How Long for Judgement after stopping CC payments ???

[hankrobbins]

Hi-

I live in Washington State.

I have not paid my CC bills since November.

I am wondering the time frame is to expect to have a judgement filed against me.

What should I expect as far as notification that a judgement is being filed?

Will this notification look like a normal CC bill, or a letter from the bank, or what?

Will there be an official court-type document that gives me time to respond?

Anyway, my main question is how long it takes to have the court place a judgement on me, and garnish my wages, etc.

Thanks,

Hank

[SMinGA]

There is no set time frame, though I think it is unusual (not impossible) for anything to happen in under 3-6 months.

If a judgement is filed, you'll know. It varies in different states but someone will serve notice to you in person. Before that happens, you'll probably start getting advertisements in the mail from attorneys and such offering bankruptcy services, debt settlement services, etc.

[hankrobbins]

I have gotten a lot of debt settlement mail, etc.

It has been ~6 months since my last payment, so I think I am on the edge.

If I am served the notice, how long will I have to respond. (Do they just present paperwork that says a judgement has been approved by the judge, or that there is a judgement filed? How long from the serving to the final judgement if they do serve before a judgement is filed or approved by the judge?

Thanks so much...

[liz417]

It really all depends on the creditor. I've read on this site where people went a over 2 years without being sued, I went one year and nothing happened, so it's hard to say. Like 'SMinGA' said, there is no set time frame and you'll know if a judgement is filed. File your BK when the time is right for you, don't worry about a judgement until (if/when) it happens. Good Luck!

[hankrobbins]

Any more specific information about Judgement timing...?

I posted on here last month about how much time will occur between last payment and judgements. I guess my last payment was my November payment, making it a hair under 6 months. I have heard the 6 month figure mentioned several times by BK attorneys, etc. I would imagine that the balances on the cards, as well as the particular bank, would help to determine how long it might take. My balance total is around 80K, high high interest and penalties so it is probably significantly more than that.
Now I am considering loan negotiation-trying to get the debt down to a point where I can afford to pay off the cards. I don't know much of anything about negotiating with creditors about this. What to offer them, what terms I want, etc. I have heard that Bank of America at times will negotiate down to 20%, US Bank down to 14-17%, I don't know of the rest of the companies. This negotiation idea sounds like a good one considering I could avoid bankruptcy altogether if everything worked out right. I have also heard about reduced principal with very attractive interest rates.

I guess this is a tangent to a BK question-how to avoid bankruptcy, or at least appear to want to make good on these debts. With the possibility of doing the BK if things don't work out or something unexpected happens.

Does anyone have any feedback on these negotiations, and maybe some specific numbers about which banks will settle for what?

Thanks much...

Hank