Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri
What happens if you can't make your court date when being sued by a credit card company? I do not have a lawyer, but there is a chance I'll be having my baby on the day I'm suppose to go to court.
2 Answers from Attorneys
The creditor will get a default judgment against you. Then, the creditor can garnish any financial accounts (such as checking & savings) with your name on it with one exception: a joint account with your husband. However, if your only source of funds going into the account is social security disability, your bank should help you stop the garnishment. One exception: Bank of America will do absolutely nothing to help you. Then the next step for the creditor is to garnish your payroll checks for 25% (after taxes are deducted from the gross amount.) To get the amount reduced to 10%, you must file as head of household in the county where the judgment was granted.
You can NOT count on the creditor doing anything to help you. The collection attorneys have a bad reputation about telling the Debtor/Defendant (that's you) that you don't have to go to court. Then, because you were not present, the creditor automatically gets to win.
You need to hire an attorney to represent you. Your attorney should be able to save you more money than he or she costs you.