How to Settle Credit Card Debt with a Judgment
One of my credit cards I fell behind with sued me and has a judgment.
Can you settle credit card judgements like other debts
—Stressed
Short answer
Yes, a judgment can still be settled. Settlements can be negotiated at every stage of the collection cycle, but settling before a lawsuit is filed is easier and usually saves more.
Key points on this page
- Settlement is possible at any stage, including after a judgment has been entered.
- The largest savings usually come from settling with the original bank after a few missed payments.
- A judgment is enforced through bank levies, wage garnishment and liens on real property.
- Judgment balances keep growing at the interest rate set by the court, and most states allow a judgment to be renewed, often ten years plus another ten.
- Wage garnishment removes most of a creditor’s reason to negotiate, so act before it starts.
- If you cannot fund a settlement, bankruptcy can stop a levy, a garnishment or a lien.
The short answer to your question is – YES! CRN does assist in settling debts like credit cards where there was a lawsuit and then a judgment entered against you. Settlements can be negotiated at all stages of the collection cycle.
There are challenges to settling credit card debts that have reached the lawsuit and judgment stage. Before I address the challenges, I want to point out that the best time to settle credit card debts is before a lawsuit is filed, and even before the account is placed with a debt collection attorney.
Watch my brief video about some of the differences between settling credit card debts with your bank and debt collectors compared to negotiating with collection attorneys whether they have a judgment or not.
While this may not be instructive to your judgment debt, you may have additional credit card debts that have gone unpaid and I want you to be aware of the following:
- Settling a debt with your original creditor (the bank you had the credit card with) after having missed a few payments is not only possible, but in your best interest. In fact, reaching settlement early will often achieve the best savings result when negotiating is done correctly.
- You may end up with credit cards that are charged off and placed with outside collection companies. This is the next best (sometimes the best) opportunity to settle a credit card account you could no longer afford to keep payments current.
- If your overdue credit card account lands in a collection attorney’s office, you can still settle the debt before any court action is filed, or at a minimum, negotiate favorable payment terms.
There is a science to navigating the collection stages I briefly outlined above. Timing, balances, who your credit card debts are owed to, and your ability to come up with the money needed to settle the debts – all will affect the strategic design of which account to settle with first, second, third etc…. It is important to have a plan to follow if you want to systematically and successfully settle debts and save the most money in the process. CRN is excellent in assisting people in this regard.
If you want to learn about how to settle your debts no matter what stage of collection you are in, we have a ton of resource pages to help you. I recommend starting at the beginning of my debt settlement section.
If you are floating out there with several unpaid credit card accounts with no real financial resources to handle the situation, or a plan for doing so, you owe it to yourself to learn if you would be better off filing for chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy before a lawsuit is filed, or now that a judgment exists. You can consult with a bankruptcy attorney for free. I recommend talking with more than one.
Collecting on credit card judgments can be challenging too.
The primary ingredient found in any debt settlement recipe, whether there is a judgment or not is… money. If you have enough of this ingredient you need to be aware of a few things.
A judgment is just a piece of paper. It’s the court sponsored enforcement of that piece of paper that is the problem. You could end up with liens placed against your real property, your bank account levied and wages garnished directly from your employer. There are even instances where a sheriff can show up to take a look around at your “stuff” and inventory personal items that can be taken to satisfy a judgment (this happens, but relatively rarely).
Judgment debt, whether past due credit card bills, personal loans, medical bills and other debts, are easier to negotiate and settle while maximizing your percentage of savings results if:
- A bank account to levy cannot be found because one in your name does not exist, or does exist but is maintained with little money in it;
- If a W-2 wage source cannot be located to garnish and;
- Where there is no real property lien, or where the lien is filed, but has been in place for some time and remains unpaid.
The one thing you can control is whether you have a bank account with your name attached. If you do keep a bank account open, realize most bank levies are attempted at the beginning, middle and end of the month – when you are most likely to have deposited a pay check, or other money to cover bills.
If you have sources of funds electronically deposited, you may want to elect to have paper checks issued to you until the credit card judgment debt is resolved.
The lien on property will generally not involve forcing the sale of the property in order to satisfy the judgment. You should look to resolve the judgment prior to selling the home (negotiate a settlement before listing if possible), or refinancing (settling before a lender does a hard credit pull is often best).
Wage garnishment is a major concern. Once your wages are attached the creditor has little reason to work with you at resolving the debt for less because they will continue to get paid unless:
- You prove you meet garnishment exemptions in your state
- You leave that job
- You satisfy the judgment
Warning: Your credit card judgment debt grows from interest and can often be renewed!
Interest is accumulated at the rate set by the court, or the maximum allowed by law in your state for judgment debt. While you may be able to be creative in how you avoid paying the judgment you must realize that the balance of the judgment is likely increasing.
If you are struggling with overdue bills and other expenses and are unable to come up with a plan to get rid of the judgment or lawsuit through a negotiated settlement or payment terms you can afford, the fact that the debt is increasing should concern you. Stop and consider what your options to resolve the credit card judgment will look like next year. The year after that.
Judgments do have a “best collected by” date, but can be renewed. Judgments have a shelf life with a time frame specific to your state. Most states allow for a judgment to be renewed prior to expiration. For many, this is a ten year time line and renewal allows for an additional 10 years. That’s a 20 year shelf life!
Identify all resources you can tap to fund a settlement offer or payment plan successfully. If you cannot reasonably come up with the money to settle the debt, or make payments after reaching agreeable terms, look to bankruptcy to stop a bank levy, wage garnishment or lien on property.
Those are the unfortunate realities.
I highly recommend anyone with a judgment, that needs to be resolved in order to buy or refinance your home, to watch this video interview I had with a former debt collector: https://youtube/QpdDks73QUw
It is always best to put a plan together to address delinquent debts before a judgment becomes the concern and you are forced into crisis mode. If you have other debts, you can still put a plan together that includes resolving the judgment too, but it is important to not waste any time in doing so.
Need some personalized help?
If you would like confidential help you can use any of the boxes below to connect with me. You can also post in the comments below for feedback. I answer those regularly.
Not sure where to start? Click on the big blue “Get Debt Help” button at the top of the page.
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.
I am really trying to avoid Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, which I qualify for according the Bankruptcy attorney I consulted with. All the other creditors are playing ball except for…. PNC Bank, N.A. and Citibank (Best Buy Mastercard) I owe $1,063 on a PNC Bank Line of Credit and 3,639.76 for a closed out PNC Bank, N.A. Visa. With the line of credit, I offered 60% settlement. Theycame back with 80%. I have gone back and forth with them on this and they are standing firm. I even offered to meet them in the middle at 70%. No luck. I made the similar offer with the PNC Bank Visa and it was out-right rejected.
The rest of the creditors have agreed to work with me and offered settlements at about 40%. I am not worried about the tax consequences because I have enough debt and reduced income that I will be minimally taxed.
How late with payments are you to PNC?
How long ago did you open the accounts?
I received a judgment for an unpaid debt, that I willing admit is my debt, but it was from helping out a family member who needed help. So I refused to pay the debt of $5000.00, the debt was eventually charged off and sold to a debt collector, Now the debt is $7000.00 +. After the judgment my joint Bank account was levied ,so now I do everything on a cash basis, I would like to pay the debt seeing how it is affecting my overall credit along with levy’s & other garnishment that may happen in the future, but paying the judgment in Full or for a lower settled amount will do nothing to my credit, in fact it will make it worse, and if I try to offer any type of payoff or payment plans now the creditor will feel that I am despite and I will be opening up another can of worms. What would you suggest that I do?
I am not sure what additional can can be opened at this point. You are living on a cash basis. You can stay living that way and they get nothing.
Who is it that bought the debt and got the judgment?
Diamond Bank.
I would be taking my business to someone other than Diamond Bank.
So here is the latest. I finally found out that the Bank incorrectly stated that a lien had been placed on the house and it is actually a judgement that was filed only against my mother. On top of that the judgement was dismissed in 2008. On the case information it says “NOTICE TO DEF RETURNED BY MAIL, INCORRECT ADDRESS, NOT DELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED” and then farther down says “CM/JT OF 9-23-08 CASE COMES ON FOR DISPOSITION DOCKET. NO APPEARANCES, CASE DISMISSED.” The bank is trying to say that the credit card company could try to come after her again and put a lien against her house ans so they do not want to give her an equity loan against her house. Other than that one credit card, her credit is in excellent condition for over 10 years. So can the credit card company still come back and sue her or is the statuettes of Limitations up? It is 5 years for Oklahoma and also 5 years for Arkansas from what I looked up.
No, and the collections are too old to appear on her credit reports.
What is the name of the bank you are dealing with?
Yes we have looked and there is not a judgement on her credit report. I even called the county court house and they said they do not show a judgement lien filed on the house. So very confusing that the bank is saying that their is one and by Discover. I have managed to jog her memory some and we were able to kind of piece together a rough outline of the history of her Credit Card. She apparently went into default before she moved to Arkansas and that was in 2001, but Discover supposedly put the lien against the home in 2007 according to the bank. That is past the 5 year limitations for suing and getting a judgment I would think. They would have had to done it by 2005 at the very latest, but then how come it didn’t get placed on the home until 2007. Just doesn’t feel on the up and up. Very confused with where to go from here.
Get copies of anything you can from the loan officer that relates to why she was refused credit. You need to get a copy of the lawsuit that went to judgment, which is what supports the lien on the home. You will then be able to begin to unravel what happened and when.
Post the details and I can offer some feedback about options to look into from there.
I am trying to help my mother who is not well and is on Oxygen. Due to her oxygen deprivation she can not remember some of the things that have happened to her over the years. So here is what is happening. We are trying to get her a home equity loan on a home that she still owns but is renting so that she can use that money to purchase a small modest home in order to get out of her ailing mother and fathers basement. The bank was working on getting her a loan and we had thought it was going to go through and so did the bank , but then the bank calls us and tells us they found a lien on her house for 15,000 from Discover card that was placed on it back in 2007. When I called the court house in the county that her house is in they do not find any liens on her house. The home is in Arkansas and she is living in Oklahoma now with her parents for the last year. She does not remember any thing ever being sent to her by discover for the judgment and she can’t remember anything about the discover card either. I know she had one at one time because I remember her using a discover card. But that was along time ago. So I am pretty sure its hers. But how do we go about finding out about it and how to get it taken off when her mind is not working well enough to even remember it and she does not have any of her paper work about it. I just don’t know where to start. We could call discover, but we have no information on her old card. But should we call discover?
You can call Discover to begin to try to gather the details of what happened. Your mother can give verbal authorization for you to speak on her behalf. And use her social security number in lieu of the account number you do not have.
I would leave off any details about how you will ultimately resolve this if the judgment is legit. Just that you are trying to get to the bottom of a lien that was found on the property.
Have you looked at her credit report? Is there a judgment listed?
I have a judgment for an unpaid credit card of approximately $7000. This is in California. This card was my husbands and mine before our divorce and he was supposed to include it on his bankruptcy years ago but he didnt. Long story short the credit card company obtained a judgment which is accruing interest of 10% annually. I want to pay it off but I do not want to pay the whole amount (as I cannot). What amount do you think is reasonable for me to offer to pay on a lump sum? I have $2000 and I want to be rid of this judgment so interest does not continue to accrue. Do you think they will settle for $2000 lump sum? Thank you in advance for any guidance you can give me.
I have seen a smattering of 30 percent settlements on judgment debts over the years, but it is not common. Low end targets of 50% are more realistic.
Do you have a continuing financial hardship? If so, what are the brief details of that?
Do you have assets like a home, car, or something else you own outright, or are making timely payments on?
Do you work full time?
Yikes! I just sent you a request for advice on a garnishment, and pulled my credit report. I
didn’t know there was another $960 from Capital One in addition to the $2000 judgment/garnishment already filed, plus $970 for an ambulance bill, plus $550 on
some other bad debt. I really don’t make much money…part time now until my ‘big’
$9.50/hour summer job starts….I’m thinking maybe I should file Ch. 7 bankruptcy
for all….is it too late, with the garnishment (which was just for a part time winter job)
How much does it cost to file?
I think the national average cost for chapter 7 (hiring an attorney for help) is still around 1700 dollars. That is including all costs and fees. There are areas of the country where you can find an attorney with lower fees, and especially given a simpler file, such as yours may be. Perhaps you can get through everything for under 1500 dollars.
I would try to avoid bankruptcy if you can for now based on that cost, unless you file bankruptcy without an attorney, or qualify for low income legal aid.
You may be able to petition the court to show you are exempt from garnishment with how little you make. What state are you in?
I’ve had a garnishment issued from a part time job. It only states the whole $2000 that
the old credit card company is still trying to get. It was, I think, dating back from before
2005….isn’t there a 7 year limit on filing a judgment? I can’t find those old credit card receipts …Can I get the collection company to provide credit card statements with dates?
Also, I was never served in person or signed any notice from court on a judgment, but it says it was filed in 2011..I thought you had to be served in person to get a $ judgment? I’ve never seen or heard about this until a couple of weeks ago, through a collection attorney letter.
You do need to be served properly, and that issue may be where I start with any of this, but depending on where you live. What state are you in? Who is it that sued (name of plaintiff)?
Hello,
I am extremely stressed out about a debt I have. In September 2014 , i was served papers for a private loan i had defaulted for around $14,200. I was living in NYC at the time, so I went to the initial court date and offered to plan a payment plan. I was assigned to a Michael Leinoff from Forster & Garbus in upstate NY. on that day, he “couldn’t get in touch” with National Collegiate Trust, but said it was 90% chance that we would be able to come to that agreement. I suppose I am a bit naive and was relieved to get that done but the lawyer never got back in touch with me until I received a notice that there was a judgment placed on me because I was apparently appointed a court date on December 15 (but I was in FL for the holidays.)
I contacted forster & garbus and it turns out that whoever was in charge of my case was let go like 2 weeks after we spoke so my file was apparently laying around with no attention, which led to me not being notified of another court date and now a judgement. I moved back to FL in January and I have been trying to get in touch with them to work out some sort of payment plan because the idea of judgement is scaring me to death. Every time I call, I am transferred to another person, and never any pick up. If a person picks up they claim that my account “is in another department” when I am transferred and never contacted back or answered. It has been about 3 weeks.
I just want to know what my next course of action should be. I want to take care of this as soon as possible and offer a monthly payment plan to avoid any further issues but I cannot get in contact with them. How do you know if this is a legit company and how did my loan get to them? Thank you for your patience and help.
Forster and Garbus is an established debt collection law firm. National Collegiate Trust appears to have been the plaintiff that hired them to sue you. You best opportunity to challenge the ownership and validity of the loan was before being sued, or once sued, prior to the judgment being entered.
Look up the name of the plaintiff that sued. Is it different than National Collegiate?
Look up what amount of judgment interest is allowed per the courts final judgment order. What is that amount?
What amount of money can you afford to consistently pay on a monthly basis?
just looked at the summons and the plaintiff is indeed National Collegiate Trust.
How can I look up the judgement interest? I can’t seem to get in touch with anyone at Garbus but I will keep trying later today. They told me they would be able to rectify this. Is there a chance that my offering the monthly payments will be able to stop this from moving forward?
I told them I can do $75-$100 right now and will definitely pay more as I work more.
You can typically find the judgment interest rate in the final order from the court. It is often the last, or close to last document filed in the case.
Offering payments can prevent further collections like a bank account levy or wage garnishment, but get that agreement from them in writing.
New York caps judgment interest at 9 percent.
Confused? come up with half of the 1800? so $900? or half of the $5000?
If the judgment balance is close to 5300 dollars, and they are about to get 1800 dollars from the bank levy, there is about 3500 dollars remaining owed on the judgement in order to resolve it. It may be possible to negotiate a reduced pay off. Half would be about 1700 dollars.
Im confused so after this levy of 1800 im still going to owe them money? how is that even possible there is no way i had more then a $1000 limit… mightve even been much much lower then that
Most of that balance is likely made up of default interest rates, legal costs and fees, followed by years of legal interest that is at least capped by state law.
It would be a good idea to talk over your specifics with an experienced consumer law attorney. I can send you some contact details to a few if you like?
I would greatly appreciate that.. any work for free? lol… or low cost?
I sent you an email with contact details. Most consumer law attorneys have reasonable fees. You should be able to have the initial consult at no cost, which can help you get your bearings on what to do next.
Question what to do once a judgement is placed on bank account
Hey I opened an American express card in 2005. I defaulted in 2006. In 2010 I was taken to court. it was a long time ago so I don’t remember what happened in court. a few days ago I noticed that they placed a levy on my bank account. The debt is for 1800. They have not taken funds out yet. Just put a hold on the 1800. The money is in my current balance but not in my available balance and they informed me it was from a levy placed on my account. I was wondering what my options are? What can I do? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated
State law would be the first thing to look at and see what amount, if any, is protected from judgment creditors. What state are you in?
Sorry about that… Im in Brooklyn, NY.
New York protects up to 1740 dollars in your bank account from judgment creditors.
It is not clear from what you shared, but I read your first comment to mean you did not have enough to cover pending charges, and the bank account levy. Is that correct?
I had 3300 in the account… my available balance is now 1500… but my entire balance is 3300…
It appears they took a bit much. Call your bank and ask what they can do about that.
Are you confident about the balance they are trying to collect? You may not even want to mess with it and just let this take care of the judgment.
Hey my current balance is 3300 available is 1500. bank said all I could do was ask the lawyers. What do you mean let this take care of the judgement
I understood from your first comment that the total amount owed on the debt is 1800. That is what they appear to have levied from your bank account. If that is the total amount owed, and that is what they got, it would resolve the debt.
Are you confident the total amount owed on the debt is 1800?
sorry for the confusion… im pretty confused here myself…
I received 2 letters from my bank today.
1 letter states as follows
“We have received an information Subpoena with Restraint for $5,354.45 from asset acceptance llc. this mean we’re legally required to hold money in your account(s) because asset acceptance llc has court approval to remove that money from your account(s). So on 2/4/15, we’ll be putting a hold on the following amount(s), and you wont have access to this money: Account Ending in: **** Amount held: $1,825.38. Bank fee – $1o0. number of days money is frozen: 365.
2 letter states
Cap on has recently received a legal process that may affect any or all of the following types of accounts you may have: checking, savings, certificate of deposit, safe deposit box, loan.
Restraining notice with Information Subpoena:
a hold has been placed on your account(s) as indicated by the following attorney:
Expires 2/4/16 Hold $1,825.38 Then company name lawyers Entered 2/5/15 and my name
Everything in the article above applies to you. You will want to operate from as much of a cash basis as possible until your resolve the debt.
With roughly 3500 dollar remaining on the judgment balance, and assuming you could settle that for, say half, how long would it take to come up with the money to settle?
Hello,
I am being sued for a credit card debt default judgment which I answered to in 2012 The court denied the motion for default judgement at that time. Now 1/05/2015 a motion for Summary Judgement Designation of materials has been filed. The original debt in 2010 was Barclay Bank Delaware. Then Northstar Location Services had it to collect from me in 2011. Next Berman & Rabin P.A. had it to collect in 02/2012. Next Blatt, Hasenmiller, Leibsker and Moore LLC have it now and are handling the suit for Berman & Rabin. Yet the Plaintiff is Barclay Bank Delaware. Rather confusing to me whether all this involvement by different firms along the way is legal?
I have been in contact by phone with Blatt, Hasenmiller, Leibsker & Moore to settle this debt without a judgment from court. For the full debt owed since they would not negotiate for any less. It has been 2 weeks since they claimed to have mailed out the settlement agreement. I have not received any agreement as of this time. I have phoned and related that to them.
So my questions are. Does this all sound legal and what can I do to settle this without a court judgement? I am in Indiana and only have a few days left of the 33 days to respond to the court.
Thank you, I would appreciate any help or advice in this matter.
You have not said anything about the different firms handling this that makes me think they did anything illegal. Dealing with several debt collectors before ultimately being sued for collection is fairly common. I would run this concern by an experienced debt defense attorney in your state.
I am being speculative, but the collection attorney not sending you the settlement/payment agreement, like they said they would, could be a mistake, indifference, or perhaps a trick that gets you to let your guard down while time elapses and they get the judgment. I doubt it is illegal. But here again, you should run this, and your whole scenario by an experienced attorney of your own.
I can send you contact details for any attorneys I know of with the experience you need, just post the name of a nearby larger city.
Thank you Michael. I am 30 miles from merrillville, Indiana 46410
It has been almost 4 yrs since I had a Summary Judgement against me here in GA.. The attorney who had sued me was Hanover and Assc.. They know I am on Disablity and they have yet put a lien on my property. They have put a FIFA on credit report.. How likely are they to still go after me IF they have done anything after 4 yrs and after the 7yrs on credit and here in GA the judgement goes in limbo after 7 yrs where they can stilll renew til 10 yrs of date of judgment…
Renewing a judgment is too simple and inexpensive a process to not do it. I would say if they fail to, it would only be by mistake.
Hello,
It’s been more than 1 month since I sent my offer for ~30% of $20K judgement (filled in 2011) in exchange for a letter of satisfaction – not a beep from them. I sent it to a law firm that represent FIA CARD SERVICES by certified mail, and I know that they received it. I asked them to contact my mail and provided them with my mailing address in my letter.
I was very polite and apologetic about the whole situation and told them that 30% is all I can come up with. Are they playing games or are they just slow? Any similar experiences? How long would you wait before contacting them again?
Thanks for the help!
Negotiations using the mail can move at a glacial pace, especially when it is an existing judgment you are trying to settle.
Why did you decide to write in instead of call?
Are you prepared to call the law firm rather than write?
How collectable do you look on paper? In other words, are there many unpaid collections on your credit reports, or few to none?
Thanks for the quick reply!
#1. To have a written record of all negotiations
#2. Yes, I can do that, but I have no experience with law firms and negotiations
#3. My credit report is horrible, but will improve dramatically by the middle of this year – all failures happened in 2008
I see the best results from verbally negotiating a deal over the phone, then getting all of what was agreed to documented before any payment follow through.
You do not have to get the deal done in one call, it could take a couple.
It helps that your credit is in poorer shape. Is this the only debt that is a judgment? When you say improvements to your credit will occur this year, is that because some negative stuff on there is set to fall off?
Do you want a pro to handle the negotiations? Sometimes it is better that way.
Yes, this is the only judgement that I have. But I also have 2 collections and several other “baddies” – all happened in 2008 and all are scheduled to fall from my report this summer – all outside of SOL (I’m in CA)
Sure, can you recommend somebody, preferably in San Francisco/Bay Area?
Thanks!
I have a judgement on my credit report from Target National Bank, from 2010. Can this type of debt be negotiated for much less? It was for $4953.85, plus 6 percent per year. If so, do I sent the settlement request to Target National Bank, or the attorney listed on the judgement? By mail or by phone call? They have not tried to proceed further as in garnishing my wages etc.
You typically will need to negotiate the settlement with the attorney Target placed the account with, unless someone took that over.
What is the collection law firm name?
I tend to target judgment settlements at between 50 and 100 percent. It can often depend on how collectable you look to them at the time you are negotiating. If your credit report has many unpaid collections on it, that favors any hardship issues you may raise. If you have many accounts showing up as paid on time, it can be harder to target the lowest possible settlement.
I have many unpaid collection accounts on my credit report. But most of them are scheduled to drop off June / July this year because they hit the 7 year mark. At that point I wont look so bad. I recently started to reestablish credit and have a credit card that I have paid on time, and a car payment. Both under 6 months old.
The law firm is Kelly Karstaedt out of Jacksonville.
Hello, I live in the state of Wisconsin, I recently got a letter from a law firm ( Rausch, Sturm, Israel, enerson & hornik) with judgment stating I owe them $10623.09 this judgment is from 2006 for $4923.59 Which at the time I was unemployed. That judgment was satisfied in late 2006. It is stated on trans union and Experian saying civil claim paid and public record is paid, satisfied. the docket numbers even match. I cannot find my receipts from back then to show I paid it. What can I do?
Write back to them with all of the court information and file number. Tell them to look it up and see that they are trying to collect on a paid judgment. The court record is official enough. You may as well throw in a closing sentence of “In the event my notifying you that this debt has been paid, and the reference to the court record verifying same is not clue enough, please consider this as my disputing this debt, and my formal request for debt validation”. That is something I would include if it were me. Be sure to send your letter certified mail return receipt via USPS, and keep a copy of everything for your records.
If they continue any collection effort after that, post an update.
I did call the court house and they said the file is still open, She also stated that they may have not filed the satisfaction of judgment. But its strange that the 3 credit reports show that it is closed and satisfied. Thanks again.
Anything I can do here to correct ??
I would start by calling a NACA attorney in your state to see if there is a collections violation occurring. Most offer a no cost initial consult. I can help you locate one with the experience you need if you post the name of a larger nearby city.
I would also consider filing a debt collection complaint with the CFPB against the collector you settled with prior, and against the attorneys trying to collect on a paid debt now.
It is odd that the credit reports are showing satisfied.
Hello, my name is Joshua and I was served last year around this time with a court date scheduled for 2-23-15. The amount was around $6,600 and I foolishly did not respond to the court within 30 days of being served. I did, however make an attempted settlement within those 30 days over the phone with the folks from Hunt and Henriques, but they did not want to budge.
I need to find out if they went forward with the hearing before the actual court date, since I did not respond within those 30 days I read that they can get a default hearing quickly and easily. I assume I should call the court (probably not a good idea to call Hunt and Henriques) to find out.
I think that I am somewhat judgment proof, with no job, bank account, car, living with mom, (just returning from Egypt after a 4 year furlough). Should I make an attempt to reach out to them for a settlement so near to the court date? (hopefully the court date was not moved forwarded)
Appreciate all your help,
Joshua
Are you in California? What amount of money are you prepared to settle for? Who is the plaintiff Hunt and Henriques is working for?
Post your answers to those questions and I can better reply with the feedback you need.
Yes I live in Santa Rosa Ca, and I am willing to settle for 40% to 60%. Hunt and Henriques are working for Porfolio Recovery Associates.
Best regards,
Joshua
Call Jeremy, the California debt collection defense attorney I am going to email you contact info for. He offers a no cost consult that will help you get a grip on what you can do from here.
Post an update with how you progress after that.
Hi there, my name is Tyler. I have recieved a court summons that was filed on december 31st. i recieved it in person at my front door on january 18th. I called to set-up payment plan and they are refusing my base amount i want to pay. can they refuse my payment. I want to do monthly but they said I would have to put down 400 by the end of the month which is not possible for me at the time. It seems unfair they wont take what i have to offer which was 300. everything currently in my account. its this just unfiar or illegal? any advise is appreciated
They do not have to accept your payment offer.
Who is it that is suing you (name of plaintiff) and how much are they saying you owe?
Hi Michael,
Happy New year, I hope to settle a judgment from Capital One on my credit (from 6 years ago). I was offer a 50% settlement by next week. My question is this, what should I ask in terms of confirmation from Howard Lee Schiff, P.C. the law firm offering me this to help show to the credit report agencies and the court where this was filed once this debt is settle?
This is my first time going through this and want to make sure this is resolve in a way to help improve my credit once it is done. Thank you in advance for your help.
Sincerely,
Jay
Medford, MA
You want the Howard Lee Schiff office to inform you they will be providing notification to the court that the judgment has been satisfied. How they word the whole thing in writing can be compared to what I outline in this article about debt settlement letters and agreements.