Civil Lawsuit from Capitol One Credit Card?

Question

I owe capital one a debt. I will pay them off when I get the money, but at this moment I do not have it. I will not be able to show up in court because I am in another city. I already know they will freeze my bank account. Would it be better just to close out my bank account before they get to it? I do not have anything else in my name. Can I negotiate a payment plan with them before the court date, or is it too late? If it is what will happen after the default judgement is passed against me? Can they go into or even freeze my husbands account if it is not a joint account? And last but not least can they garnish his wages? Please only serious answers and not smart alec's thank you.

Answer 1

Sunnyside is wrong...you are not given free legal counsel for civil suits....only for criminal actions. The rest of here answer is not great either.

You have lots of questions...I'll try to cover them all. But you didn't ask one important question! Can you postpone the court hearing?

You really want to attend it and not get a default judgment. You can ask the judge in many states to set up a payment plan that you can afford, and avoid garnishment or liens. Contact the court and request a new court date. They usually will push it back 30 days.

If this debt is in your name only, and you do not live in a "community state" (see below) then they can not garnish your spouse's wages or bank account. Take the money from you bank account before they can freeze it.

Contact the creditor and offer a settlement and/or payment plan. Do this in writing. If they refuse to work with you, then use that info on the judge. It may help your case in getting him to order a payment plan.

If you don't show up and they grant a default judgment, they can do just about anything to recover the debt. You will have very little defense against it, that's why you need to show up in court. Note that the collection agency can ask for just about anything, and if you are not there they will get it. I've seen them tack on hundreds of dollars in illegal collection fees.

Note that if this debt is old, you may have a legal defense as it's over the Statute of Limitation. But if you are not in court to state this, you lose.

Answer 2

Most credit card companies and banks like to scare people into paying them. If you own anyone any money, it is always best to pay even a few dollars a month rather than totally skip a payment. As long as you are consistently paying something on a bill or a debt, they cannot take you to court or press charges. They may try to scare you into believing that they can and will but legally they won't be able to and they will end up paying out more than they care to. It is always good advise to seek some free advise if it has already gone past that stage but most companies would rather settle out of court than go to court. However, if you do not have the ability to go to court and there is already a court date, then you would be wise to get a lawyer who can go in your place. If you cannot afford a lawyer, then call the court house and let them know you need some legal council and can't afford it because you have a court date and need advise. By law they have to let you have legal advise before hand. That is why they always tell you that if you do not have any, someone will be apointed to you. There are lawyers who work for the state in every state and that is all they do is get paid by the state to handle cases in court for people who cannot afford an attorney. I suggest you do not miss the court date by either you or a lawyer who is representing you turn up. Sometimes you can get the lawyer and they will work out a payment plan for you to get caught up and settle out of court for you, but if it has gone far enough for them to have a court date, then they are most likely trying to really scare you and you could end up paying all the court costs for them and you if it goes that far. You best be calling someone who can help you get on the other side of the situation, like a lawyer. Hope that helps.