I recently received a letter from a debt negotiator saying that court records indicate that a lawsuit has been filed against me by a credit ...

Question

I recently received a letter from a debt negotiator saying that court records indicate that a lawsuit has been filed against me by a credit card company over an old credit card debt and that the sheriff will be serving me the complaint shortly. The letter included a case number but I don't know how to find out if this is true. I do not know what to do. The last payment I made on this credit card was in 2007.

Answer

You probably have been sued by a debt buyer -- a company that claims to have bought old debt and then files suit against you.

Critical thing is to NOT allow a default judgment. Get with an attorney in your area or handle it yourself but whatever you do -- take action. Doing nothing will result in a default judgment which means you will have the following bad consequences:

1. A judgment on your record (including your credit reports);

2. You can have your bank accounts garnished;

3. Wages can be garnished;

4. Property can be sold; and

5. The judgment makes 12% interest a year.

You can find a video about debt buyer lawsuits here -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5IsoRNl2U&feature=related

Best wishes!

John Watts

Birmingham, Alabama