Need legal advice

[DSNLvR]

I am being sued by a law office for old credit card debt (old but not outside the statute of limitations) it's about 1500.00. I received a summons 2 wks ago and didn't answer it.

I can pay off the 1500.00 by January.

Do you think they will garnish my wages before then?

Do they have to accept my payments?

Any advice? I'd like to get this taken care of before I receive a judgement against me and ruin my credit more than it alread is.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would call and negotiate terms with what cash you have available to pay it.

They want it paid off. By the time you reach the "I'm being sued part", you are past the opportunity to make payments. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

If you aren't actually being "sued" (sometimes "law firms" are really just collections agencies)--you can arrange for payments.

I have made payments to a collection agency in the past.

Whatever you negotiate, get it IN WRITING before you pay one penny of the balance.

Since it is in collections, your credit has already taken a ding. At this point--you just need to figure out how to get it paid as quickly as possible.

Also--it will take a little bit for a judgement. That requires a court case--in a court room. So as much as they make it sound like it will happen tomorrow....it won't. I believe wage garnishment requires a judgement, so until they go to court, they cannot "steal" money from your paycheck.

Also of note--do NOT give them direct access to your checking account. (no auto-withdrawals where they get to tell the bank that you gave them permission to take your money.) They can and they likely will take as much as your bank account has to offer and you would have no legal recourse to get it back since you gave them access and you owed them the money.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

Call them immediatly and set up a payment plan, they are probably just a collection agency, trust me. I went through one this past year. You must negotiate your monthly payments. I usually pay some more when I can but as long as you pay it off...that's really all they want.

You credit already got hit since you got the letter, so pay it off as you can.

Good Luck, but don't wait to call.

 

[Thumper_Man]

If you have already received 2 summons, that means your case has already been to court. I went through this 2 years ago. I ignored those summons and came very close to having my wages garnished. If you call the lawyer that's suing you, you can make payment arrangements with the lawyer to pay the debt until it's paid in full. By calling ASAP and making arrangements, you can avoid having your wages garnished.

As another poster said, make sure and get everything in writing. By law, the lawyer has to give you a copy of any legal filings against you. You can always request these from the court as well. Once the debt is paid off, make sure to get a copy of the settlement. You will need this for future use if you ever try to make a large purchase (house, car, etc.).

Make sure to get a receipt for each payment. The lawyer suing me tried to say I was late with a payment one time, and tried going back to the courts to have my wages garnished. Another time she tried to say I didn't pay a month. Luckily I had the receipts and I was able to dispute this with her. I was late with one payment ('cause they moved to a different location) and she tried to pin that on me also. My credit is slowly getting better, but I still get dinged for this whenever a creditor checks my credit.

Good luck!

 

[PaddingtonBear]

I believe wage garnishment requires a judgement, so until they go to court, they cannot "steal" money from your paycheck.

No judgements about what you're going through, OP, goodness knows I had some rough patches with credit in my 20s- that said- garnishment is not stealing.

I'd call the lawyer. Ignoring things like summons get you nowhere and make things worse than they need to be. Always, make the effort to call and be forthright about what you can afford to pay and then follow through. That is the best way to start rebuilding.

 

[maelstrom]

Creditboards dot com is a great place to ask questions like these.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Creditboards dot com is a great place to ask questions like these.

Agreed and they may even know that particular office/firm and know how aggressive or flexible they are.