Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

hello. my boyfriend is currently having problems. a year and a half ago, he had a credit card with american express. a month or so after he ended up losing his job, and was unable to pay the balance. being it was his first credit card, he did not know that he was unable to make minimum payments for it, and was unable to pay for it overall. since then he has been getting harrassing collection calls, which at first he dealt with, but after being hounded bu rude people, he decided to just ignore them all together until he can find a way to resolve the issue. unfortunately, he ended up being unemployed for the past year. just last week, we got a letter from the creditor stating that they are filing a suit against him. i'm not really sure what he should do. he JUST got hired the beginning of this month and it is possible that he can make payment arrangements. but we just do not know where to start, and if they will include attorney fees and costs and such to pay that. we are both college students who are barely starting out our lives. what should we do?


Asked on 6/07/10, 8:34 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir Vafaei MinCal Consumer Law Group

Based on your statement, the people trying to collect the Amex debt most likely have violated a number of consumer laws, which they can be sued for. Regardless of whether your boyfriend owed the debt or not, they have to treat him with respect and fairness. It is very possible that your boyfriend may not owe what is claimed as they may have added collection fees, charges that they have no right to.

A lot of times, the consumer is threatened with lawsuits, as a way to coerce payment, which is also illegal. Since they have not actually sued your boyfriend yet, they are not entitled to any attorney fees, costs, etc. To sum it up, you need to look carefully to determine that what they are demanding is actually what you owe, as a lot of times they include fees and charges that they are not legally entitled to.

Your best action is to contact an attorney for a consultation.. Our attorneys will be glad to hear your case and help you out. You can call our California office for a free consultation at 888-678-5550 or 619-272-4242, or visit www.mincal.com for more information.

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Answered on 6/07/10, 12:24 pm


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