If you have been in debt, chances are the process started slowly and then begin to pick up steam after a personal issue. While it is all too easy to latch onto a few new credit cards and kick up your heels in style, enjoying a few nights out on the town, eating some fancy dinners, buying some great new clothes, and a few luxury items, most of us do not have the luxury of running wild. Money mismanagement may be common, but it is not usually the reason behind severe financial distress.
Your credit card may have been set aside initially as an emergency resource, but little by little the limits were spent, and much more rapidly so if there was a personal crisis like a sickness. If you have been stricken with a major illness, you may have had to spend all your extra funds, if there were any to begin with, along with looking toward credit cards as a source of income. Obviously this is very dangerous, because as a source of income credit cards do not go very far, the limits are exceeded rapidly, and then you are on the line for another bill which may be accompanied by significantly high interest also.
Although illness is a common personal issue that causes delinquencies, defaults, and other financial issues, you could have been in a car accident or motorcycle accident and suffered a debilitating injury. Divorce can be costly, student loans may be bearing down on you and wrecking your household budget – along with your dreams for the future, ironically – or your problem may be as simple but as catastrophic as losing your job. Even just having the number of hours you normally work because cut could be ruining your financial disposition.
Once defaults and delinquency start occurring, credit card companies may no longer play nice. Everyone wants to sympathize when you’re going through a rough time, but if they are not getting paid at all over a long period, eventually they will start to play their version of hardball. The calls will escalate, along with the mail, and they may begin threatening to sue you. The keyword is threatening. It is hard to know whether a credit or a debt collection agency will follow through on this, even if they are known to file many lawsuits each year.
Many creditors do have specialists who examine accounts and analyze whether they are worth pursuing. It may not be difficult to glean whether you are a good candidate for a lawsuit due to your level of supposed income—or complete lack of funds and assets. Other companies may simply dive in full force, suing in volume just as they purchased accounts from a creditor in volume.
The best you can do is to stay in communication with debt collectors and even try to settle with them if possible; however, it is in your best interest to consult with a debt protection attorney and let them assist you in creating a strategy for your financial future. If you’ve already been served with a collection lawsuit, having legal expertise on your side is more important than ever, because without a reply to the lawsuit – and you will need a collections lawsuit attorney for this – you basically make yourself a no-show in court and become extremely vulnerable to a default judgment.
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.