Who Sues?

[luke326]

I'm an independent contractor so I don't believe there is any way to garnish. I don't own anything of real value. I immediately closed my bank account when the first suit was filed. I've never used an automatic debit to make a payment, so they had no back door to snag payment.

They have been pretty aggressive, but my clever head-in-the-sand strategy has been effective thus far.

[treehugger1]

Luke, did all the suits eventually go to judgments? I ask this because I am more convinced that the reason I have had no really large suits brought against me is becasue of all the collections and judgments showing on my credit reports. This is aside from all the charge offs. In addition, my student loans have been reporting late for the past 6 months, once I opted to default and encourage the dept of eduction to apply the administrative wage garnishment. Heck, my student loan servicer doesn't even call me any longer after I told them I was done paying them voluntarily. Several collection (agencies and attornies) firms have looked at my credit reports. I'm sure they thought "holy sh*t!"

[john5527]

I hope this is the right place to post this. I have several major credit cards. 3 of them are with HSBC and one with Capital One. HSBC has said they are going to sue me. What happens when you get sued. I lost my job and have been out of work for four months, have no real estate or assets, no money in the bank, and a little unemployment income which I am paying out entirely to creditors. What will happen when I go to court?

[optimistic1]

I hope this is the right place to post this. I have several major credit cards. 3 of them are with HSBC and one with Capital One. HSBC has said they are going to sue me. What happens when you get sued. I lost my job and have been out of work for four months, have no real estate or assets, no money in the bank, and a little unemployment income which I am paying out entirely to creditors. What will happen when I go to court?

You really should post this in a new thread, maybe a moderator can edit this for you.

Please read the sticky in the forum, here is a link

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=20104

That link has all the information you need about being sued.


Also, to help you out, what county and state do you live in? Often they have online docket searches available to see if you have been sued yet.

My personal take on your particular situation is that HSBC is lying through their teeth, they know you have no job and asset's, they are simply scaring you into paying them, which is illegal. Next time they tell you that, tell them " I will see you in court " and hang up.

[treehugger1]

It sounds as if you have no job, no assets, and therefore there is little anyone can get from you in a suit at this time. If they sue, you should be served papers. In most states you are required to file an answer on paper, but I believe some states allow one to show up at the courthouse. I'm not the person comment on how to file an answer.

The OC can get a default judgment if you do not provide an answer to the initial papers served on you. A judgment is a acknowledgment by the legal system that you do owe the plaintiff money. With a judgment, the plaintiff has access to tools to attempt to recover the money. These tools include placing liens, garnishing wages, garnishing bank accounts, etc. Each state is different. There is no such thing as a debtor's prison, so you won;t go to jail for not paying your debts.

Judgments can remain in effect for decades. In my state, a judgment lasts for 10 years and can be renewed. Eventually, if I became wealthy, they could access my assets. I doubt I'll ever ne that wealthy.

[john5527]

Thanks for referring me to the other thread. Appreciate your information.

[PatinCA]

I stopped paying my credit cards in March. The last pmt to one of our Amexes was in Feb 2009. We got served with a suit on 8/13. I was VERY surprised to get sued so fast as I didn't read about this happening to others here on the board. I don't know what caused them to go so fast. We have another Amex in my name only that has a bigger balance and they are still sending me letters. Zwicker was the one who sued. We will file in the next few days. We have 12 other CC's that are delinquent and most have not even sent the accounts to CAs yet.

[backtoschool]

I stopped paying my credit cards in March. The last pmt to one of our Amexes was in Feb 2009. We got served with a suit on 8/13. I was VERY surprised to get sued so fast as I didn't read about this happening to others here on the board. I don't know what caused them to go so fast. We have another Amex in my name only that has a bigger balance and they are still sending me letters. Zwicker was the one who sued. We will file in the next few days. We have 12 other CC's that are delinquent and most have not even sent the accounts to CAs yet.

Wow, that is strange! Amex usually doesn't sue that fast. I didn't pay them for a year and they didn't sue. It is a very large balance or something? Do you have a high income?

[debtprison]

I'm an independent contractor so I don't believe there is any way to garnish. I don't own anything of real value. I immediately closed my bank account when the first suit was filed. I've never used an automatic debit to make a payment, so they had no back door to snag payment.

They have been pretty aggressive, but my clever head-in-the-sand strategy has been effective thus far.

They can still do it or at least I know the IRS can.... but it's harder. The IRS has the advantage of getting any 1099s which make it easier for them.

[debtprison]

I stopped paying my credit cards in March. The last pmt to one of our Amexes was in Feb 2009. We got served with a suit on 8/13. I was VERY surprised to get sued so fast as I didn't read about this happening to others here on the board. I don't know what caused them to go so fast. We have another Amex in my name only that has a bigger balance and they are still sending me letters. Zwicker was the one who sued. We will file in the next few days. We have 12 other CC's that are delinquent and most have not even sent the accounts to CAs yet.

I wonder if the economy and the desperation for money that some in the finance industry have (impending bankruptcies of their own?) has a hand in the increased collection efforts? It would make sense as long as it isn't completely obvious that they will never be able to collect.

[rockyroad]

AMEX sued me right at 180 days as well, but did so through their local attorney in my city. I have answered the suit and put them off for a year, but I am able to do that in my state with no cost or mandatory arbitration.
You might consider that if you aren't ready to file.

[catleg]

Yup everyone needs to always respond to a lawsuit and never allow them to get a judgment against you. You have to always fight them.

I think BB's login has been hacked.

[bluemartini]

I think BB's login has been hacked.

LOL I was wondering the same thing!

[backtoschool]

Yup everyone needs to always respond to a lawsuit and never allow them to get a judgment against you. You have to always fight them.

BigBoy2U,

Would you need to avoid a judgment if you were going to file for bankruptcy in the near term? I don't see how the judgment could matter in that case.

[junker]

one thing about vacating a judgement ..ramblin man wont tell you is that it can cost extra beyond normal bk fees to have it vacated. 2 to 300 bucks per judgement is common...if you can get your lawyer to do it for you....something to think about when ignoring a summons....