Credit collection, judgments and liens

[jsg4805]

What is the name of your state?

I live in Kentucky.

My wife has a newport news credit account and has charged up to around $1,500 and had made every months payment.

She did however fall behind and it caused an overlimit fee and a late fee. They wanted her to pay over $157. She talked with them and asked if she could send them $50 and asked them not to add the next months fees, because if they continued to add the fees, she would never get caught up.

They refused to freeze the process of adding the continuing fees and the balance continued to get even higher.

We decided, If they wouldn't work with her, we decided not to send them any money.

It's been several months with collection calls twice a day. And now they have turned it over to a collections pre-legal group.

They said my wifes account is now $2,285.78. And wanted a min payment of $100 or they would have to precied with Judgments, liens and garnishments.

My wife is not working and is drawing unemployment of $400 a month. We do own 2 cars. One the bank owns and we make payments on and the other is paid off. We do not own a home.

I would like to know would they try to get a judgment for this amount of money and try to put a lien on my car or personal property and force the sale of it to collect it? Should I wait and hope they write it off?

Thanks,

JSG

 

[skirklan]

credit card woes

It isn't that they won't work with you, it's that the person you're speaking to doesn't have the authority to make those decisions.

First, you don't have to put up with all those collection calls. Send a certified letter to the company calling you telling them to stop phoning. That's your right under the consumer credit protection act passed by Congress.
go here and see this: consumer credit
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/consumer_credit.html>

Second, if you only have this one debt, call your local Better Business Bureau and ask them about credit counseling organizations (non-profit only) in your local area. GO THERE. Credit card companies and banks pay for their services; it's free to you. They would rather see a consumer pay something than pay nothing. They will ask you how much money you make, look at your expenses and then call the creditor and negotiate a lower interest rate, kinder payment plan and stand behind you if the creditor misbehaves. For this to work, you must do your part of the bargain--make the lower payments on time. They want you to succeed, so they are generous when working up a plan for you; comfortable payments that won't take food off the table.

If you have a lot of debt and expect your wife's unemployment to continue and things deteriorate with mounting debt, file a bankruptcy [Chapter 7 or 13] to protect yourself and your property. Life is short, don't be miserable.