Anyone here been sued for credit card debt

fbm211

I got served a nitice by the police last week about a collection company that is taking civil action against me for a 4 year old debt.(court of common pleas)I cant afford a lawyer and there are none here for no fee.I offered them 50.00 a month to try and settle this out of court but no go.They want at least 30% of five grand down just to have a payment plan.Can you be put in jail for not being able to pay a debt these days?? Will they garnish my wages?? HELP with any advice any of you might have.I cant afford more tha 50 a month as I am going to be moving to the winston salem N.C. in july to find a better job and start a new life.I need to save up about 2 grand to be able to pay the moving expences and first and last month rent.This couldnt have happened at a worse time.Damn the man...:(

ben62670

Don't put any money in the bank. No you won't go to jail. Yes they can garnish your wages. Try to send them money even though they say they won't take it. I am not sure if it is legal to record a phone conversation in your state, but if you tell them that you are recording this conversation you can legally record it. State that you are recording, the date, and time of call. Try to work out a payment plan. Do you $50 thing, and get them refusing the offer on recording. This will help greatly in court if you can prove that you are trying to clear up your debt. Don't mention that you need money for something else, or they will nail you and tell you to save up after your debt is payed.

danger boy

I know this isn't much good advice.. but try and work something out with the company you owe the money to. if you can borrow the money from someone, then repay them back, might be the fastest way to get out of the debt. having your wages garnished sucks. it leaves nothing for you to take home each month.

do not put it off any longer though. own up to your debts and get out of it ASAP.

bruss

tell them your waiting to be bailed out ... Hope everything works out

heiney9

fbm211 wrote: »

I got served a nitice by the police last week about a collection company that is taking civil action against me for a 4 year old debt.(court of common pleas)I cant afford a lawyer and there are none here for no fee.I offered them 50.00 a month to try and settle this out of court but no go.They want at least 30% of five grand down just to have a payment plan.Can you be put in jail for not being able to pay a debt these days?? Will they garnish my wages?? HELP with any advice any of you might have.I cant afford more tha 50 a month as I am going to be moving to the winston salem N.C. in july to find a better job and start a new life.I need to save up about 2 grand to be able to pay the moving expences and first and last month rent.This couldnt have happened at a worse time.Damn the man...:(

No such thing as "debtor's jail" so no you can't be put in jail. They are trying to get a court to render a judgment. Once that happens they can attach to any real estate property you own and garnish your wages. It's very unfortunate they won't work with you on a payment plan.

H9

fbm211

Can a judge garnish my wages to the point that would leave me unable to pay my rent and bills??How could I work with no place to live?NOT COOL.I was going to pay my debts once I got a better job in N.C.Im hoping to get a warehouse job for ups,fedex,or sysco. Thanks for the quick reply guys and advice too.This is the site that my exgirlfriend was able to find my aim screen name and contact me.I havent talked to her in 20 years and she is the one who is helping me to start a new life somewhere else.This community here at club polk is so awsome.Such good people who go out of thier way to help others.I will have to store my gear that you all helped my get up and running so they dont try to take that from me.

BaggedLancer

Time to get a second job immediately and start owning up to your debt. Don't bother sending $50, that won't even cover the interest monthly on a $5,000 debt. Sell audio equipment or whatever you can to try and work something out. As for an ex girlfriend of over 20 years ago helping you, I'm going to assume you are in your late 30's early 40's? If so, with only 5,000 in debt and having the credit card company and police show up on you.... something else doesn't seem right. There is a party of this story missing.

heiney9

fbm211 wrote: »

Can a judge garnish my wages to the point that would leave me unable to pay my rent and bills??How could I work with no place to live?NOT COOL.I was going to pay my debts once I got a better job in N.C.Im hoping to get a warehouse job for ups,fedex,or sysco. Thanks for the quick reply guys and advice too.This is the site that my exgirlfriend was able to find my aim screen name and contact me.I havent talked to her in 20 years and she is the one who is helping me to start a new life somewhere else.This community here at club polk is so awsome.Such good people who go out of thier way to help others.I will have to store my gear that you all helped my get up and running so they dont try to take that from me.

No they can, I believe, take 20-25% of your wages before taxes unless you can prove extreme hardship if they took that amount.

Time to get your google on and see what your rights/responsibilities are. I was in banking for 15 years so I know some of this stuff from the cuff. But doing a little research on your situation is in order, instead of using an audio board.

Good luck and it's better to suck it up now and pay it off than trying to win a fight for the next 5 years. Borrow, scrimp, sell and get it paid off.

H9

P.s. They aren't interested in your gear or other goods you have. But it's a good idea to sell the gear, to own up to you debt. It will follow you everywhere you go and everything you do including trying to get a job. Many jobs now use a credit report (with your consent) for job screening. If you're not responsible in your financial life how can you be responsible in a job.................that's how they look at it. Also your insurance rate is heavily determined by a credit report. So it's not just the outstanding money that affects you

danger boy

^^^^^ +9

brettw22

I agree wtih Bagged......you need to quit thinking in terms of "keeping" and start selling off things to get your financial situation fixed. They don't give a **** (rightfully so) if that equipment came from a dead relative or not.....the bottom line is that you got yourself into debt and you need to get yourself out of it. Are you saying your debt is NOW $5000 or that's how much it started as?

Your ex-gf from 20 years ago found your screen name on the polk forum where you've been a member of for 7 months? That's weird IMO....

Sell off your stuff if you REALLY want to move on from this. You HAVE to recognize the warped mentality of thinking they you shouldn't have to sell your stuff that you've aquired while apparently neglecting a 4 year old debt.

polrbehr

I don't believe any judge can garnish more than 10% of your wages, at least here in NY? YMMV.
I mean, if some judge is going to take 30 or 40% of what I make, I'd probably think about quitting that job. They have to allow you to live, IMO. Not forgiving you your obligation here, just stating my viewpoint.

FWIW, the recording thing is a good idea, in fact many places state at the outset of a call to cust. svc. that "this call may be monitored or recorded for QA purposes"... but it does not say WHO can do the recording . I take that as tacit approval on their part, and have the recorder running every time I call a CS Dept., even if it's just to make a simple inquiry.
CYA!

I agree though, do what you need to do, and at least send them something, and do it on a regular basis. I find it somewhat odd that they would not have made you an offer like this before starting this type of collection effort, though.

Good luck to you.

fbm211

Ok guys Im not trying to get out of paying my debt and I will consider selling me gear as an option if I have to.The original debt was 1,400.00 and those 4 years of late fees, interest, etc, made it 5 grand to date.It was a buisness plan gone bad.I tried to start a buisness and I failed.I have a low paying job and like I said--planning on moving to get a better job so I con pay my debts.The girl from 20yrs ago found my profile on reunion and did a search on fbm211 and found it on this site of all places.Wierd-yes but we are now good friends and I thank my luck as to being a member here so we could get in contact again. Im going to pay my debt. Just trying to find out about the legal side of things.

Dennis Gardner

They will most likely settle this old of a debt for $1k cash if you have the time to get that much together, even once it goes to court, a lump sum settlement will cost you less than the full amount you owe. $50 a month is a joke to them, but $1k to make this old debt go away usually works. Money order only, no electronic access to your bank accounts, and the agreement in writing that the account is settled in full once paid, then keep the agreed to deal in your posession forever since these things have a way of popping up every time a company sells a package of old debts.

fbm211

Oh I tried that and they wanted at least 3,500.00

fbm211

Thanks sal but I dont have it.But I will call them monday and try again.

BaggedLancer

It took you this long to realize you needed to do something after turning a 1400 dollar debt into 5000? That's more than 3x the original amount! I'm standing by my original assumption, there is more to this story. You haven't talked to your ex girlfriend in 20 years, yet you sign up here and she finds you within 7 months. Why would she be searching for you after 20 years? Sell off whatever you can, get atleast $1500, preferably $2000 and call them and try and settle it.

More importantly, rather than sitting here posting on Polk, go find another job. Even minimum wage 2 days a week will net you an extra $150 a week to put towards it. It's holiday time, Walmart, Target, and other craphole stores like that are hiring seasonal labor for weekends and nights, GO GET A JOB. Sure it may be degrading and humiliating to you at whatever your age is, but it sure as hell beats the police knocking at the door. Not to mention, when you go to court it looks good that you picked up a second job to get your stuff straightened out.

nadams

Just the fact you had that debt and continued to buy other gear tells me you need to get priorities straight before moving and trying to forget all your mistakes.

FA - Q

bruss wrote: »

tell them your waiting to be bailed out ... Hope everything works out

-thats pretty funny


-seriously, if you owe...pay up sucker

janmike

nadams wrote: »

just the fact you had that debt and continued to buy other gear tells me you need to get priorities straight before moving and trying to forget all your mistakes.

bingo!

wz2p7j

What kind of business can be started with $1400? I have a few ideas but they all scare me. Yes, there is likely more to this story. :) Chris

cfrizz

BL has nailed this one on target.

You could have sent 100.00 a month 4 years ago and been paid off in a little over a year. YOU JUST DIDN'T WANT TO, and figured that they wouldn't come after you.

Well now the debt is a whole lot bigger & you found out the hard way that they will come after you!

Do the right thing & pay them off the way you should have the first time around.

dkg999

5 year old $1400 debt means the collection agency bought the paper for $140 to $280. There are plenty of non-profit debt counseling agencies around, find one. You can bargain this out for about $700, or best case is you man-up and pay the original $1400 and consider this a life-lesson. The fact you have totally ignored this is just not right, as others have mentioned.