Recieved letter from Credit company threating legal action against me for credit debt I owe

[improvent363]

I already have 7-8 credit cards, each less than $1000 in debt, in Collection agency. And now I  received a letter from Discover that they take legal action against me and get an attorney to obtain a judgement against me IF I don't call them before June 4 to make acceptable payment arrangements.

So based on my situation (I don't have a job for almost a year, and don't have any money to pay at
all and not even for my bills also), what is the most likely scenario I should go to?

[09Lexie]

This question has been asked and answered for you. This forum cannot give legal advice. Seek the advice of legal aid- NOW.

Good luck.

[goose77]

Default on all your cards, or make the minimum payment from your Unemployment (I know its tough, I have been there), or just tell them good luck, you aren't working. Not much more they can do.

[Creditaddict]

If you owe Discover less than $1000, I would bet a $1000 they don't sue you... it will cost them FAR more and they can't threaten to sue you... so read the letter very carefully... they may be saying if you won't talk to them, they "may" have to proceed or something... but if you are not paying anyone and you have told them in the past you are unemployed, they won't do anything.... they can see your credit report that no one is getting money.

Worry about it when you are working and are able to do something.... until then, send them cease and dicease (spelling) so they stop calling.

[webhopper]

They might be able to get a judgement but they wouldn't be able to make you pay anything....

You are judgement proof..

If ____ is living on limited income, he/she  may be what's known as "judgement proof"...   So that even if a creditor files and receives a judgement against them, no court would force payment. Best advice would be to show up to any court bringing documentation of limited income if ever summoned.   A judgment would hurt the credit score, but I wouldn't think that a garnishment is possible.

From Wikipedia:

  "The term judgment proof is most commonly used in tort law contexts to refer to defendants or potential defendants who are financially insolvent. Even if a plaintiff were to secure a legal judgment against an insolvent defendant, the defendant's lack of funds would make the satisfaction of that judgment difficult, if not impossible, to secure.In such cases plaintiffs might move for wage garnishment based on the judgment. However, if the debtor is living on income from social security benefits, a retirement pension, or other social welfare, then this may not possible, as such income is often subject to legal protections against garnishment by creditors."

[improvent363]

BTW, Here is the exact letter I recieved:

ATTORNEY PLACEMENT PENDING

Attention: (My name)
Regarding: Account ending in 93--
Balance: 2,400

Dear ________
We Have been authorized to proceed with LEGAL ACTION to secure the balance you currently
owe as of May 13 ,2013.

If we do not hear from you by 8:00pm Eastern time on May 31,2013 your account will be
forwarded to an ATTORNEY TO OBTAIN A JUDGEMENT AGAINST YOU.

To stop this action call us immediately to make acceptable payment arrangements.

CALL NOW BEFORE YOUR TIME EXPIRES!

Sincerely,
Modcut
Cardmember Assistance, Discover Card
Modcut

And FYI, I owe 2,400.

edit to remove personally identifiable information. Full names of persons who are not "Public Figures" are not allowed to be posted within the forum

webhopper

[DaBears]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

If you owe Discover less than $1000, I would bet a $1000 they don't sue you... it will cost them FAR more and they can't threaten to sue you... so read the letter very carefully... they may be saying if you won't talk to them, they "may" have to proceed or something... but if you are not paying anyone and you have told them in the past you are unemployed, they won't do anything.... they can see your credit report that no one is getting money.

Worry about it when you are working and are able to do something.... until then, send them cease and dicease (spelling) so they stop calling.

---

They are not a collection agency they can call a 1000 times and there is nothing he can do about it. They have all the right in the world to call to seek payment. If in fact he/she is unemployed or have social security or SSI they can not garnish those, the judge will know this. However once you do find emploment at that time they can.

[enharu]

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@improvent363 wrote:

BTW, Here is the exact letter I recieved:

ATTORNEY PLACEMENT PENDING

Attention: (My name)
Regarding: Account ending in 93--
Balance: 2,400

Dear ________
We Have been authorized to proceed with LEGAL ACTION to secure the balance you currently
owe as of May 13 ,2013.

If we do not hear from you by 8:00pm Eastern time on May 31,2013 your account will be
forwarded to an ATTORNEY TO OBTAIN A JUDGEMENT AGAINST YOU.

To stop this action call us immediately to make acceptable payment arrangements.

CALL NOW BEFORE YOUR TIME EXPIRES!

Sincerely,
Dianne Dennis
Cardmember Assistance, Discover Card
1800-347-5518

And FYI, I owe 2,400.

---

Ok first of all, like what Lexie said, you need to speak to an attorney.

This is the wrong forums as well. You might be able to get a lot more help on expertlaw since they have a couple ADAs and attorneys volunteering to give out basic legal advice. However, you shouldn't use that as your main legal counsel as well, because they're not representing you as your attorney. 

Check out legal aid associations, or whatever resources there are in your state / city. There are free legal aids or pro bono services that can provide legal advice or even representation for free. Talk to those people. Explore your options, and then decide what to do.

You can google "pro bono" and you should get a few legal volunteer services / resources.

You could also call them to make payment arrangements, but seeing that you are unemployed, I doubt you have the financial flexibility to make any kind of payments. You ought to consider bankruptcy as well, rather than making payment arrangements that you can't fulfill later on.

To summarize what I just said:

TALK TO A REAL ATTORNEY.

[Creditaddict]

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@DaBears wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

If you owe Discover less than $1000, I would bet a $1000 they don't sue you... it will cost them FAR more and they can't threaten to sue you... so read the letter very carefully... they may be saying if you won't talk to them, they "may" have to proceed or something... but if you are not paying anyone and you have told them in the past you are unemployed, they won't do anything.... they can see your credit report that no one is getting money.

Worry about it when you are working and are able to do something.... until then, send them cease and dicease (spelling) so they stop calling.

---

They are not a collection agency they can call a 1000 times and there is nothing he can do about it. They have all the right in the world to call to seek payment. If in fact he/she is unemployed or have social security or SSI they can not garnish those, the judge will know this. However once you do find emploment at that time they can.

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Sorry but WRONG... It does not matter who they are, if you wish to only have them contact you by mail and not through phone, you just send a letter.  I have done it with creditors before with only 1 missed payment... if you don't want them to call you can make them stop calling... if you have intentions to pay or work with them, it's not usually best option because in their eyes you are making it hard to comunicate so it shows you are not really looking to work with them and sometimes moves things faster along the collection process but in this case OP can't do anything so why bother listening to the phone ring once an hour... only other thing to do is answer in AM and talk for a couple seconds and then say sorry can't help... they can't call back again that day. (that may depend on state or company, but with GE they won't)

[guiness56]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@DaBears wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

If you owe Discover less than $1000, I would bet a $1000 they don't sue you... it will cost them FAR more and they can't threaten to sue you... so read the letter very carefully... they may be saying if you won't talk to them, they "may" have to proceed or something... but if you are not paying anyone and you have told them in the past you are unemployed, they won't do anything.... they can see your credit report that no one is getting money.

Worry about it when you are working and are able to do something.... until then, send them cease and dicease (spelling) so they stop calling.

---

They are not a collection agency they can call a 1000 times and there is nothing he can do about it. They have all the right in the world to call to seek payment. If in fact he/she is unemployed or have social security or SSI they can not garnish those, the judge will know this. However once you do find emploment at that time they can.

---

Sorry but WRONG... It does not matter who they are, if you wish to only have them contact you by mail and not through phone, you just send a letter.  I have done it with creditors before with only 1 missed payment... if you don't want them to call you can make them stop calling... if you have intentions to pay or work with them, it's not usually best option because in their eyes you are making it hard to comunicate so it shows you are not really looking to work with them and sometimes moves things faster along the collection process but in this case OP can't do anything so why bother listening to the phone ring once an hour... only other thing to do is answer in AM and talk for a couple seconds and then say sorry can't help... they can't call back again that day. (that may depend on state or company, but with GE they won't)

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DaBears is absolutely correct.  There is NO law that says an OC cannot call you as many times as they like.  They are also not bound by a cease and desist as they are not collection agencies and are not bound by the FDCPA.   You may have lucked out.