credit card debt

What is the name of your state?hawaii received summons - assumpsit-money owed, i do owe some money, approx 10000, can pay some, background: 73yrs old, retired, poor health, unsecured cc in my name only, only asset in my name is car.have small fund in my name $1800, ss pension 725/mo. questions: can cc co go after jointly owned assets or assets in husband's name only. i can pay some but not all. what should i do? will the court send me to jail? what options do i have. what should i say when i go to court? thank you in advance for any guidance you can give me.
panic in hawaii

[Ladynred]

First, calm down, you can NOT go to jail for not paying on a debt. Debtor's prison was abolished in the late 19th century !

Your pension and any other retirement monies can not generally be touched.

Some questions - when did you last pay the original creditor ?

Who's suing you, creditor or collection agency ?

Does the summons say you must file an Answer to the complaint ? If so, you must do so within the time specified.

You may still be able to negotiate for payments and/or a settlement before it ever gets to court. Or, you go to court and the judge will likely send you and the lawyer out to try to settle first.

Thank you for answering my plea. You calmed my nerves some.
To answer your questions: last paym't to creditor's "in hse recovery 4/01. Collection agcy is suing me. Collection agcy purchased account 2/01. two paym'ts to collection agcy-may & june 2001.
Summons said I am required to appear before district judge.
Should I try to contact plaintiff to negotiate paym't or wait to go to court?
I am still frustrated out of my mind.
Thanks again for your advice.

[Ladynred]

Ok, so you're still within the SOL (statute of limitations) so no help there.

However, the debt is now nearly 3 years old and likely been sold a time or 2 (if not more).

If you can afford to may payment, or settle, then WRITE out a settlement and/or payment plan offer and send it, certified, RRR to the suing attorney. Don't try to do anything on the phone, if its not in writing, it doesn't count. Since the debt IS aging, and you don't have any seizable wages, then the creditor is more likely to accept a settlement for less than the full amount. Make them a starting offer of 40% and go from there, but know your absolute top limit.

If they just won't budge, then you'll still likely be sent to settle before a judge does anything. If you haven't any non-exempt assets (high-equity property, vehicle, etc.) then even if they get a judgment, they're going to have a REAL hard time getting any other money from you.

Hi again:
ok I made settlement offer and mailed, am waiting for reply.
I have a few more questions I hope you can help me with:
What is SOL for Hawaii?
What would you consider "exempt" assets? - would "jointly owned" things such as hse we live in, bank acct, stocks, bonds, etc be considered exempt assets?
Would car in my name be exempt asset? It is the only car we have that runs.
In other words, I guess I am trying to figure out what if any assets are at risk. Can you give me some guidelines?
Thanks again, hope this is the last time I bother you. You have been such a great help to me.

[Ladynred]

SOL in HI for credit cards is 6 years, so that defense is no help to you at this point.

The exemptions for what can be taken from you in a judgment is defined by your state statutes. They are typically very close to the exemptions for bankruptcy, but there can be differences.

Here are the BK exemptions for HI:

[url]http://www.bankruptcyaction.com/hiexemptions.htm[/url]

Anything NOT on that list, or above the values listed is in jeopardy.

If I can find the link JetX posted specifically for judgment info, I'll check and see if there are any significant differences.


*** I found the HI statutes on exemptions here - looks about the same as the BK exemptions.

[url]http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0675/HRS0651/HRS_0651-0121.htm[/url]

[url]http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0675/HRS0651/HRS_0651-0124.htm[/url] (pension exempt)