• • I have defaulted on a Credit Card account, what can happen?
  • Will I get sued by the Credit Card Company?
  • Do I face jail time?
  • Can my wages be garnished?
  • Can my bank account be garnished?
  • Can they sell my personal property?
  • What else can they do?
  • Will the judge order me to pay more than I can afford?
  • Can they threaten me?
  • Should I hire a Debt Settlement Company?
  • Should I negotiate the debt myself?
  • What should I do?
  • What are my chances?

I have defaulted on a Credit Card account, what can happen?

A couple of things will occur. First, you will be contacted by the credit card company’s collections department.
If you do not pay, your account will be charged off after 6 months. Your account will then either be placed for a credit card lawsuit or it will be assigned to an outside collection agency.

Will I get sued by the Credit Card company?

A lawsuit will definitely occur at some point if you do not pay. It may come from the original credit card company, or, more likely, from an outside collection agency

Do I face jail time?

NO. Failure to pay a credit card account will not amount to jail time.

Can my wages be garnished?

Your wages cannot be garnished in Pennsylvania except under limited circumstances. Credit Card debt is typically not one of those circumstances unless the judgment was entered in another state.

Can my bank account be garnished?

Perhaps. If the credit card company or collection agency sues you and wins, and if they know where you bank, they may be able to garnish your bank account. Remember, they must prevail in a court of law before this can happen.

Can they sell my personal property?

Same answer as above. If the credit card company or collection agency sues you and wins, they may be able to levy on your personal property.

What else can they do?

They will place a mark on your credit. They will sue you at some point. If they win, they may attempt to garnish a bank account or levy on personal property. They may place a lien on your home.

Will a judge order me to pay more than I can afford?

Judges do not order you to pay anything. The court process (lawsuit) simply determines how much you owe, if anything. Payments will be voluntary on your part, or, the credit card company can begin execution proceedings to collect.

Can they threaten me?

For the most part, NO. They can threaten a lawsuit, because that is within their legal rights. They cannot threaten to garnish wages or jail time. Such threats are a violation of the FDCPA and will place you in a position to sue the Credit Card company.

Should I hire a Debt Settlement company?

NO. Most of these companies are scams, and the ones that are not scams are of little or no use. They charge outrageous fees that must be paid up front before they will do any work for you. My fees, or for that matter, the fees of any reputable consumer attorney are a fraction of what a debt settlement company would charge you.

Should I negotiate the debt myself?

Maybe. I would always recommend a consult with a consumer attorney first. There are times that I recommend to a client that he/she negotiate with the credit card company. On the other hand, I have never recommended that a client negotiate with a collection agency. The collection agency lawsuits are often legally insufficient and can be beaten in court.

What should I do?

Hire a knowledgeable consumer attorney at least review to your case. You have a few options here. Negotiation is one option. Bankruptcy is another. Often times, though, my advice is to let the lawsuit happen and then defend it. Our success rate in defending these types of cases is much higher than you would believe.

What are my chances?

If a collection agency files a credit card lawsuit against you, your chances at success are very high. We defend these types of cases on a daily basis and our clients are very pleased with the results.

  We are well versed in the rights of creditors and debtors, and in many areas of consumer law, based in part in our knowledge of the law and our experience in dealing with thousands of these types of cases. If you have a collection agency attempting to collect a debt from you, please contact our office at 412-348-8600 or send an email to Attorney Greg Artim