How long after stopping CC payments before they take action?

[josephga]

I had a credit card with citi bank for 15 years. I became very sick last year and now suffer from chronic back pain and haven't worked since January and haven't made a credit card payment since January. most of the charges are medical. I owe 23.000. for the first few months i received statements but no extra charges, this month i started getting statements and the interest has started again. I get no phone calls at all. i changed the number the day I stopped paying. I'M worrying myself sick over the thought of getting sued. I can't even afford to file Bankruptcy. I talked with one lawyer he thinks me being sued is unlikely because I have no assets or job they could garnish from.

[blockhead]

If you plan on filing you can pretty much always delay any judgment. As has been said already by several people, you have 2-4 weeks to respond to any suit depending on locale, then a court date is set for month(s) ahead. Your attorney can also make an appearance in court and ask for an extension due to the filing (depending on the circumstances).

No one likes being served, and it may or may not happen to you. But if it does, it won't have any effect if you file in a timely manner and with your attorney running interference.

You just have to live with it. I didn't like living with it like anyone else, so I filed as soon as I felt it was appropiate.

[nervous1]

Apparently you can buy a lot of time with DV letters.

[blockhead]

No one can reassure you that you won't get sued, so you live with it until you file.

[ssmdem]

Well, I'm guessing as long as I still have online access to my account, and it's still showing a balance - they've taken no action, huh? Chase is making me nervous - they are scarily quiet -- not a peep. Is it strange that I feel better about Citibank calling me about 10 times a day now???

[ryan]

This is not the answer you're looking for but I would say there is no predicting.

I was sued at 7 months by Chase. Someone I know was sued by Chase at 5 months.

But there are many on this forum who are 2 years into non-paying and no suits at all. I have read every reason that others here say why you will or won't be sued.,,,and they all have exceptions. Citi has my acct at a local lawyer/collector for months now, and no suit(yet).....who knows what convoluted secret algorithm/formula the CC's use? I know I don't.

[poormama]

Now, we also have our mortgage through Chase - and they are calling frequently. Who knows what brings you up on the radar and what causes you to get ignored. ????

We have a mortgage with Chase, they bought from our original company. They are disgusting with their tactics. I have been screamed at, told I'm basically worthless, "DON'T YOU WANT TO KEEP A ROOF OVER YOUR KID'S HEADS!", I had one supervisor tell me to authorize a payment on the 16th even though we didn't get paid til the 18th, she swore it wouldn't come out til the 18th, well - it came out the 16th and I had $80 of overdraft charges, it's disgusting. I just don't answer my phone when I see them calling.

[bluemartini]

It sounds like you are in good hands with your attorney. Take her advice. Don't worry so much about your creditors suing you. It's not worth putting a lot of energy into worrying about something that may never happen.

Been there done that... after I was forced to default on my credit cards in September '08 to pay for emergency medical care, I tortured myself for months with the fear that I would be sued or have my pay garnished. I literally drove myself nuts worrying about it.

Two years later not one lawsuit, other than the foreclosure on my home.

For what it's worth, I had two Cap One cards with balances of about $7,000 and $6,000; and two Washington Mutual Cards of about $2,000 and $3,000... plus a Macy's charge card with a balance of about $1,000.

OP, the chances of you getting sued so early on are very slim. Try not to stew about it so much ... I know it's hard though if you've never been in this situation.

[pepperoncini]

We stopped paying Chase (~$16K balance over tow accts for DH and ~$9K balance over two accts for me) entirely 10 months ago.

We had been called a LOT. We made token payments for three months prior to completely stopping payment. The accts have been charged off - the CA has called but we sent DV letters and informed them by phone that we intend to file BK. The atty is paid and we could file in a short time but we're stalling as long as possible. (Long story...)

You'll be fine if you intend to file in December.

[ssmdem]

I have both Chase and Citi with about 12K on each. I stopped paying in March. Outside of a few letters from Citi, I haven't received one call from them. Chase was a frequent caller up until I told them I retained an attorney and gave them her information. The calls stopped and now all I get are "nice" letters offering settlements. I will be filing the end of this month. So in over four months, nothing has happened except the calls and letters, all have been cordial. I don't believe any of the accounts have been sold off as I haven't heard from any other collection agencies. Good luck to you.

How funny that we've had just the opposite response from the same two companies. Chase was calling non-stop, just like Citibank, until my husband called the collections department himself (not just answered the phone when it rang). He explained our situation to them, and we haven't heard from Chase since. Citibank - though they were nice - said "thanks for calling, but unfortunately, you're still going to get the phone calls," and they weren't kidding.

Now, we also have our mortgage through Chase - and they are calling frequently. Who knows what brings you up on the radar and what causes you to get ignored. ????

[kartoons19]

I have both Chase and Citi with about 12K on each. I stopped paying in March. Outside of a few letters from Citi, I haven't received one call from them. Chase was a frequent caller up until I told them I retained an attorney and gave them her information. The calls stopped and now all I get are "nice" letters offering settlements. I will be filing the end of this month. So in over four months, nothing has happened except the calls and letters, all have been cordial. I don't believe any of the accounts have been sold off as I haven't heard from any other collection agencies. Good luck to you.

[LadyInTheRed]

Thanks for your responses. My absolute biggest fear right now is not being able to file a chapter 7. The attorney yesterday when looking at all the numbers says we're close. She said she may could work it out right now, but it would be close, and if we'll just wait, we should have no problems in December. She also works with debt collections type of situations and says if we do get sued, the first thing we need to do is make them prove we owe it, which will probably buy us enough time right there. I hope so -- all of this is just making me a nervous wreck. I don't want to deal with the additional headache of a law suit.

LadyintheRed, I am employed but make less than $1000 a month. The attorney yesterday said that my husband's wages could not be garnished as head of the household - didn't know that ?? -- so worst case scenario I guess I lose a few paychecks - UGH!

It sounds like you are in good hands with your attorney. Take her advice. Don't worry so much about your creditors suing you. It's not worth putting a lot of energy into worrying about something that may never happen. Your attorney will help you deal with a law suit if it happens. You pay her to be your headache reliever.

[ssmdem]

Thanks for your responses. My absolute biggest fear right now is not being able to file a chapter 7. The attorney yesterday when looking at all the numbers says we're close. She said she may could work it out right now, but it would be close, and if we'll just wait, we should have no problems in December. She also works with debt collections type of situations and says if we do get sued, the first thing we need to do is make them prove we owe it, which will probably buy us enough time right there. I hope so -- all of this is just making me a nervous wreck. I don't want to deal with the additional headache of a law suit.

LadyintheRed, I am employed but make less than $1000 a month. The attorney yesterday said that my husband's wages could not be garnished as head of the household - didn't know that ?? -- so worst case scenario I guess I lose a few paychecks - UGH!

[LadyInTheRed]

So, do you think I'm safe? My last payment was May 10th. Our filing date is December 8th, as that is the absolute earliest we can file. Can I ride this out? Or should I bring the payments current again right now - right now I only owe two payments on each and a $39 late fee on both. Both accounts still have the original interest rates on them at the moment and haven't been jacked up.

Don't pay them since you know you will be filing. You'll be throwing your money away.

If they sue you, you can draw it out by answering the suit. Chances are they won't sue AND get a judgment before you file. Worse case scenario: They sue you, you draw it out as long as you can and it looks like they will have a judgment before December 8th. You drain your accounts and live on cash and/or pre-paid debit cards. You are unemployed, right? No wages to garnish. While having a judgment will create a little more paperwork after your discharge, it's not the end of the world.

[blockhead]

You think it's okay to let them know bankruptcy is in the future? Don't want them to rush us into having to file sooner. We just can't possibly do it before that date. If we do, we stand a good chance of being forced into a 13, and I don't want to miss a 7 by just a matter of a couple of months. If paying those two payments now guarantees we aren't forced to file sooner, it's worth it in the long run. Of course, don't want to be throwing money out the window either. It's about $2000 and certainly don't have it to blow right now.

This gets asked a lot, sure you can ride it out for a few months. Even if they served you tomorrow (hardly likely), you them have 2-3 weeks to file an answer, then you get a court date maybe 2 mths after that. If you have an attorney (hope so) he or she can help further.

I don't think you want to talk to Citi/Chase at all