Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

If you do not pay, the creditor will call you, send letters, and likely sue at some point. If they sue, they will likely obtain a judgment as it is the original creditor. A judgment will act as a lien on any real estate that you own in the county where the judgment was obtained with one possible exception that could apply to you.

If the debt is only in your name, and not your husband's, but the house is jointly owned, it will not be a lien as the house is protected from the creditors of one spouse. That exemption will terminate in the event of your husband's death or you divorce him. However, if the debt is joint, or the house is not owned jointly as part of the marriage, a lien will attach.

Since you have equity in your home, you could consider a reverse mortgage which will pay off that debt and you will not have to make any payments toward it. It can also provide you cash for savings, improvements, etc.

If you would like to discuss any of this more, feel free to call or e-mail me on a free initial basis.

If you are in PA, I can tell you that Discover will probably end up suing you. Any judgment automatically becomes a lien on real property that you own if its just in your name. If you own it jointly with a spouse, it cannot be executed upon (seized and sold at sheriff's sale). You might want to think about getting the property out of your name BEFORE you stop paying Discover. This has its own ramifications and depending on timing may make it appear to be a fraudulent conveyance so you should only do this after consulting an attorney.

Judgments are good for five years against real property in terms of enforcement but can be renewed.

Social Security cannot be garnished as long as you do not commingle it with non-Social Security money belonging to yourself or another person.

If this is your only debt and you have no other assets, then it might make sense to do nothing and save up your funds. Discover will settle for less than 100%. Generally, I have gotten them to accept 30% on very old judgments and sometimes 30%-40% pre-judgment. Once judgment is entered they want between 60%-80% generally unless the judgment is old. So you might want to start saving money now. Let the collection process take place. When you have at least 30% of the balance on the debt (Discover charges interest so the balance is going to grow), then try to resolve for that. If they want more, keep saving and try again. They will say yes at some point.

If you have a desire to just be done, you can always file bankruptcy too.

Attorney Nahrgang raises a good point about reverse mortgages. But these are not for everyone and you need to know what you are getting into.