Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania
How to respond to complaint
Hello, due to financial difficulty, my wife and I were unable to pay her Target credit card for 11 months, last payment being 8/2007.
They since turned it over to a law firm who just served my wife a complaint. The amount owed was about $5000 but is now $6155.
We have roughly 3 weeks to respond, the judge is listed as ''Arbitration Panel,'' the hearing date is in Oct, 2008.
I attempted to call Target but, of course, it is apparently out of their hands. I believe it's wise not to deal with the leeches that are debt settlement companies now contacting us. Therefore, it seems my only recourse is to show up in court(representing my wife) and hope the attorneys won't show up, do the same and just plead my case that I stopped paying partly because of fees I thought were incorrect, contact the law firm and try to work something out or hire an attorney-we have very little money.
I'm guessing that contacting Target's law firm is not a good idea. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: How to respond to complaint
You asked about responding to a complaint.
Find an attorney. You can't fight this one on your own. It sounds as if you may be an appropriate candidate for bankruptcy. While this particular debt is only moderate chances are that you debt load is of a size that is not manageable.
You are absolutely correct about the credit counseling companies. They are generally worthless. The best of the bunch are reputable and will benefit you, but in the end, they are just out to make a buck. Moreover, the vast majority of their clients end up in bankruptcy anyway but only after having paid more on debts that could have been discharged in an earlier bankruptcy.
Nor is bankruptcy a bad thing for credit. Your credit is trash because of the defaulted debt. Bankruptcy will actually improve your credit score because you will no longer have most debts. After a short period of time you will be able to rejoin the consumer economy will head held high. (Because creditors know that you can't refile for bankruptcy for eight more years.) There are two short periods when BK harms your credit, In the first year to two years and in years seven and eight after filing. And those often don't present a substantial impediment.
The law requires that lawyers tell you that you that they are a debt relief agency (though that really is quite inaccurate).
Regards,
Roger
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