How to Survive a Debt Collection Lawsuit

When you are already having a bad day, which most of us are having in our current economic climate, the calls and emails from debt collectors only make things worse.  Your debts have changed hands, from one collection agency to the next, so many times that it is hard to keep track of what you owe to whom, and therefore, whether the collection agency representatives are telling you the truth.  The best thing you can do, to preserve your own mental state so you can stay focused on earning money to pay the next set of bills this billing cycle, is to tell the debt collectors to stop bugging you about debts that you can’t pay.  Legally, you have a right to do this, and when you do it, the debt collectors must honor your request and stop contacting you about the debt.  When this happens, though, your responsibility to pay the debt does not go away.  In a perfect world, you would make enough progress on your new debts that you would have some money lying around to pay the old debt, and you would contact the creditor and pay it.  What happens more often, though, is that a process server eventually hands you a lawsuit that a creditor you have forgotten about has filed against you.  If this happens, your best course of action is to contact a Miami debt lawyer.

Check the Statute of Limitations

You would think that companies that are in the business of collecting debts would know whether their lawsuits had merit before they filed them, but sometimes creditors are bold enough to sue you for debts that they are no longer legally entitled to collecting, hoping that you will pay up out of fear of wage garnishment.  When you point out to the court that the statute of limitations has expired, the court must dismiss the lawsuit.

In Florida, the statute of limitations for debt collection lawsuits is five years, counting from the first time you missed a payment.  The statute of limitations can reset if you make a partial payment, but not if you promise to pay but then do not follow through.

Call the Collection Agency’s Bluff

The creditor must prove that it legally owns the debt if it wants the court to rule in its favor.  This is easy for credit card companies and other original lenders, but it is harder for collection agencies that bought the debt from the original creditor, and it is even harder if the collection agency that is suing you bought the debt from another collection agency.

File for Bankruptcy, the Sooner the Better

A reliable way to make a debt collection lawsuit go away is to file for bankruptcy.  A debt collection lawsuit cannot proceed if you are currently trying to discharge the same debt in a bankruptcy case.

Work With a Debt Lawyer About Credit Card Debt

A South Florida debt lawyer can help you if a debt collector is suing you for repayment.  Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Miami, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/money/other/8-ways-a-credit-card-debt-lawsuit-can-be-dismissed/ar-BB1reZN1?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=fef43a3ca2ee406c9e37d1c1fb32c6c6&ei=56