Length of time to sue?

[Belvedere77]

Hello. I'm new to this forum and bankruptcy. I haven't paid my BofA bill in 5 months. They called me aggresively for the last 5 months and I have not heard from them in 2 weeks. If they turn me over to a collection agency, how long will it take for them to get a judgement against me? I need another 80 days before I can file. Thank you in advance for replies.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

I don't believe there is any set length of time before a card will sue. Some sue in 2 months, some take years. It's the luck of the draw. The worst thing that can happen (and someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong) is that they sue, and get a judgement and then you file for bk. It will take a little bit more work for you to get the judgement vacated but you will be able to with the bankruptcy. Now if you weren't going to file for the BK, then you'd have issues if you had the judgements.

[SinkingFast]

Most likely, BoA will check you out before proceeding with any legal action.

When we started our "clean-up" process, we discovered BoA had been pulling our Credit on a regular basis for months before we filed. Like once a week, every week. From the Credit Reporting Agencies, BoA knew we had lots of other debts we weren't paying.

Creditors will also check at the Court House to see what property you own. They wanna know if it will be worth it to place any liens against you. If you own old beaters cars and rent, odds are in your favor that's not a route Creditors will take.

If your State allows for Wage or Banking Institution Garnishments, your Creditors may go there. But generally not without notice. You should get 20-30 days Notice of a Hearing in a Law Suit. Generally, you can slow the process down by filing an answer in writing and appearing at Court on the Hearing day. A written response and a Court appearance can buy you another 30-60 days.

Creditors sound very threatening and can scare people. But the Law Suit process does tend to slog along at a snail's pace.

[GoingDown]

The amount of time between missed payments and a lawsuit varies widely from creditor to creditor and is often based upon whether they think they can get money out of you by suing you. They look at your credit report to see if you have a home loan (so they can put a lien on it), a car loan (so they can seize it), and an employer (so they can garnish your wages). They also look to see who you have been paying and how much you have been paying them. If it looks like you haven't been paying anyone on time, then it is likely to be a waste of their money and time to file a lawsuit against you because you are insolvent. I've even heard a former collection agent say that if they see that you are unemployed and don't own any real estate, then they won't bother filing a lawsuit against you. But they keep checking your updated credit reports to see if any of that changes, and when you do get a job or a home loan, etc., then they are more likely to file a lawsuit against you.

[follie]

YMMV, of course, but I didn't pay BofA for over a year before filing and they didn't sue me.

[ilovemycaitybug]

We owed BoA on two separate cards (I hadn't paid mine for 7 months before filing - my husband was paying through credit counseling (if you can call it that!)). They never threatened suing. Now, Discover actually did serve me papers. But I filed before the 20 day response period. But like other posters said it all depends on other factors. I've heard people tell me they were surprised that Discover sued... so who knows!