Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: scared of being sued

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Re: scared of being sued

Well, first you have to understand what it means to be sued. No one can make you pay money if you don't have any (except in a divorce setting with child custody). A lawsuit could result in a court judgment. That means the court has decided that you actually do owe the money. Before the lawsuit goes to its conclusion, the court doesn't know who is right or wrong. Just because one side claims you owe money, doesn't make it so. A lawsuit leads to a decision whether or not you do owe the money (or not).

Once a creditor wins a lawsuit, and gets a court judgment against you, they must then try to collect the money on the judgment. They would need to undertake additional legal action to try to garnish money from your salary or from your bank account. It is not automatic. When the creditor wins a lawsuit and court judgment, NOTHING happens until they find a way to collect on the judgment.

They can certainly sue you whether or not you have the money. But the result would be a court judgment that they cannot collect on.

If they cannot garnish your wages or garnish your bank account, they will have to just "sit" on their court judgment. They will not be able to do anything with it.

However, on the other hand, the longer you wait to pay the more interest will run up on the credit card accounts. So it would be best for you to try to pay it down to avoid the interest.

However, it would be good for you to communicate with teh creditors and explain your situation. This may discourage them from taking action. Legally they can sue you. But they don't have to. If you convince them that you can't pay, they may wait or give up. They may wait until you get a job to try to collect.