The default judgment often seems like the last nail in the financial coffin, following a long road of stress and headaches in dealing with aggressive creditors and debt collections agencies. It is bad enough knowing that you are delinquent in making payments to a credit card company when you don’t have the money to pay them but being presented with a collections lawsuit from a process server knocking at the door can be overwhelming.
Most consumers being sued wonder ‘what now,’ feeling completely helpless and understandably intimidated by the court process. For the majority, this means avoiding the entire situation at hand and putting the lawsuit documents on the pile with all the bills that can’t be paid—or procrastinating until it is too late to respond (the time period is usually 20 to 30 days). At that point, a judgment is fairly certain to follow—and that is what most creditors expect as they file thousands of lawsuits each year and win by default.
With a default or court judgment granted against you, the creditor has much more power than they did previously, and they can proceed to much more vigorous tactics in seeing the debt satisfied—in most cases. But what if you no longer have any property that would be valuable to a creditor? With nothing that could be sold at an auction to satisfy the debt, there is no threat of seizure. And if you are not employed, there is no way for any wages to be garnished. Levying of bank accounts would be their last measure, but that means you must have a checking account that can be frozen until the debt is satisfied.
You may be able to check off all the boxes currently for being judgment proof, which means the collections lawsuit, judgment, and consequences to your credit mean very little now; however, consider the timeline involved. A judgment is usually good for ten years and can then be extended for another ten. In the next twenty years, do you still see yourself without a job, without property, and without a checking account? If so, remaining judgment proof should not be a challenge—but otherwise, the creditor could strike again when you least expect it. Speak to a skilled judgment attorney if you are concerned about what legal and financial consequences a judgment could hold for you in the future.
Speak with an attorney from Fitzgerald & Campbell, APLC as soon as possible to examine your options. Our attorneys have decades of experience in serving clients as they navigate through challenging financial situations, to include student loan issues, bankruptcy, and other debt management processes. We are here to help! Click here to schedule a free 30-minute consultation, call us at (844) 431-3851, or email us at info@debtorprotectors.com.