Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Your big mistake was borrowing more than the value ofthe car.

There is no such thing as a afffidavit on SS. However they can ruin your credit for 7 years, sue you, take your paycheck and get your bank accounts.

If you have debt problems, see an attorney before they sue to decide your best options.

When you have a lien on a car, whether it is original financing or something else, your lender is the lienholder and will require you to have insurance. If the car is totaled, then the insurance proceeds are paid to the lender and if there is a balance owed, you are responsible for that balance.

Until you are served with a complaint, the Indian woman or anyone else can call all they want. If you don't have it you don't have it. Start saving your money up for it NOW.

When you receive a complaint, you generally have 30 days to answer. If you do not answer, Citi or whomever they sold the debt to will get a default judgment. Still they can do nothing to you until 30 days after entry of the judgment. Some lawyers will notify you of the judgment but some will not. If they don't, then start checking regularly at the court, about 2 weeks after your 30 day time period to answer expires. If you are not given the full 30 days (like if this is in small claims and the hearing is set up and you are not timely served), then figure 30 days after the date of the hearing.

After that, they can garnish your wages. You and your employer (assuming you are not self-employed) will get notice. They can also freeze your bank account. If you are on an account with someone else, get your name off the account NOW.

Debts can be settled at any time - before, during or after judgment. Creditors will want more after judgment. If you want to make payments, the creditors will accept those, but they generally like the debts to be paid off in 1-12 months and they will want you to pay the full amount. They will usually settle for 50% to 80% of the judgment amount as of the date you go to settle, but they usually want this paid in a lump sum. That is why I tell you to start saving now, so you will have a nice chunk of change when the time comes to settle.

There is no law that I have been able to find that says that you MUST answer the phone just because it rings. You don't. If you have caller id and you get a call from a number you do not recognize, don't answer. Write down the number and Google it and see who it is. If it is really important, the person will leave you a message and if its someone you know, you can call them back. Be way - debt collectors are sneaky and they may get a local Georgia area code to make it appear that they are calling from Georgia when in fact they are at a call center in India. Citibank does use Indian call centers (I have had the misfortune of dealing with them for clients).

The amount owed is not worth filing bankruptcy over unless you have a lot of other debts. I also don't know what assets you have or your circumstances.

I have several Georgia clients and give free consults via email. You can contact me at rachelforjustice@hotmail,com if you want to more fully discuss your case.

When you have funds and want to settle the debt, I can do that for a reasonable fee. If you have lots of debts, consider a debt settlement company. There are lots of scam artists out there - do your homeworke and check them out. However, here is one company that is legit:

http://www.national-legal-center.com

And if you talk to the Indian woman, laugh at her. There is no such thing as an affidavit filed against your Social Security number so I don't know what she is talking about. Nothing can be done until you are served with a complaint by a Georgia licensed attorney. So until that happens, she is blowing smoke and trying to scare you by playing mind games with you. Don't fall for it.