Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

First question is whether you even should answer. There is no law saying that in a civil suit you MUST answer. You don't.

If you admit the debt, the creditor gets a judgment. If you deny the debt, the case goes through discovery and, if it is proven the debt is yours, the creditor ultimately gets a judgment. If you do nothing, the creditor gets a judgment sooner.

So, assuming that you have no valid statute of limitations defense and any other grounds do not exist for challenging the debt, it is my opinion that your money would be better spent elsewhere than on a lawyer to file an answer for you unless your objective is solely to buy time.

What should you do? If you have money, the creditor may be willing to settle the debt. If not, the creditor may be willing to accept payment arrangements. If you have a lot of debt, then maybe it would be worthwhile for you to sit down with a bankruptcy attorney and see whether it makes sense to file bankruptcy given your debts and assets.

Each lawyer has their own focus - bankruptcy attorneys want you to file bankruptcy. Litigation lawyers who specialize in credit card defense want to fight this.

I personally am not a litigator and do not believe in the litigation system anymore for various reasons. Also, sometimes litigation can backfire in the area of card debt - if you start fighting this and make them spend money, then they may not be inclined to settle the debt at all. There is no law that says they must. However, if the debt is yours and you think you would like to work out something out to resolve the debt, I can do that for a reasonable fee.

If you want me to discuss the specifics of your case, I will review it by email for free. If you then decide to settle something and would like my help, I will do that for a fee; if you decide to explore other options, you can do that as well.

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