Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

OK. I don't know where you have lived that you have never heard of a lawsuit on a credit card debt. I guess most people do not know how to deal with this until it happens. Don't panic - not that it gives comfort much, you are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people in your same boat across PA and the US.

A judgment becomes a lien automatically in PA (other states may have different laws) so once judgment is entered its indexed against your real and personal property. Also, there is no homestead exemption in PA outside of bankruptcy. For enforcement purposes, the judgments on land last for 5 years and can be renewed. That is the bad news.

The good news is that you are in PA! There is no wage garnishment for a debt like this. Depends on the creditor firm, but Citi does not often seek to execute on judgments and if they do, the first place they will look is the bank. You are allowed, by law to exempt up to $300 in any one bank account. Do not keep more than this in the bank and look to getting a purely online bank account. If you do not like banking online, find a credit union or else find a bank that is purely out of state if you live close to the border. Failing that, bank at a small community bank located 25-50 miles from your home. Avoid big banks like PNC, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi or Chase because that is the first place creditors will look for money.

What else do you own? There is no exemption for a car, but if your car is very old and not worth much or if your car is liened, its probably safe.

There is no exemption for personal possessions, like furniture, unless you are married. If married, then there is very little that a creditor can do to you if only you are liable for this debt. Creditors in most cases do not want your stuff and I have not seen Citi, to date, try to sell a person's stuff.

If and when you get back on your fee, judgments can always be settled. My ballpark is 50% to 80% of whatever the balance is on the judgment when you go to settle; judgments earn interest in PA at a rate of 6% per year, but the interest accrues daily. Any judgment here ius relatively small - if you can come up with $1000 there is a chance that this can be resolved prior to the hearing.

If it is Citi suing you, then getting a lawyer will not help much unless it has been 4 or more years since you last paid. I don't see that anything but a judgment will be entered hear unless you have some kind of defenses - like some of the charges were not made by you or something like that.

If you want to discuss this more, you can email me at [email protected]. The big issue for right now is to protect your bank account and that means not keeping more than $300 in the bank or else looking for an online account or somewhere safe to stash money. Joint bank accounts are out - they do not protect you, even if married as you will have to fight to get your money bank. If you are married, let your spouse have the bank account and pay bills from it and get your name off there.