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being sued for credit card, unable to reach settlement.

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btolan41

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan

My wife is being sued by an attorney representing Bank of America for an amount of $8,765.17, which includes, principle, interest, court costs, and attorney fees. We've tried to reach an agreement with the attorney for the past couple of weeks, and are scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

We filed our response to the court requesting a reasonable settlement be reached on the principle amount, and that interest, costs and attorney fees be waived. We then received a Order for Consent Judgment from the attorney for the above amount, with all payments being made to attorney with interest. However, there's no mention of the amount the payment is to be expected.

We contacted the attorney and offered $1000 down and $100 a month on the original principle amount of $6271. They responded with an agreement of $1000 down and $200 a month on the same balance without interest. I find this balance to be acceptable, however we cannot afford $200 a month. Knowing that if we fail to make a payment, they can seek to have our wages garnished and assets liquidated, I'm uncomfortable committing to an amount I know we cannot afford.

We were told our best bet is to go to court and hope for a favorable judgment.

My questions are:

Is it reasonable to assume the judge is going to take our financial situation into consideration with us having no representation?

Is it likely that the judge will decide in favor of the original amount being sought, even though they (plaintiff) have accepted a settlement amount verbally with no additional interest?

Can the attorneys go after my wages also, considering the card was my wife's prior to our marriage?

I'm hoping very much to come to an agreement without going to court, however I'm being very cautious about making an agreement I know we'll fail to honor. I'm fearful things with end up worse after going to court. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 


TigerD

Senior Member
My questions are:

Is it reasonable to assume the judge is going to take our financial situation into consideration with us having no representation?
No


Is it likely that the judge will decide in favor of the original amount being sought, even though they (plaintiff) have accepted a settlement amount verbally with no additional interest?
Yes

Can the attorneys go after my wages also, considering the card was my wife's prior to our marriage?
Were you named in the suit and do you live in a community property state?

I'm hoping very much to come to an agreement without going to court, however I'm being very cautious about making an agreement I know we'll fail to honor. I'm fearful things with end up worse after going to court. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Things will be much worse after the judgment is issued. If the block to settlement is $100 a month. Cut your cable, eat mac and cheese, find a second job - make it work.

DC
 

btolan41

Junior Member
Thanks for the response DC. Believe me, I'm smart enough to realize $100 a month is hardly worth letting this go to court. However, we have no cable, already eat mac n cheese, work 100 hours plus a month to make ends meet, and still have to borrow money often to cover expenses. If you can't squeeze blood from a turnip, what other course of action can we take?

Do we agree to the attorney's offer and hope for the best until we can't make a payment? Or would it be worth expressing our situation to the judge and hope he finds reasonable solution?
 
The judge has no discretion to take your financial situation into account at this stage of the proceedings; the court will award the full amount (assuming that the other side can prove the debt), reasonable attorney's fees and interest. Frankly, given the original amount of the debt, the total amount sought sounds reasonable.

Thus, to avoid a judgment and all of the consequences of a judgment (including execution of the judgment) I echo the other recommendations to make a settlement work.
 

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