@charyot77 wrote:
Hi,
I'm currently working abroad in Asia to pay off debt I ran up in the US during college (this is actually pretty common).
Ive made great strides on my unsecured debt, but I have done no work so far on my charged off credit cards (I have 3) because I've been told that paying them will not positively affect my credit score.
So I just got word that some lawyer back home is taking me to small claims court for a charged off credit card account and I dont know what to do. There's no way I can go home to take care of this. I dont want to call up the lawyer and tell them that I'm not in the US because I'm not sure what they'll do knowing that I cant show up to defend myself.
Ive thought about getting a lawyer to do one of those debt negotiation deals but I'm not sure how much they would be able to negotiate nor do I know what to expect to pay them fee wise. (the charged off account is about $5K)
Two of my credit scores are in the upper 600s and one is in the low 700s which is a huge improvement over what I was dealing with even two years ago. Of course this is all a false sense of accomplishment since I havent actually taken care of all of my bills.
I hate to have a judgement on my credit report destroy all the hard work I've done. I just dont know what to do though. Any advice?
Also, should I just apply for a credit card now while my score is semi-decent in hopes that I'll get extended credit before the judgement hits my credit report? (if it comes to that?).
I'm afraid it's the proverbial goods news and bad news.
The bad news is that absence from the country tolls the statute of limitations in virtually every state.
Good news: Probably they don't know you are out of the country. They sure would find out in a hurry though if you send in a notarized Power of Attorney to let someone appear for you or if you call to make settlement arrangements and the attorney sees from called ID you are in, say, Hong Kong. Make sure you use Skype of another international calling service that does not show caller ID details.
More bad news: Even though you were not personally served, you probably cannot claim defect in service. First of all, it is a myth that a creditor must somehow have ESP and know exactly which room of the house you occupy. In most states it is generally sufficient to serve an adult -- or better yet a family member -- at your last reported address. In many small claims courts service is accomplished simply by mail.
Good news: By now there is probably already a default judgment against you. That being the case, you may stand a good chance at making payment arrangements or even negotiating a settlement with the judgment creditor. If there already is a judgment, it doesn't matter that they know you are out of the country. Use that to your advantage and negotiate a decent payment plan if not an outright reduction in the amount of the judgment. At first they may come off with the attitude that "Hey, we have a judgment so why should we accept less?" A judgment is never the same as cash and many, many judgment creditors still never collect a penny. Besides, what good is that judgment when you are in Hong Kong?
