If you can't pay credit cards what can the creditor do?

Question

I owe more than I could ever pay.

Answer 1

I am in the same situation BUT do you mean it as a small debt you owe for one credit company or a big debt for a single or multiple cards??

I have been there sooo many times... I still am and they will keep pestering you. If you have not paid for a while they can suspend your card or cancel your account all together and transfer your debt to a debt collector agency whereby they will bug you to death. Don't be scared. I was at first, so much so I wouldn't get out of bed or answer the door.

I went to a citizens advice bureau where they reassured me that nothing bad would happen. Lets face it - if you don't have the money what can you do?? I have to county court judgements against me and they still threaten me with them but I don't care anymore. They send letters as scare tactics but they always contain 'we may call bailiffs round to your house'... 'we may possess your stuff'.

Anyways, I hope all will be ok. Chin up and feel free to e-mail me any time.

BTJ~

Answer 2

Hire a collections agency to try to collect the debt.

Pay the minimum amount each month and they'll leave you alone.

Or, try to make a payment plan with the debt collector.

Answer 3

I would get a CREDIT COUNSELOR, and they sometimes can get a settlement and a payment program for you. The creditor WILL make your like miserable until they get their money. A credit counseror should also make them stop calling. They (creditor) may file legal documents and garnish your check and they will definitely file negative credit ratings for everyone in the credit world to see. Good Luck.

Answer 4

It depends on the laws in your state but they can send you to a collection agency.  Then the collection agency will call you morning, noon, and night trying to get the money.  Eventually, they can attempt to "force" you to pay by garnishing your wages (again that can depend on the laws in your state) which means they just take it out of your paycheck before you get it...kind of like taxes.  They usually have to get a court order to do that though.  Generally when you are in a situation like this when you have more debt than you can pay, you file for bankruptcy.  Bankruptcy wipes your debt away.  It does tear down your credit score, though.  However, for every account your not paying or every account that is in collections you lose points off your credit score for those too.  So you might as well file bankruptcy and not worry about the debt piling up.  If you have any assets such as a house, car, stocks, bonds, etc and you file bankruptcy the court will most likely take those and use them to pay your debts.  I had to file bankruptcy when I was 21.  I didn't have any assets so I'm not sure how that part works.  Filing bankruptcy isn't necessarily good but it's not the end of the world either.

Answer 5

They won't give up trying to collect. I suggest bankruptcy.

Answer 6

Be prepared to spend the rest of your life in a Mexican prison with hard labor.

Answer 7

Not a lot really all you have to do is pay them £1 they may take you to county court fill in the boxes and offer £1 pay them all the same amount though

Answer 8

They can send your accounts to a collection agency who will harrass the heck out of you in search of money.

What basically happens is that they try to strong-arm you, then they will negotiate with you to set up some sort of a payment plan. Their goal is to get as much from you as possible so the step from being ugly to negotiation tends to take a while.  They aren't all that swift when it comes to getting the point that you can't pay it all.

Your best bet, if things are getting that bad, is to seek out a credit counseling agency, and have them on your side.  they can do the negotiation for you, and maybe keep things from going to collection by talking to Visa, MC, etc for you before it gets seriously ugly.

The worst thing you can do is sit back and let it happen to you.  Be proactive and take control, get a counselor on your side and take it from there.  They are great ppl to deal with 99% of the time and have the power to keep you from being mentally beaten up by your creditors.

Answer 9

It varies depending on which state you live in and what type of debt you owe.  For credit card debt, creditors sometimes place a lein against property you own or have your wages garnished.  Even if your creditors don't take legal measures against you, your credit report will reflect that you defaulted on the debts, and it may be difficult for you to borrow again in the future, such as if you want to buy a house or a new car later on.  There is good news, though: your creditors can't have you arrested or imprisoned for failing to pay your bills.

Answer 10

there are companies that settle your debt especially credit cards for way less than you owe and get the interest suspended & lowered while you make affordable payments.

Once they start hounding you they can be really bad

Answer 11

You creditor can sue you, get a judgment and garnish your wages, seize your savings.  Your credit will also be destroyed and you'll never get a loan or a credit card and you'll have trouble getting insurance and a job.

You need credit counseling (non-profit org only) or a bankruptcy lawyer.

Answer 12

The worse they can do put a judgement against you and garnish your wages. This happened to me and they took a bunch of money out of my check. Good thing I was able to afford it.

Answer 13

if you can't pay , your creditor will put you in collection, and there will be phone calls to scare you, if you don't respond to the calls they will report it to the credit reporting agencies and it will ruin your credit, the creditors are insured they do not loose, they will chargeoff  your account and it will affect your credit for 7-10 years, there are credit counseling agencies that can help you deal with your creditors to negotiate lower payment and to lower the amount of the debt., don't ignore it  once your behind in your payments it shows as late in your credit record, talk to your creditors and give then a powerful reason for of why you can't pay on time.

Answer 14

You can always make payment arrangements! that will keep them off your back! you could tell them that things are hard now and you can only send them 15 dollars a month (what ever you could afford) this will keep it out of collections. But if you don't give them anything you might end up in court!

Answer 15

Unpaid credit cards will be reported to all 3 of the credit bureaus. This will make it difficult to buy cars, homes, etc... There is always the possibility of being sued. My advice would be to keep paying as much as you can every month, even if it is the minimum. You might also consider consolidating.