How to Prepare for Credit Card Debt Court
If you fail to pay an unsecured debt, such as a credit card debt, the credit card company to which you owe the debt will charge off the balance. The debt will often be sold to a collection agency after the charge-off. Depending on the collection agency that purchases your account and how much you owe, a lawsuit may be filed against you. It is vital that you make preparations to appear in court and defend yourself, lest the collection agency secure a judgment against you and garnishee your wages or bank accounts.
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Instructions
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Investigate the statute of limitations for lawsuits over debt in your state. Each state places a limit on the amount of time a creditor has to sue over a debt. Although a creditor may file a lawsuit at any time, the court will dismiss the suit if the debt is beyond the statute of limitations.
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Evaluate your current income level and the type of income you have. If you are living on Social Security or government retirement, your wages cannot be garnisheed. The same is true if you do not earn enough disposable income to qualify for garnisheeing. If you give the collection agency this information, the lawsuit may well be dropped because you cannot be forced to pay the debt.
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Respond to the court summons as soon as you receive it. Each jurisdiction has a limited amount of time for a defendant to respond to a summons indicating that he will defend himself in court. If you fail to respond by the deadline, a default judgment may be levied against you.
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Submit a discovery request to the court requesting that the collection agency provide you with proof that you owe the debt, proof that it is licensed to collect in your state, proof that the amount it is suing for is correct and proof of the original creditor. Collection agencies often cannot provide these items and will drop the lawsuit.
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Compile documentation proving that you do not owe the debt or that the statute of limitations has expired. You will need to take this documentation to court.
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Appear in court on the day of the hearing with your paperwork. Should further hearings be scheduled, appear at each of these. Should the plaintiff fail to appear at any hearing, you will win the case by default, but should you fail to appear, the plaintiff will win by default.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider hiring an attorney to defend you. If you win, you can sue the collection agency for your attorney's fees.
If your defense is successful, ask for a copy of the court judgment. You may need this should any other debt collector contact you in the future regarding the same debt.
If the debt is yours, admitting this fact could result in an immediate judgment against you. Admit nothing. Force the collection agency to prove that the debt belongs to you. It will often be unable to do so.
