OT: Summons For Past Credit Card Debt

[laundrymom]

my advice,.... ONLY KEEP ENOUGH MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNTS to cover the checks you are writing, cash everything else, cash daycare payments at their bank,... .. keep it on you to pay your bills through money order or whatever until this clears up,.. Our issue happened end of feb,.. our money from taxes was in the checking acct and frozen until things straightened out.

Thanks everyone..my husband and I are going to talk with an attorney on Monday to see what we can do...I have a handful of small debt that needs to be taken care of (that adds up!) and my husband has 2 accounts.

I was handed the summons at the door for my husbands credit card account. It wasn't a court summons, just stated he has 20 days to answer.

The lady from the collection agency called yesterday and I spoke with her and she was rather insistant that we pay the settled amount of $1911 by the end of Nov., which is only $600 less than the amount owed. When I aked if there was any way we could pay a small amount each month until we get our income taxes back she said absolutely not. Not for the settled amount anyway...she said if we did that route, we could have my husbands wages garnished 10% but we would owe the original amount PLUS more leagal fees and said something about 9%/day (I don't even know what she was talking about). She was insistant that we settle by the end of Nov. but that is NOT going to happen, I don't have that kind of money right now so I can't wait to see the lawyer so I know what we can do. I really want to settle all this, I just can't do it all at once.

So the summons we got just states we have to answer..I know the next step would be court, we really want to settle this, but if we don't settle by the end of Nov., is it likely we will have to owe a lot more on the debt like the lady said or is she just trying to push to get her commision?

[QualiTcare]

I am sorry but I have to say this. That isnt how it works. A lot of company don't care how much you are despeately want to settle or set up a payment plan. All they do want their money! Other thing, if she told them that she will send them $1,000 tomorrow WITHOUT in writing. Oh boy it will hurt her more because they will hunt her for more money in the near future because she have no proof that they agreed to take $1000 without in writing.

All I can say, if they refused to settled with them or set up a payment plan so just wait until she gets to go to court. She will tell the judge that they refused to settled with her and She have $1,900 so she can ready to settled with them. Judge will do in your favor to get it over with. Again, it depends on Judge. Some of them dont care and some of them will want them to work something out.

actually it is typically how it works. if a credit card company is about to sell your debt to a collection agency - it's because they have ZERO hope of ever collecting a dime from you. so, say your debt is $100 and the collection agency is paying 15 cents on the dollar or $15 to the CC company to buy that debt - and then you come along and say, well, i'll pay HALF ($50)...they're gonna take your $50 instead of selling it for 15!

well in this case the collection agency has already bought her debt from the CC company - the question is how much did they pay? there IS a magic number they would settle for - we just don't know what it is. they want their initial investment back and then they want to make a profit. if we're talking about the $100 debt i used as an example - and the collection agency only paid $15 - you could offer to give them a lump sum of $20 (or ANYTHING over the amount of their investment which is unknown to us) and they'll take it because they've already gotten their money back AND made a profit....so any payments after that is just profit from someone that was never expected to pay a dime in the first place.

[safechner]

actually it is typically how it works. if a credit card company is about to sell your debt to a collection agency - it's because they have ZERO hope of ever collecting a dime from you. so, say your debt is $100 and the collection agency is paying 15 cents on the dollar or $15 to the CC company to buy that debt - and then you come along and say, well, i'll pay HALF ($50)...they're gonna take your $50 instead of selling it for 15!

well in this case the collection agency has already bought her debt from the CC company - the question is how much did they pay? there IS a magic number they would settle for - we just don't know what it is. they want their initial investment back and then they want to make a profit. if we're talking about the $100 debt i used as an example - and the collection agency only paid $15 - you could offer to give them a lump sum of $20 (or ANYTHING over the amount of their investment which is unknown to us) and they'll take it because they've already gotten their money back AND made a profit....so any payments after that is just profit from someone that was never expected to pay a dime in the first place.

That is totally different story but her husband is being sued by collection law firm. That is why I said that is not how it works.

Collection agencies themselves cannot sue the debtor unless they are a collection law firm. A Credit card company hired a law firm to take him to court to get their money back. If they won the judgment against him so they can put lien on their property or assets or garnish his wages up to 25% from through the court system depends on her state. They may freeze his bank accounts but most of time they will garnish the wages.


Like you said, "they have ZERO hope of ever collecting a dime from you." There are only four states are not allowed to put lien on the property or assets or garnish the wages so they will not be able to collecting a dime from anyone in that states. However, they still can freeze the bank accounts through the court system if they ask for it.

[safechner]

Thanks everyone..my husband and I are going to talk with an attorney on Monday to see what we can do...I have a handful of small debt that needs to be taken care of (that adds up!) and my husband has 2 accounts.

I was handed the summons at the door for my husbands credit card account. It wasn't a court summons, just stated he has 20 days to answer.

The lady from the collection agency called yesterday and I spoke with her and she was rather insistant that we pay the settled amount of $1911 by the end of Nov., which is only $600 less than the amount owed. When I aked if there was any way we could pay a small amount each month until we get our income taxes back she said absolutely not. Not for the settled amount anyway...she said if we did that route, we could have my husbands wages garnished 10% but we would owe the original amount PLUS more leagal fees and said something about 9%/day (I don't even know what she was talking about). She was insistant that we settle by the end of Nov. but that is NOT going to happen, I don't have that kind of money right now so I can't wait to see the lawyer so I know what we can do. I really want to settle all this, I just can't do it all at once.

So the summons we got just states we have to answer..I know the next step would be court, we really want to settle this, but if we don't settle by the end of Nov., is it likely we will have to owe a lot more on the debt like the lady said or is she just trying to push to get her commision?

Here is more information about New York law. Good thing, it will garnish the wages only 10%. Check it out: http://www.bcsalliance.com/debt1_newyork.html

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information

So if we can't pay by the end of November and the debt collection agency takes my husband to court, will we end up paying a much higher amount....the cost of the original debt plus the court fees the collection agency was telling me about? Or is it up to the judge what our settlement would be?

I want to settle this for the lesser amount offered, I just can't come up with it all at once and the debt collection agency isn't budging with her amount or time frame. I never want to be in this situation again, it isn't very comfortable. Especially before the holidays :-(

[QualiTcare]

if it were up to the judge you'd pay the original amount you owed. so, yes, the judge will order you to pay the full amount plus court costs.

the collection agency CAN work out a payment plan. i'd be very firm and blunt in letting the girl know it's not going to happen by the deadline, and if you go to court, they're going to get even smaller monthly payments because it'll be based on your income. tell her you're not working. if that doesn't work, ask to speak to the supervisor. i would avoid going to court if you can, and i've never heard of someone making an effort to pay still being taken to court.

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

if it were up to the judge you'd pay the original amount you owed. so, yes, the judge will order you to pay the full amount plus court costs.

the collection agency CAN work out a payment plan. i'd be very firm and blunt in letting the girl know it's not going to happen by the deadline, and if you go to court, they're going to get even smaller monthly payments because it'll be based on your income. tell her you're not working. if that doesn't work, ask to speak to the supervisor. i would avoid going to court if you can, and i've never heard of someone making an effort to pay still being taken to court.

Thanks for that info..I read an article online that once you get a summons it's too late to say you'll pay a little each month. So much conflicting info out there so I wanted to know what my rights are when it is time to call this collection agency back. We are seeing a lawyer on Monday and hopefully get a better idea of what we can do to settle this, and my other debt.

[legomom922]

What you could do is go through a Consumer Credit Counseling service. They make arrangements with the creditor, and all interest & fees stop, and you make the payments directly to the CCC agency. there is a very small fee for handling this for you usually only like $10month. Give them a call and see what they say. they are all over the place, as they are state agencies. They also make a rrangment with the creditor which also lowers your balance, and your monthly payments will be very low!

[safechner]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information

So if we can't pay by the end of November and the debt collection agency takes my husband to court, will we end up paying a much higher amount....the cost of the original debt plus the court fees the collection agency was telling me about? Or is it up to the judge what our settlement would be?

I want to settle this for the lesser amount offered, I just can't come up with it all at once and the debt collection agency isn't budging with her amount or time frame. I never want to be in this situation again, it isn't very comfortable. Especially before the holidays :-(

Dont worry too much. The collection law firm is trying to scare you to get into pay for it. You can try again to offer the settle next month or after that. The court will schedule the court date in next 3-4 months.

I have a friend who was being sued by Bank of America credit card so they refused to accept his offer for settlement. He owed over $6000 with a lot of late fees, attorney fees, court fees, etc... He told the judge they refused to take his offer for settle in a few months and he said he have $3,500 that is all he have. The judge agreed with him so he ordered him to pay $3,500 to the creditor's attorney and dismissed it. Like I said, it depends who you are dealing with. Some of them want to work something out and some of them dont care. I know that ****s..

Maybe it is a good idea if you want to file bankruptcy to start over to clean up your debt or repay the debt.