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.
Hello Michael. I am being sued for unpaid credit card debt of $3,066 in the state of Texas. I do not live in Texas, but my mailing address was in Texas 6 months ago at my parent’s residents as I was traveling for work. My parents received information on their door and in the mail saying I was being sued. They unfortunately did not tell me about the papers until after the 14 day window to reply with an answer. I was served on July 19. A lawyer friend told me to just wait for the next letter but I am concerned it will go into a default judgement against me. I do not have any assets.. no car, no house, under $500 in my account and currently unemployed. I am an independent contractor in the entertainment business. Currently my boyfriend is supporting me. I can borrow about $1000 to negotiate. Should I call the law firm and attempt to settle this debt before they officially take me to court even though I have not responded to the papers?
It will be hard to negotiate a 3k court case down to 1k.
I would look at filing an answer late and getting the court to say that is okay, and your defense would be they sued you in the wrong jurisdiction. I am going to email you a list of Texas attorneys you can call and talk to about this. The city they are located in is to the right in the email. Match that up and click their name which will launch a page with the email and phone number for each.
I think you can get this tossed… at least for now.
Thank you!!!
I was served papers last night from a Kohn Law Firm in WI regarding a Discover debt. I was stupid, maxed out my card at $6500 (over time) and now they are seeking $7952 and change. I am wondering if I can negotiate a lower payoff and pay it before my Aug 22 court date. I could come up with the $6500 but $8000 is more difficult. I have student loan debt and according to what they served me with, my FICO is 540. I am married and want to spare my husband as much as possible from my own stupid, frivolous actions. Any advice you can provide is appreciated.
Call in for a consult Kris. You may be able to get your settlement done prior to the 22nd, but it could be more beneficial to use a delay strategy in order to get a better deal, or save up to pay.
You can reach me at 800-939-8357, option 2, or fill in the talk to Michael form in the right rail of this page. I will be out of the office Sunday and Monday.
Hi Michael,
As a follow-up: On the advice of a local consumer counseling type place, I offered Discover an amount of money to settle. I was told that the law firm would most likely counter based on the 70% rule. I did offer less than that 70% on their advice because they suggested that they would counter. Well, they did not outwardly counter, rather the law firm is now requesting my financial information for what I assume is to establish my “worth” for a payment plan and or garnishment. I am not interested in either and would just like to agree to a settlement and move on! What are your thoughts now? Please help!
That complicates things a bit. Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column of this page. I will email you to set up a time to talk on the phone about some strategy from here.
I have a 5,900.00 judgement from Capital One that was granted in 2009. With interest, I’m sure it has grown. What would be a reasonable amount to offer them as a cash settlement?
It can vary from one persons situation to the next. If you look highly collectable you will have a difficult time getting this negotiated to 50% of today’s balance.
If you do not appear to be a great collection target, and can negotiate well enough, 50% is an optimistic, but still realistic target. Check out this video about how debt collectors see you.
Hi Michael,
We recently pulled my wife’s credit and saw that there was a judgement from 2012 in the amount of $3500 +/-. The company was Asset Acceptance and was in the state of Texas. My wife states that she was never informed or received notice of any lawsuit and I contacted the court clerk to get more information as was told there was a “process of service” within the file (or something like that). My question is what options should we pursue in order to get this taken care of? Is it possible to have this vacated and if so is it worth the cost of doing so vs trying to settle with Asset Acceptance? We have never received anything from Asset Acceptance in the last 3-5 yrs regarding payment or settlement of this judgement. Thank you in advance for any guidance with this matter.
It is difficult to undo a judgment that is several years old in most states. You can talk to an experienced debt collection defense attorney about your options and what their fees would be, then compare that to settling for roughly half of today’s balance.
The cost comparison is one thing, but if it is a close call I would go with settling (assuming the debt is yours) as the settlement is a know outcome, where trying to vacate a judgment has a cost with no known outcome.
i have a judgement against me from old cc debt. judgement was filed in 2014 and i was just served with wage garnishment papers. I’m self employed and don’t pay myself a salary, i just pay my bills as needed and there is never much left over. the debt is 11k and I was just served with continuing writ of garnishment last week. i don’t have $ for an attorney and feel like this law firm will not try and work things out. i had initiated a call before it went into a judgement but they did not seem to care one way or the other….
Who is the collection law firm handling this, and who do they work for (name of plaintiff that sued you)?
Do you have other unsecured debts that you are paying or in collection with? If so, how much does all that add up to?
Over what amount of time can you pull together roughly half of what you owe on the judgment?
I have a collection attorney unwilling to settle a debt with Barclay. The attorney entered a judgment and I’m not sure what to do. I tried to settle but they will only take payments on the entire amount. Should I go ahead and take my chances in court for them to be willing to settle?
How old is the judgment?
Who is the collection law firm you are negotiating with?
What is the balance owed as of today, and what are you offering as a pay off?
Also there is no money but the house as a minor child had lost a signifigant amount of financial support are thier any protections for widowed single moms is CA from having to be responsible for his personal credit card debt
You will want to connect with an attorney in California that has experience dealing with probate and wills. Look for someone with a decade or more experience.
Hi Michael
My husband died intestate. My attorneys have filed a valid creditors claim for the monies my husband owed to me prior to and during our marriage. There is a minor involved he is 6 the claim is valid backed by documents but the executor does not want to pay. The house already has to be sold. I want to place a lien on my husbands house as it was only in his name. To insure I receive the funds I am entitled to for me and my child. How do I place a lien on the house of my late husband estate with no judgement
Hi, I have a judgement against me from capital one filed in the state of Texas. It was filed in 2012 and I desperately want to rectify this before they re file the judgment. My question is after I settle with them or pay in full, can I request this judgement be removed from my credit report in its entirety or will it only showed paid. The legal item was filed for 4,806.00
I have one other item on my credit report from Midland funding(original creditor was HSBC) for 1,056.00. I have no idea how to find out when this item will be at its 7 year mark or how to go about finding out. It was opened according to my credit report(I am assuming this date is from the collection agency) in Dec. 2011, but I do not think this was the actual date of last payment made to original creditor. What is your advice in handling this item.
Thanks for your advice
You will likely only be able to get the credit report to reflect what the court will show, which is a paid or satisfied judgment. That will allow your credit to heal, so not a huge problem.
Do you have access to the same bank account you used to pay that HSBA account with?
Any old credit reports that show HSBC on them?
Is HSBC on there now?
I am attempting to settle a credit card judgment of $2300 with Citibank. The judgment was granted in Dec. 2009. The county court clerk gave me the law firm contact information that is listed on the judgment. When I called to seek a settlement, the law firm informed me that Citibank recalled the debt so they no longer had the case. I have called Citibank 4 times and every time I have been routed to their Recovery Dept but they cannot find any records of the debt, using my social security number and my old account number. I read in one of the postings that Citibank no longer owns your debt after 5 years because they charge it off. With this information, is there a way that this judgment can be cancelled?
No, the judgment cannot be cancelled with the information you gave. And wherever you read about Citi not owning your debt because 5 years went by is not a credible place to get information.
I would consider filing a debt collection complaint with the CFPB at this point. My reasoning is that you have made every effort to get in touch with Citibank to resolve the judgment, and they are not putting in the time to help you. They took the time to sue and cause that issue, and did that in order to secure their interest and get paid, now that you are trying to help that process along they are unable to finish what they started.
Filing a complaint through the CFPB will put your issue in front of better trained and resourceful people at Citibank. It will take a couple of weeks to hear back. This would be the way I would proceed if it were me.
I just received a letter in the mail yesterday that came to my parents home that said a judgement had been made against me for Midland Funding. It was a credit card that was for 3622.34 & with court fees is now 3622.34. The dispostion date is 6/27/11 & now it has been renewed I guess on 6/2/16 & is now up w/ interest to 4162.29. I do not have this kind of money. I only work part time my husband is on disability. What advice would you give me on this. My credit rating is not the greatest. I have one payment & I do pay it on time as it is my vehicle.
Do you think they will come after me for this? I have read where sometimes it means nothing more than putting it on your credit. I don’t know. What advice would you give to me…
It is typically never “nothing” when there is a judgment in the court record. You are at risk of extra collection effort until you resolve the judgment. Can you raise half the amount owed to offer a lump sum one time pay off?
I can try but it would be tight. Will some of them work with monthly payments? What about going to like a debt recovery company?
Monthly payments will often mean no lower balance settlement to save money, or not as good a deal as can often be had when offering a single one time settlement pay off.
We are a debt company. If you would like a consult click the request at the top of the page and submit that form. We can talk with you about your options and how to proceed. If you want help, we do that too.
I live in Pa,am married and I alone have been sued by Discover for over $8,000. They have a judgment now against me. We have suffered major financial hardship over 4 years time. We nearly lost our home 3 times and thank god were able to modify all 3 times. It has been very hard to get back on to of things. Our bank account(joint) was levied and emptied…. I recieved a writ of execution that was processed on the 16th, we didn’t get it till after the 24th. I am paralyzed… I am living in fear that the sheriff will come through my home and take everything to sell…. I make no real income, I am in direct sales. Average around $500/ month check but it comes out to less than $300 becuase of the product autoship and website payment. My husband is really the sole provider for our family of 8!! We have no investments, nothing of real value, No retirement or 401K….. Due to the Modification we owe more on our home than what it is worth. What can I do at this poiunt to keep them from coming through my home and taking things that my husband’s income has provided our family!?
Is the judgment only against you? You can take your name off the bank account for now until you get this resolved.
You will want to resolve this. The judgment is going to grow with interest and will continue to allow them to try to collect from you.
I do not see too many instances of a sheriff showing up to inventory your stuff, so do not let that fear slow you down.
Try to come up with roughly half the Discover judgment balance and when you are there, use all of the details in this post to help you negotiate a settlement.
You could also consider wiping out this judgement, and any other unsecured debts, through a chapter 7 bankruptcy. Have you consulted an attorney about this?
Yes this judgment is only against me. Discover has a judgment against my husband as well for $4,500, it is not as far along as mine however. Pretty sure we can handle settling his before mine. We have 3 years of tax returns coming, if we negotiate a settlement, will they wait for the $ to get here? It will take a few months. I really just want to be able to come to some agreement. We just got a notice from the bank with the cost super inflated! over $13,000 now! There is nooooo way we will be able to pull together $6,500, and $2225 that fast! It will take some time….I do not understand how they can in a weeks time have the price jump from $8.000 to over $13,000. We just want to move past this. No lawyer as of yet, really do not have extra $ at all. They just yanked over $1,000 out of our budget & we are barely making it this month. Bankruptcy is what we really want to avoid at all costs. I was hoping to be able to settle mine for $4,500… is that out now that they have this new super inflated number?
I would focus on his settlement first too. You typically cannot negotiate an agreement to settle for less today, with a payment set more than a month out. I would wait to have the money in hand before negotiating his Discover balance.
When you said his account is not that far along, is it even a judgment yet?
Is it Zwicker and Associates suing? If not, who is the law firm collecting for Discover?
I have a problem with 8k going to 13k too! When did you stop paying your Discover account? What was the amount listed in the original lawsuit paperwork? When was the judgment entered in the court?
I understand wanting to avoid bankruptcy, but sometimes it just makes a ton of sense. Are there more debts than these Discover balances? If so, what does it all add up to?
Yes the judgment just was finalized in June on his account.
No not Zwicker firm it is Weltman Weinberg & Reis.
I am concerned they are trying to lump both cases together. The $8,000 added to the $4,500 comes out to be around $13,000 with court fees….. I didn’t think that was even possible, or legal to do!! They were 2 different accounts and suits.I honestly don’t remeber when I stopped paying. We have been in and out of foreclosure as I said & that was the last thing I was going to pay vs saving our home or feeding our kids….I will try to find when the last payment was made,
I have a citibank that I believe is past the statute of limitations for $4,500
and a Lawyer bill for $4,500 but that is it.
As I said the tax refund should be fairly big & I would think it will take care of the twi cards & make headway into paying the lawyer off..
The last payment I made was in 2014 I believe…we were in VERY dire financial distress with our home.
I just got a letter from Calvalry today that bought my citibank charge off of $4370.42.. 98% sure this is at the 4 year mark. This is asking for verification of debt in the next 30 days.
Make certain that the debt has not been paid on for 4 years. With it passed the SOL in Pennsylvania to use the courts to collect, you will be in a better position to negotiate this debt on your terms.
I would look to settle your husbands now so that you have at least one person on a bank account. Call me to go over some options on the phone. You can reach me at 800-939-8357 ext 2, or fill out the “Talk to Michael” form in the right rail.
Hello, I incorrectly filed an answer to a complaint from Midland Funding on an old paypal credit account which led to a default judgment against Pressler and Pressler who is representing Midland Funding. They put a levy on my account this past week which I had lifted because the funds were exempted because I have under $1000 in all personal property. I am currently a full time student and only temporarily working over summer and cannot afford to pay the judgement in full but I cannot afford to go through another levy. I’ve been unemployed the past eight months which why I was unable to make payment arrangements and after I contacted the lawyer I received no response and later found out the default judgement was placed and the levy was ordered. The debt including judgment court fees is $1800which I am able to settle for half by sending in two payments or one if I’m able to. What would be the best way to settle as I have no stable income at this time besides this summer job. Should I send in any school information or bank statements to help my situation because any incoming money I receive is used for rent and all other basic nescessities to live. Thank You
Give me a call to go over some options for settling with Midland Funding. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, ext 2. You can also fill out the “Talk to Michael” form in the right rail of this page and submit that. Those all come directly to me.
My son has a judgement against him for over $5000. The original amount was a credit card bill for approx. $2000. I would like to help him settle this so that he can move forward with a clean slate. Unfortunately, $5000. is a bit steep for me. Can you tell me what I should offer and what you think I should expect to pay? Hopefully they will be willing to work with me to accept an offer.
How old is the judgment?
Who is the judgment creditor (name of plaintiff)?
Who is the collection law firm handling it?
Does your son have other unpaid debts or is this the only one? It can matter what a debt collector sees on his credit report, as to whether they will negotiating a better outcome. The more positive the credit, typically the harder hill to climb when seeking the best savings.
The judgement is probably 2 years old. The debt is about 6 years old. The creditor is Best Buy and the attorney is Singletary & Thrash – Jackson P.A.
He has been working very hard to improve his credit. He was working with Lexington Law to help him remove other negative reports. This one however is still there. He has been paying everything else on time so I guess that will hurt him. Any suggestions?
I would target 50% as an optimistic, but still realistic settlement amount. Given all of the obvious signs of someone motivated to improve their credit, this may not settle all that favorably.
I went back and looked at the original papers and it looks like Midland Funding LLC is the plaintiff. The original balance was listed as 2886.65 but they have added attorney fees of 962.22 plus 8% interest per annum. The date of this is April of 2013. I know the original Best Buy bill was not that much and from what I have been reading, the buyer of the loan does not pay the full amount. I am just not really sure what I should expect to pay. You said 50% is optimistic. Does that mean I start with 50% of the original balance or 50% of all of the fees that they have added to the original balance. I am sorry to ask so many questions but I do really appreciate your advice. Thank you!
It would be 50% of today’s balance after those legal costs and fees and the interest the court set.
It does not matter what Midland Funding paid for the debt. Try not to get hung up on any of that.
If it were me I would start lower than 50% and see them come down a ways. They will likely not come down much at first, but that is okay. You should not try to get this all done in one phone call. It is normal for it to take several.
Capital One also hired lawyers to garnish my wages at my job. I know I need to pay them back but I’ve been trying to get back on track since I got this new job and paying off debts here and there. I did not get to this one yet, but I didn’t even know that they could do something like this without any notice. The total amount due is $1830 plus all the fees. Can they really do this?
Yes, they can garnish your paycheck. They are not going to be all that flexible in working something out with you (payment plan or settling for less) while they have the garnishment. You may qualify for full or partial exemption from the garnishment. You will want to formally contest the garnishment with the court. If you are exempt you will get them to work with you better than if you are not.
Hi Michael–stumbled on your site—my situation–credit card debt from 1999+./- rec’d a judgment against me 2007 for 4100$..They froze my bank account and took $1000+/- (of which was never reflected to my knowledge in the amount due) I called them to try to settle–I was told no settlement-need to pay in full–I wrote (certified letter) told them I was sales person with no w-2 but i was willing to pay $50 a week towards the balance- I never heard from them. I was going through a contentious separation/divorce and it fell thru the cracks as I never heard anything from them again. Last week mail arrived at my ex-wifes apartment (I have never lived there ever) indicated they got another judgment against me including wage garnishment, -this time the amount was for 8,000 with interest. I have 20 days to respond —I have a bankruptcy attorney friend who said I should file—I would prefer not to—another attorney friend told me I would be paying them “forever” as they likely won’t settle now its been so long—he adivised me to go to the county clerk and get a copy of my file—if there are anomalies we may be able to open the judgement again but it is a longshot…….should I file 7? thx
I would look for a way to avoid the chapter 7 over an 8k debt if I could avoid it. Who is the judgment in favor of, and who is the collection law firm handling it?
If they would settle, can you raise half the amount of the judgment quickly?
Thanks Michael- Attorneys Kirschenbaum % Phillips PC, Farmingdale NY Judgment in favor of Velocity Investments LLC, Wall NJ apparently they are a well known “machine” in buying non performing debt for pennies…… Yes, I would find a way tp raise the 4,000$
thanks again
Hope that information makes sense—I can presume you are overwhelmingly busy–that said—should I keep checking back ? thanks Michael
Not sure what you mean about checking back.
You have a decent shot at settling for half-ish. It can depend on how much of a collection target you look to be. Check out my video with a former debt collector about what is often used to determine how collectable you are.
If you want help call in for a consult at 800-939-8357, option 2 rings to me.
Thanks Michael—-What I meant is I wasnt sure how the reply response turnaround went here–if the threads stayed together–no worries— would obviously like to get it behind me and if you can help that may the way to go.
Give me a call tomorrow to go over things. You can reach me through the hotline at extension 2, or reply to the email notifications you get from the site and I will reply to the email in order to coordinate a time to connect on the phone.
Thanks Michael– I am going to the courthouse this morning (est time)…just to locate any information on how I was served—As I did not get personally served either time.
Ken
don’t believe I received any emails from your site–thx
went to the courthouse and discovered that all the addresses they used were not mine—they “affixed” a letter to the door of my ex in-laws – never lived there—they did the same at my ex wifes apartment—I never rec’d any of the letters until this last one June 8 when my daughter -who lives with her mother gave it to me— I realized it was a Discover CC – there may be some question as to how much time passed between my last payment and when they decided to collect (2007) I believ the cc was from 1999
I would take this whole scenario to an experienced debt collection defense attorney and look to get the judgment vacated. I will send you an email with a list of New York attorneys with the experience you need. They are listed by location. Calling for a consult is free with most of them. Let me know how those discussions pan out for you.
Thanks! never rec’d the list–
I am upstate–Troy NY
I resent the email just now. Be sure to check your junk folder in case it landed there.
sorry–forgot to mention—i did watch your video—very informative thx—-
-funny going from unemployed 4 years ago to getting a job with a not for profit company and trying to clean up my credit—i would now fall into the “targeted collection” as you mention…..irony i guess….thx
Hi Michael!
A few months ago, I had a judgement filed against me by Couch, Conville, & Blitt LLC on behalf of Portfolio Recovery Associates for an old store credit card. Upon receiving my copy of the judgement I attempted to contact their office via phone to discuss a possible settlement. I never got an answer or received a call back and due to my job I can’t sit around trying to call them all day. So I took another route. I sent a certified letter to offer a debt settlement and to also inquire about my payment options. This was 2 months ago and I never received a response until today, I receive a “Post Judgement Questionnaire” requesting information such as my current employer, bank account information, and monthly expenses. Filling out and signing this questionnaire gives the Couch, Conville, & Blitt the authorization to retrieve any of my personal information from my employer as well as my financial institution. I really do not want them calling my job and I definitely want to prevent wage garnishment, I am willing to settle for a lesser amount that can be paid within a month, Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do with this questionnaire? I have never gone through anything like this before and am honestly afraid of what will happen if not taken care of immediately, Thanks in advance for any advice you may offer. My current balance is $1,5668.00.
The post judgment questionnaire is not in response to the settlement offer that you mailed them. It is just part of the collection process now that Portfolio Recovery has a judgment.
Mailing in to negotiate is not effective in most situations. You should call to negotiate; get what you agreed to verbally in writing, and then pay.
It will be harder to negotiate a decent savings if that questionnaire goes unanswered. It would tend to cause them to think there is something to hide, or they may already have assigned a high collection score to you as it is.
Hoe much money can you pull together in a week or two?
Sorry for such a late response, but maybe about $700.00.
And is the balance you provided above $1568? The amount you have, $700, is not quite half. I am not all that optimistic that you will get that deal put together.
What do you look like on paper to a debt collector? Are there other collections and unpaid debts showing on your credit reports? How about positive accounts that are being kept current (mortgage, car, student loan, other credit cards), how many of those do you have on your credit?
HI Michael,
I really need your help and advise on what I/we can do, I am have just remarried last year and had a baby the previous year. We are purchasing a home together did everything we needed to do got prequalified and approved, now we are in the midst of closing and upon signing title we find out my husband has a judgment against him in California it’s a discover debt that was from 2008. we put all the money we have into the purchase and are financing via fha and down payment assistance as we are starting over.. we have 5 children between us and cannot live in a 2 bedroom apartment. the original amount he owed was 8200.00 now after all these years its ballooned into 18000.00. we found out as a demand was sent via Title company.. what can we do? we don’t have this kind of money .. please help
Hi Maria – I saw where you posted that the exact balance and that you are in California. I deleted that post on the other page so we can focus the discussion here.
You are likely going to have a very difficult time resolving this for a significant savings. You will want to review this video about the problem with negotiating after you applied for a home loan.
Let’s assume you can negotiate still. How much money can you pull together to fund the settlement?
My wife owns on a credit card and the collection company but a lean on my home.
I live in PA. Now the title on the home is in both mine and wife’s name but the mortgage is in my name what can i do to remove the lean
You will more than likely want to negotiate a settlement and get the court and county updated so the lien can be removed.
How much is the lien, and who is the money owed to?
Hi Michael,
Please help me! Recently, I found out that there are two old judgements against my husband. #1 in the amount of ~$2.5K and #2 in the amount of ~$1k.
Getting a hold of $3.5K total will already hard enough, but when we approached the collector for the first judgement, they told me that the judgement now is over $14K!!! ($10K is in interest) This was an old judgement from 2007/2008. We have not contacted the collector #2, but can only imagine how inflated that amount will be. (We live in Oregon)
I don’t understand how a judgement can be entered, let alone 2 judgements, without our knowledge. They said they “tried” to contact us several times and have “proof” that we were served the notice. This is not true. What is our recourse at this stage? I’ve read several articles that says to settle before the judgement was entered. Obviously, for this situation, it is too late. We don’t want to file for bankruptcy, and most likely will not pass the means test for chapter 7 anyway; chapter 13 does not appeal to us. We really want to settle the judgement but cannot afford $14K, we can’t even afford half of that amount.
Do you have any other suggestions or guidance?
My husband was unemployed for over a year, and just last week started working again. We are just getting back on our feet.
Who are the judgment plaintiffs?
What kinds of debts were these, and who were the original creditors?
You are going to want copies of the court records. You want to see where it is they say they served you. Look at the address, the description of the person served, does all of the coincide with you? If not, there are some angles to use.
It looks like there is a cap at 9% simple interest on judgments in Oregon, but there appears to be a contractual provision too. That would potentially allow the debt to grow much more dramatically. That said, I have also seen balances balloon way out of line too.