Poor College student being sued by credit card company?

Question

I'm a 24 year old college student that stupidly got a credit card, maxed it out, and then couldn't afford the payments. I stopped paying and just found out I'm being sued by the credit card company. I think I originally owed them $1000.00.

I'm a student, I make (if I'm lucky) $500.00 a month. I can't afford a lawyer and don't know what to do. I don't even know how much they are suing me for because I haven't gotten the suit yet. I just found out online.

Anyone have advice?

Answer 1

Well, you got yourself into this.  More likely, the original creditor charged off the debt and sold it to a collection agency that is now suing you.

Answer 2

Go to one of the credit counselor companies on line they may be able to assist.  I believe this is who I went through, but I owed over 20,000 dollars and 6 years later I was done.  But they may help you out in less than a year.  Good Luck

Answer 3

I was in the same situation as you during my first year of college. I can't really give you a good answer, but I'll explain a little bit that I learned from my experiences.

Normally, the credit card company doesn't do anything other than hound for their money back. Eventually, it'll get sent to a collections agency instead. The collections agency will call you everyday, trying to get you to pay them. And they will use scare tactics. They will tell you just about anything to scare you into paying them. Although I don't believe they'll act on it.

I went for nearly 2 years without paying, got threated to be taken to court, etc. It never happened. Eventually, my parents did find out about my credit problems and helped me out. But, I didn't even have to payback the $1000. They settled for a smaller amount IF I could pay them immediately.

So I think the bottom line is that they aren't going to take you to court. It might cost them more in court fees than it's worth to sue you for $1000. I would either look for one of those debt consultation companies or talk to the creditor and tell them you can only pay X amount of dollars a month, period. They'll tell you that's not acceptable and you need to take a loan to pay them or borrow from someone, but just stand your ground and say it's either X dollars a month or nothing. I'm sure they'll take what they can get.

Again this is just my experiences and my opinion. Yours might be different. Definitely seek more advice.

Best of luck to you. Hope everything turns out alright.

Answer 4

Go find a defense attorney asap and at least get a consultation. I am sorry this has happened to you, but if you just neglect your bills eventually something like this will happen.

Answer 5

break the credit card, in that way you dont use it anymore, then called then and try to fix the payments. If you call them and say you want to pay, but how you can do it with your income, and they will tell you something.

Answer 6

I used to work for a credit company retrieving money people where owing. We use ALOT of scare tactics, telling you we will black mark your name, make it impossible for you to get a loan for anything, when really what you owe your credit card company is like spare change to them, Call them and tell them you can only afford to pay them $5 a week or fortnight, they cannot sue you as they are recieving SOME sort of payment, but you are not forking out all your wage for it either. If all else fails file for bankruptcy, can't get blood out of a stone. There are also lawyers who work on a pro bono basis, ask your local council whee you may find one, they will point you in the right direction.

Answer 7

work with the collection agency and start sending them money, any amount of money, immediately.

Answer 8

Prior to suing you, the credit card company or collections agency would have tried to contact you. You should have talked to them....told them your situation and worked out a payment plan.

Guess you learned the hard way, that just because you ignore them, they are not going away.

Now they will sue for the original balance plus interest and fees.  They will be less willing to work something out with you. As far as they are concerned, you had your chance to contact them and work it out now they have incurred attorneys fees.

I would call them and see what you can work out. I don't expect them to be that responsive though. I suggest you start looking around to see what you can sell.  Got an IPod? Sell it.

Got an extra laptop or computer - sell it.  Some named brand clothes that are nearly new....yep...Ebay. Mountain bike -- sell it. Nice stereo in your car-- remove it and sell it. The car will function with out a stereo....you just have to hum for a while.  

If you have too, go to mom and pop and ask for an interest free parental loan.

You got yourself into this mess.  Now you have to grow up and handle the situation. Continuing to ignore them will only make the situation worse.

Answer 9

You found out you're being sued online?  This does not sound right. You have to be officially served a summons for them to initiate legal action to take you to court....that's how you know you are really being taken to court. It's a common tactic for debt collectors to pretend that imminent legal action is being taken. Are you sure you are really being sued rather than a debt collector trying to scare you?

If you have any doubt, request to know the full name of the [alleged] attorney who will be taking action against you and request to know his/her license # in the state bar association.

Answer 10

think before you act.

Answer 11

First you start making payments toward the amount that you know you're in debt.  Make payments on time and as much as you can afford.  Call the creditor, if you have not received a summons then the creditors have not filed suit against you.  If the creditors have sent you a letter or called on behave of the debt owed; you have time.

If the creditor continues to follow suit then the first appearance in court is an arraignment.  The Creditor will state to the Judge with affidavit the amount that you owe.  Remember this amount will be a combination of the Principle, Interest, and Fees.  The Judge will ask you if you owe the debt.  If you state yes the Judge will pass judgment against you.  Before the Judge passes judgment explain to the Judge that you are trying to workout the means to satisfy the debt, and ask for a three month continuance.  

The Judge is likely to give you two out of the three months; however the Judge is not likely to extend you more than three months.  

You should not hide from the creditor.  If you answer their calls, return their calls, or better initiate the call, you can probably negotiate terms to keep the creditor from going to court.

One possible solution is to apply for a student loan, and consolidate this debt with the student loan.  That will give you six month after you graduate before you have to start paying on the student loan.

Answer 12

Sigh, call the credit card company. work out a payment arrangement or call a place like freedom financial that will work with your creditor and get them to lower your payments.

forget trying to fight this in court, you will lose and be out court costs and attorney fees.PLUS your debt.

take responsibility for yourself and your actions

It is called being an adult

Answer 13

Online?  You sure it isn't spam?

Call the credit card company, and explain it to them.

Answer 14

best thing to do is call them and try to work out some sort of paypent plan. then pay it off as soon as you can. otherwise they can win a judgement against you

Answer 15

Call the credit card company and ask them about it and see if you can negotiate anything with them that doesn't involve going to court.

Answer 16

The first thing you need to do is get a lawyer and have him/her look everything over to make sure they've done everything correctly.  You will probably be able to do that for free.  If you're at a big university there should be some sort of student legal aid office.  If there is a law school there you may find free legal advice there if they have a clinical program.  If not, then try to find some sort of state legal aid organization.  

Second of all you need to make sure that this does not go to court.  The last thing you want is a judgment on your credit report so you'll need to settle with them.  Don't settle until after you've spoken to a lawyer though!  Since you have no disposable income right now this actually puts you at an advantage in terms of reaching a settlement with them.  No matter what they do to you they are not going to get any money from you in the immediate future.  I don't even think they'll be able to garnish your wages since you make so little (depends on the state though).  So hammer something out with them, don't let it get to court, and make sure have a lawyer look at it before you sign.  

PS If you've really been sued you should be served process at some point it time (by mail, in person, posted on your door).  So look out for that!  If you never receive anything then I question whether or not you're actually being sued.  They may just be trying to intimidate you.

Answer 17

Have you actually heard from an attorney for the company yet?  Collections people will often say that you are going to be sued to scare you, but I guarantee that they are not going to sue you unless you owe them 10's of thousands of dollars.  CALL THE COMPANY DIRECTLY!  They do not want your account to go to collections because then they loose money.  Its best for you to not ignore them, they will work a payment plan out with you.  Do it now, because if they are using the lawsuit threat they are getting ready to ship the account to collections which is a worse blemish on your credit then settling.

Answer 18

You need to double check this:  This is a small amount that a credit card company would not waste time with.  I think that you are confused and in addition:  You barely make 500$ but cxan still afford school?  Something isn't matching.

Answer 19

You found out online? Sure its not just a scam? I've never heard of a credit company suing for anything less than $20k.