Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

You haven't told us if you do or don't owe it, how old the debt is, etc. Depending on what has happened, you may need to pay, or you may have defenses, and in some cases you may have a claim against the creditor. The only way to know is a consultation with a lawyer, and you should have done that the day you were sued. You may have already missed deadlines.

It is very normal for credit cards to balloon when you fail to pay. Add a $39 a month late fee, a $39 a month overlimit fee, and interest, and it grows fast. But since you left out the details that matter, there's no way to tell you what to do except to get to a lawyer's office in the morning.

I agree with Attorney Ashman. It does not matter what your credit card limit was. You have not told me who the original creditor was, if the debt has been sold to a junk debt buyer or who the law firm is.

Most creditors will settle for 50% to 80% of the amount sought in the lawsuit.

But your post makes no sense. First, what is there to mediate? You either owe the debt or not. Or put another way, its either a debt you are responsible for or not.

If the lawsuit is for less than $12,000 chances are its in small claims. You also indicate that the law firm says $990 is owed and that this is the settlement offer. This cannot be the settlement offer unless the lawsuit seeks to recover more than that.

Bottom line - is this your debt or not? How long has it been since you last paid on the debt? More than 6 years? Did you file any answer to the complaint?

What you need to do is allow a lawyer to look over the summons and complaint and any other documents (answer, discovery). If this is your debt and there are no defenses (statute of limitations or other things) then you need to think what you want to do about the debt. How much do you owe? Do you have the funds to be able to settle in a lump sum? Do you have other debts? How much?

If its not your debt, then go to a lawyer and see what can be done. It may make sense to litigate.

If its your debt, then you need to think about resolving it in some way - either through bankruptcy or paying. If you want to go the bankruptcy route, you should have at least $10,000 in dischargeable debt to make the bankruptcy worthwhile. If you have less than that, perhaps settlement or some type of payment arrangement would be an option, depending on your assets and situation.

I don't see what mediation is going to produce and I would not waste any more time with that. If you have valid claims or defenses they can be used possibly to offset what you may owe (if you can show that the creditor or law firm violated your rights under the FDCPA for example).

If you are interested in either litigating or filing bankruptcy, then you need to seek out local counsel. If you want to resolve your debt in a non-litigation non-bankruptcy context, then please contact me at [email protected]. I charge reasonable fees and purely email consults are free.