i live in Pa and have received a letter stating that i need to pay amount of $9,821 by months end. If i do not they will take legal matters against me. What will happen if this goes to a legal matter. Will i goto jail? I rent a place residence. In court will they garnish my wages? how will this work? should i look into filing bankruptcy? PLEASE HELP. at a loss over what to do. I do not have the funds to give them by months end. ANY help is greatly appreciated. This is on a credit card that has not been paid off.
You can not go to jail for civil manners, if it were a *CRIMINAL MATTER* such as knowingly passing a $9,821 check you knew wouldn't pass, that would be a different ballgame, if they could prove that you knew at the time you passed the check that you didn't, and wouldn't have $9,821 in the account, and it wasn't just returned because a business double authed on your debit card a transaction and the available balance was barely under the check amount, until the second auth cleared. If they get a judgement, and you are not judgement-proof they could try to sheriff's sale to make up the amount of the judgement. http://www.carreonandassociates.com/articles/statute.htm#Pennsylvania From this listing, it looks like 100% of wages, and some other things, are exempt in PA. Has this collection agency provided validation for this alledged debt prior to this threat of legal action? If no, and you didn't ask for it before, I would suggest you ask for it now. In another post, I typed a simple "I don't know what you are talking about." dispute/validation request. Found it... http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60864 If they go legal, you will get either via personal service, or certified mail, a letter from your area's magistrate (or if they choose a higher level of court, from that court). If its at the magistrate level, you call the magistrates office, and tell them that you intend to appear. Within a few days of that, you, and the plaintiff will receive a "Notice of Defendant's Intent to Appear". If you don't show up for the hearing, they win a judgement by defautl. If they don't show up for the hearing, the case against you is dismissed, without prejudice (usually), and the plaintiff, or someone else can re-file against you at a later date. How long ago was the account closed for non-payment? PA's SOL is 4 years for open accounts, if it's been longer than 4 years, you have an affirmative defense to their claims, that "their claims are time-barred under the statutes of limitations."
