Can Telling a Creditor to Stop Calling Get You Sued?
I have a credit union credit card I have paid on for years, with about $11,000 left on it. Since my divorce my only income is child support, and I am in school full time. The credit union lowered my payment for a year, then it went back to the full amount, and they told me they would not lower it again. I started sending what I could afford, which was less than the minimum. After they called my cell phone five times in one hour, I emailed them and told them they were not to contact me by phone anymore. The calls stopped. A few weeks later I got a letter from an attorney saying I was being sued. They never offered me a settlement or a payment plan.
Why did they skip everything and sue me when I was still paying what I could? If I bring the account current now, will that stop the lawsuit?
—R.
Short answer
It can. A request to stop calling, even by phone only, is often treated as a cease communication request, and that leaves suing you in court as the only option left to collect. Paying less than the required minimum at the same time makes a lawsuit likelier still.
Key points on this page
- Paying less than the required minimum payment is what creates the risk of being sued depending on the circumstances
- Telling a creditor not to contact you, even if only by phone, is often interpreted as a cease communication request
- With contact cut off, suing you in court is the only option left to collect
- Cease communication letters should generally be reserved for when the statute of limitations to sue in your state has passed
- Do not bring the account current before developing a plan of action for how you are going to resolve this, then you can contact the collection attorney
- Getting an active collection lawsuit dropped will typically mean you have to come up with a lump sum settlement that you pay in one shot
- Temporary hardship plans are only good for a limited time, and creditors are often precluded from extending them to you again
The likeliest reason your account skipped straight to a lawsuit is a combination of two things. First, you were not paying the required minimum payment.
Second, you told them not to contact you anymore, even if only by phone. They interpreted that as a cease communication request, which leaves suing you in court as the only option to collect.
I have seen that second one play out with creditors for a couple of decades now.
When a cease communication letter makes sense
Cease communication letters should generally be reserved for when the statute of limitations for a creditor to sue you has passed. You can check where your debt stands in how to know if the debt collection statute of limitations has been reset.
If you send a cease communication letter, you leave a debt collector little option but to try to collect in the courts. If the collector does sue, depending on the amount of the debt, and how prepared you are financially to deal with it, you may want to hire an experienced debt defense attorney. Dealing with a debt collector that way is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Where the issue is that the debt is not yours, you can send a dispute letter or validation request on its own, without the request to stop contacting you.
Asking the creditor to drop the lawsuit
If you can bring the account current, I would not do it without first talking everything over with the creditor and the attorney they placed the account with.
I would first put a concise letter together about what you did and why, that you can bring the account current and make normal payments, and ask them to please consider dropping the lawsuit. Tell them what was going on the day the calls came in, and that the request to stop calling was sent in frustration after a too quick online search on how to stop collection calls. Make it clear it has never been your intention not to pay, and that your willingness to bring the account current, and the struggle it takes to do it, is the evidence of that.
The goal is to get the suit dropped. If that does not work, you can still negotiate a credit card debt while you are being sued.
The most likely outcome of a collection lawsuit, that you have to resolve by making monthly payments, is having to sign off on a consent or stipulation to judgment. That goes for whether you are settling the suit for less than what you owe, or making monthly payments on the full balance.
I highly recommend anyone being sued to schedule a phone consult with me. I can help you get your bearings on the workable options you have. You can schedule the call below, or by clicking the help tab at the top of this page.
Hardship plans have a shelf life
I really do wish credit unions and banks would explain to people that temporary hardship plans are sometimes only good for a limited time, and when they have a policy that would then preclude them from extending another one to you ever again, or for how long (sometimes a year or more after you complete the temporary plan).
Consolidating credit card bills into one lower payment for the life of the balance with a credit counselor is often the better path with some banks, than trying to get hardship plans on your own.
Bankruptcy is another option to talk over with an attorney if the debts are more than you can manage. Chapter 7 is the bankruptcy version you would want, but you have to qualify for that based on some strict income and asset qualifications that vary by state and how many people in your household. If you are looking at chapter 13 bankruptcy, let’s see if we can figure out a way for you to avoid that by settling the debt instead.
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
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