for that matter, can continue to try and collect the debt. They can continue to collect even after the SOL has run, but you would just have an absolute defense in the event they did sue you and you went to court over it. The point is the debt never really goes away if you never deal with it. It will just sit on your credit reports until it eventually falls off and it becomes harder and harder for a CA to collect as time goes by. I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds like you might still need to talk with a good BK lawyer if your situation hasn't changed at all. Do you have any income at the moment to allocate towards negotiating settlements or paying down any of these cards?
I'm no lawyer either but it sounds as though either the OC or CA is requesting a transfer of jurisdiction, meaning moving the potential lawsuit from your orginial county to your new county. You stated that you could find a case on the original county website but can't see any documents - maybe you weren't served yet because they couldn't find you (you stated you moved out of state). If there is a case number in the system you can bet that a summons and complaint most likely has been filed with that county's court. Sounds like the OC or CA has your new address and is trying to move forward with the lawsuit.
Is it too late to file for a BK? After reading around the site it sounds like it's better to file then it is to have a charged off debt. I would really hate to start counting the years all over again, but that's the price to our stupid mistake. No, we don't have the funds. We're able to pay our bills now, thank God, but we have little extra. We have school loans we found were more appropriate to put that towards. One is being paid down, one is being paid, but you can hardly call $40 towards the principal being paid down, and the third is in deference. Having to pay another loan(as I doubt they'd accept any offer we could afford) or a judge having it taken out of our paycheck would be devastating to us. Thank you for your answers. I'm trying to read up and learn as much as I can.
BK is certainly an option, but it's impossible for me or anyone else here to know enough about your personal financial situation to give you good advice regarding BK. Personally, I like to think of BK as a last resort sort of option. Others will disagree. In total, how much debt are we talking about here?
From someone who just discharged last month, let me tell you filing is one of the most difficult financial decisions you can make and it was the last resort for me personally. But it was the right choice for me in the end. There is a test called the Bankruptcy Means Test, it is required prior to filing and is one of the forms submitted with the BK. This Means Test is available on-line and it takes a six month average of your income to generate your average monthly, you then answer questions regarding allowable deductions (ex. taxes, healthcare, secured debt (home, vehicle) child support/care etc.) from your monthly income to determine how much of your income is "disposable" and therefore could be used to pay your debts. When you finish the test you will see how much money you have left at the end of every month that could go towards paying off "unsecured" (cc) debts. Itâ??s free, private and I hate to say very sobering. Once you realize your financial means, you would know if you have the ability to work with CA or OC to hopefully avoid a lawsuit / judgment. Filing for bankruptcy will generate an automatic stay of relief and would the first step in stopping any lawsuit â?? depending on where it is in the process of course. But filing is not an overnight process â?? in fact there are pre-filing requirements (credit counseling) that must be completed, paperwork that must be collected, lawyers to hire (or you can file pro se) and 30 to 60 pages of paperwork to fill out; so decisions would need to be made fairly quickly if you believe you will be served soon. As Josh said it is impossible for someone to give you specify financial advice, but there are good folks here that can try to help in any way.
