Civil Judgements to Collect Upon A Debt
Creditors will do almost anything to get their money. Hopefully the things they do are legal. Sometimes the things they do aren't - violating the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA)and in North Carolina, the Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA). But one of the strongest legal tools creditors have to collect on a debt is a judgement.
If a creditor is seeking to obtain a judgement against you, the process will start with you receiving a civil summons in relation to a debt. The first thing you should do when you receive that is to make a written request to for debt validation. within 30 days. This means that the person trying to collect the debt has to prove where the its from, the amount of the debt, and that they are authorized to collect the debt.
Once the debt is validated, you have a couple of options. One is to contact the judgement creditor to see if you can negotiate the amount of the debt and the payment terms. You are trying to settle the debt in exchange for the civil case being dismissed. If you can't negotiate with the judgement creditor then you will need to appear on the court date. This is really important because if you don't, the judge will automatically grant the creditor the judgement, which is disastrous for your credit. When you appear, you can at least make arguments to try to avoid the judgement.
If a judgement is ordered, it will show up on your credit until the statute of limitations expires. For credit card debt in North Carolina for example, this is 3 years. Having a judgement on your credit is not the worst thing in the world, but what could happen next might be. Chances are, if you have a judgement against you your credit is already shot and a judgement may not make it exponentially worse. But to this point, the creditor has still not done everything he can to collect his money. What he can do next is execute the judgement.
When a creditor executes a judgement, he is pulling out all of the stops to get his money. This can involve getting liens against your personal property, and if you ever sell that property, that creditor is first in line to get paid. But worse, the creditor can actually lobby to have your assets liquidated in order to satisfy the judgement.
The bankruptcy process can be very helpful both pre and post judgement. Filing bankruptcy prior to a judgement being ordered stops the collection process as well as the civil process, giving you time to get organized and potentially get a discharge of the debt. But even filing bankruptcy after a judgement can help. If the judgement has not yet been executed, then bankruptcy can potentially discharge the judgement. If liens have been filed, motions can be filed as part of the bankruptcy process to separate the liens from personal property so that the liens can be discharged.
If your debt has gotten to the point where you risk having judgements entered against you, it's probably a good time to consider talking to a North Carolina bankruptcy attorney to figure out your best options.
If a creditor is seeking to obtain a judgement against you, the process will start with you receiving a civil summons in relation to a debt. The first thing you should do when you receive that is to make a written request to for debt validation. within 30 days. This means that the person trying to collect the debt has to prove where the its from, the amount of the debt, and that they are authorized to collect the debt.
Once the debt is validated, you have a couple of options. One is to contact the judgement creditor to see if you can negotiate the amount of the debt and the payment terms. You are trying to settle the debt in exchange for the civil case being dismissed. If you can't negotiate with the judgement creditor then you will need to appear on the court date. This is really important because if you don't, the judge will automatically grant the creditor the judgement, which is disastrous for your credit. When you appear, you can at least make arguments to try to avoid the judgement.
If a judgement is ordered, it will show up on your credit until the statute of limitations expires. For credit card debt in North Carolina for example, this is 3 years. Having a judgement on your credit is not the worst thing in the world, but what could happen next might be. Chances are, if you have a judgement against you your credit is already shot and a judgement may not make it exponentially worse. But to this point, the creditor has still not done everything he can to collect his money. What he can do next is execute the judgement.
When a creditor executes a judgement, he is pulling out all of the stops to get his money. This can involve getting liens against your personal property, and if you ever sell that property, that creditor is first in line to get paid. But worse, the creditor can actually lobby to have your assets liquidated in order to satisfy the judgement.
The bankruptcy process can be very helpful both pre and post judgement. Filing bankruptcy prior to a judgement being ordered stops the collection process as well as the civil process, giving you time to get organized and potentially get a discharge of the debt. But even filing bankruptcy after a judgement can help. If the judgement has not yet been executed, then bankruptcy can potentially discharge the judgement. If liens have been filed, motions can be filed as part of the bankruptcy process to separate the liens from personal property so that the liens can be discharged.
If your debt has gotten to the point where you risk having judgements entered against you, it's probably a good time to consider talking to a North Carolina bankruptcy attorney to figure out your best options.