Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois
Collection Agency Calls
Last year, I became pregnant and began having medical difficulties. I had to stop my graduate school program and not take a job offer. I got behind on my credit card bills. Basically all payments to mortgage co, utilities, auto loans, etc were paid..I had to pick something to fall behind on and the credit cards (not all) were it. I am trying to get everything taken care of to the best of my ability..collection agencies call me every day, at all hours, even on Sunday. They threaten to sue me, garnish my husband's wages, throw me in jail, etc. I have offered to pay what I can, monthly until I can pay them off or settle. They refuse to take my offer ($100/month) and say that only x amt is ok, and only if I first make a balloon payment...what are my options? I have heard that they must take whatever I pay and apply to my balance, and cannot pursue it further if I am regularly paying on the balance. Is this true? Please help, I am worrying myself to death. Thanks so much!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Collection Agency Calls
First of all, they cannot garnish your husband's wages unless he was a co-account holder on the credit card. Second, they cannot throw you in jail. Third, they can refuse to accept partial payments. Fourth, they can take you to court and sue.
In spite of all of this, taking you to court is usually a waste of their time as a judge will not force you to pay any more than you can afford to. As long as you are willing to pay something , a court will usually help you in that respect.
Finally, here's what an attorney can do for you: by stating that they represent you, the calls will stop. They must now deal with an attorney. The attorney can then attempt to settle by negotiating lower amounts than what they requested. In my experience, this works better than any attempt you will make to settle your bills.
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