Michelle Taylor is a financial writer and specializes in debt related problems. She has guided many people to pay off debt. Some of the topics she writes about are debt consolidation, debt settlement, credit card consolidation and debt-free.
You may have come across troubled debtors asking “Can you be sued for credit card debts?” The answer is yes, but only under certain conditions. Creditors tend to sue you if you are behind on payments for more than 60 days and if there is a court order against you. However, they usually try to avoid filing lawsuit and instead adopt ways that will make you pay up. Instead of suing you, creditors will find out if you have a co-signer who can pay the dues if you fail to do so.
If the creditor finds that you are employed, it means that you are having a steady flow of income. As such you are in a position to pay up. However, this may not be true for debtors that are older. Under such circumstances, creditors think that the debtor may not have a steady flow of income and his hopes of recovering the debt diminishes.
In fact, the reasons that caused creditors to extend a loan to you may be the same reasons why a creditor will come after you for his money. If you receive a notice from the creditor, first find out how genuine their demand is. You can do so by checking the “SOL” or Statute of Limitation. If you find that your account has passed the SOL, you can use it as a defense. If not, it is better to pay off the debt if the demands made by the creditor are valid. This is because if a judgment is passed against you, it stays in your credit report for a period of 7 years. And this will hurt your credit rating miserably. So, keeping your best interest in mind, it is better for you to negotiate with the creditor so that you can work out a way after talking to your creditor.
If you are facing financial hardship or you anticipate a financial crisis in near future, it is best to convey the reason of your non-payment well in advance. By doing so, you can work out an alternative payment plan with the creditor so that you don’t fall behind on payments and the creditor doesn’t file a lawsuit against you.
yes. There maybe a lot of credit card holders out there who are asking the same question “Can you be sued for credit card debts?” But you have explained to us how does it works..
This information will lighten the credit card holders..for sure…:-(
This is an issue that many people are uncertain about and of course the best advice that anyone can ever get is to make sure to pay off all credit card debt in full (and even better don’t ever carry a balance) but stuff does happen. Here is an in depth article on why credit card companies sue consumers: http://www.creditcardchaser.com/faq/why-do-credit-card-companies-sue-consumers/
Thanks for elobarating this serious matter.
For me, you can not be sued for non payment of debts. but you will be sued for fraud. Promising to pay even if you are not capable. i guess, there’s a big difference between those terms.
I believe another factor in deciding if a credit card company will sue is the amount owing. The smaller the debt, the less chance you have of being sued.
It depends on what you mean by being sued for credit card debt. You can be taken to court and ordered to pay the debt back, however if you cannot afford it then the creditor may seek to make you bankrupt.
ve two credit card balances, with app. 80000 dollar balance . I am on SS , and I am 87 yrs old.I have no other income.
I HAVE A REVERSE MORTGAGE ON MY HOME. APP. 790000 DOLLARS.
IS THERE ANY WAY THESE BALANCES CAN BE CANCELLED OR PAYMENTS REDUCED?