Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

You do not provide enough information. The third party is I assume a junk debt buyer. Do they have a lawyer or in-house counsel? Were you sued in small claims or in regular court? When was the last time you paid the debt? Has the statute of limitations expired? How much is owed? Do not answer me. Answer these questions for yourself. There are lots of lawyers here - Greg Artim is one who does credit card defense. He gives free evaluations. Go and get one.

However, litigation is not always the answer. It may not be cost effective, especially when the debt can be resolved for a fraction of the balance (say 40% - 80% in most cases). Also, what is your defense going to be? The only relevant questions for the court are: (1) is this your debt; (2) how much do you owe; (3) was the lawsuit timely; and (4) if not brought by the original creditor, then is it brought by the real party in interest and is there written proof of that?

If you are able to show the statute of limitations expired or that there is no proof that the junk debt buyer now owns the debt, then you have a good defense. You may also have a decent if some charges were fraudulent for example. If the lawsuit is timely and all the proof is there and the junk debt buyer can come up with a witness, then, it may not make much sense to hire a lawyer because a judgment may still be entered against you at the end of the day.

And the question then becomes, how is the creditor going to collect on a judgment? Are you married? What assets do you own? What about bank accounts? If you are married and/or only have liened assets and have less than $300 in the bank, then the answer to the question is not very much because there is no wage garnishment in Pennsylvania for a credit card debt. What this means is that if you do not have money today, you may have money in 1 year or 2 years or 3 years. And you can settle a judgment at any time, even for 40%.

Frankyl, I am not a litigator and litigation does not work in some instances. In others, it does. What you do is up to you. I hope I have at least given you some things to think about. If you are leaning towards litigation, then I suggest that you talk to someone like Greg Artim and get a free consult about your situation. A postponement can always be sought. If this is in small claims, its relatively easy to get that done.

If you are leaning to resolving the debt at some point, ten maybe you need a lawyer like me or someone like me. I would be happy to evaluate your situation and discuss these details with you if you are interested. Please email me at [email protected].