Can interest be charged to infinity?

[Pattyannr]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Illinois
I have to file an answer to a summons on tuesday. Have called countless low income attorneys and have not located any so far that has returned their voice mail. I can not find anything related to this question in the archives. I am trying to find out if there is any limit to how much interest, and for how long, a cc company(sears) can charge interest on a bill. Is it forever? Our credit was cut off 2/97 at are limit of $1260, we paid them approx $3500 over the years but at the time I quit paying we owed them over $5700 more because of interest. While everyone agrees that this is awful and should not be legal, no one I know can tell me if it is actually legal to charge forever. (except for sears who says it is)
Do I answer guilty or innocent on the form? Thank you

[Ladynred]

First of all, when was the last time you paid SEARS directly ??

Secondly, YES they can continue to charge you interest for ..well, forever. Its in your credit card agreement. Any 'successors and assigns' - meaning collection agencies and junk debt buyers, can continue to charge you interest AT THE DEFAULT RATE, until hell freezes over. The FDCPA says they can NOT charge any additional fees or interest UNLESS it it specified in the original agreement. Believe me, its ALWAYS in the original card agreements.

If you don't want an automatic default judgment against you, make your Answer a general denial of all allegations in the Complaint and then GO TO COURT. You will most likely be sent to try to settle with the creditor before you go before a judge. It is literally your LAST chance to settle the debt, after they have a judgment, its pretty rare to get them to settle - why should they, they can garnish your wages and get it ALL !

If the account is past the statute of limitations --meaning you last paid Sears MORE than 5 years ago, then your Answer needs to include the expiration of the SOL as your affirmative defense.

How you Answer a Complaint - some info here:
[url]http://www.legalhelp.org/public/answering_complaint.php?PHPSESSID=331f6df768a218a6e100a094756baef2[/url]

[Pattyannr]

I last paid sears directly in 03 so sol won't apply. What is the point of going to court if they are going to garnish the wages in any case? It looks like it was a good thing I wrote to sears last year and told them to quit harrassing us or we would easily be into them for over $10k now. Thank you for your reply.

[Ladynred]

What's the point ?? If you DON"T go they win automatically and they WILL go after your wages and any non-exempt property. If you go to court and can reach a settlement for less than the full amount, then you may be able to avoid having the judgment go thru AND garnishment altogether. Take YOUR offer of a settlement to court with you, in writing, so you can get a signature if you can come to an agreement.

If you can't settle, then, yes, you're going to lose and be subject to garnishment, bank seizures and debtor's exams for years to come !

[Pattyannr]

Thank you for all the info.

[JETX]

As a little more inducement to your trying to NOT get a judgment against you.... the SOL for a judgment in your state (Illinois) is TWENTY YEARS from the date of the judgment.

And yes, interest will continue to accrue at the maximum allowed judgment rate.... until it is paid

[Pattyannr]

wow! I am so depressed. It makes me go hmmmm..... I guess I am lucky in a way. At the same time we started falling behind on sears we were also paying off other dept. store cards, i.e., Penneys, Carsons, etc. The difference was that once they cut you off they stopped charging interest and we were able to pay them down. This makes me wonder why they did not also charge us forever.
Thanks everyone.