While debt may seem all too common in the US today—to include also an astronomical and ever growing national debt—it can feel crushing on the personal level. You may be working hard every day but still can’t make ends meet due to other issues going on such as a sickness in the family or a divorce. While such events can take a severe emotional toll, your stress levels will probably rise along with the pile of medical and legal bills. You may suffer further if your income becomes constricted due to a lack of hours offered at work or even complete unemployment. One or more of these issues can cause an escalation that means loan payments for credit cards—and other bills—get put on the back burner.
The reaction from creditors can be very unpredictable. You may be surprised to find that some let delinquencies drag out for months, while others call and write methodically for six months and then charge off the debt. They will usually sell the debt to a collection agency who may come at you even more aggressively than before but may not be inclined to sue. Other creditors may offer a surprisingly reasonable payment plan, allowing you to get caught up with no interest for a designated amount of time. And then there are the creditors who are prone to suing—and are methodical about pumping out thousands of collections lawsuits every year.
Creditors are usually large corporations that are extremely shrewd about the bottom line, and do not want to waste their time chasing accounts that likely cannot be collected on even before thinking about filing a lawsuit. And although there is plenty you are not privy to as the consumer, many creditors do have standard protocol for who they will sue and who they will not bother with. A creditor may be more interested in suing if you owe them over $5,000, making it worth their time. If they know or suspect that you have income or property, this makes filing a collections lawsuit potentially more lucrative. Along with this, they don’t expect you to file a response or fight back—hoping for an automatic judgment granted against you. After that happens, the creditor has almost immediate access to garnishing your wages, freezing your checking accounts, and seizing property which can be sold to pay off the debt they say you owe.
Other creditors seem to have no rhyme or reason about who they file lawsuits again, just suing in large volumes and relying on the numbers game for success with some accounts. These types of lawsuits are responsible for clogging courtrooms as many individuals with low to no income have no idea how to respond or too intimidated to do so. If you are currently concerned about the possibility of or the need to fight a collections lawsuit, consult with an experienced attorney from a firm like Fitzgerald & Campbell, APLC as soon as possible.
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