Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Louisiana

Re: Charge Offs

It sounds as though your mother is judgment proof. This means she owns no immovable property or vehicles and her income from Social Security is exempt from seizure. So the benefit to a creditor of suing and obtaining a judgment against your mother would be small and it is likely that they would not file suit. However, different creditors require different things of the attorneys that represent them. Some, require extensive asset searches before they will authorize the filing of a collection suit. Others, want to sue everyone who is in default or whose account has been charged off.

If the file has been forwarded to an attorney, then yes they are considering a collection suit. It depends on the aggressiveness of the creditor and the attorney as to whether they will file one.

Many creditors attorneys will work out payment arrangements with debtors. Most will require asset information (also referred to as judgment debtor information) before they will work out a repayment plan or settlement, and sometimes they may require the debtor to sign a consent judgment.

My advise would be to cooperate with the attorney. If your mother truly has no seizable assets, then it is likely that the attorney will not file suit or that they will at least work out a reasonable payment arrangement.

If your mother is overburdened with unsecured debt that she is unable to pay and her quality of life is suffering, then she may want to consider a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.