If a creditor refuses to stop harassing me, what should I do?
Is this you: "I keep telling this creditor to stop calling me, but they refuse to listen. This creditor continues to call even though I have repeatedly told them to stop. I don’t know what to do." Well, there is something that you can do. First, if the calls are to your home, then you need to notify the creditor in writing that they must stop contacting you. By law, they must abide by the written request to stop. On the other hand, if they are calling you at work or your place of employment, then it is sufficient if you verbally tell them to stop calling you at work. If they call after any of these demands to stop, they are violating creditor harassment laws and can be sued. Plain and simple. Long story short, if they continue to harass you after being told to stop, you have the legal means to stop them. It’s up to you to take the next step.
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I was sued on a very old debt, but never answered the lawsuit? Is it too late to change the outcome?
No. If you were sued on a valid debt and lost by default, then you have six months after the default to ask the court to set the default aside. Basically, you must have some excuse for not answering the lawsuit. If you have a reasonable excuse, then the court likely will vacate the judgment and let you get back into the lawsuit.
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I was sued on an invalid debt, but never answered the lawsuit. What can I do?
No matter how long it has been, if you were sued on an invalid debt and lost because you never answered the lawsuit (i.e., you were defaulted), this is considered a “void” judgment. A void judgment can be set aside at any time, not just within the first six months. If you have had your wages garnished on a void judgment, you can get this money back.
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I was never properly served with the lawsuit: Can I have the default judgment set aside?
Yes. If a creditor sued you, but never properly served the lawsuit upon you, then the judgment entered thereon is invalid. If you were never served properly, and then later defaulted, then the default judgment can be set aside. You have two years from the date that you first reasonably learned about the of entry of default judgment to set the judgment aside for improper service.
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Can I be sued on a debt that was written off, but later bought by another debt collector?
Yes and no. This is a tricky situation, however, there is good news for you. First, however, the bad news. If you originally owed the debt, then you remain obligated to pay for four years after you last made a purchase or last made a payment. This is true even if your creditor wrote off the debt or transferred it to another debt collector. By writing a debt off, a creditor does not relieve you of liability. Rather, this is usually done for tax reasons. As such, they remain free to sell off this bad debt to somebody else and allow them to try to collect it from you. Usually people will say, “This debt was written off by my credit card company. Can this new person enforce the debt against me even though it was written off?” The answer to this question is, yes, they can enforce it.
Now, for the good news. A company that purchased bad debt and is attempting to collect on it must prove that the debt is owed. This means that they must have a copy of the contract you originally signed and evidence that you have not paid. It is not good enough for them to come to court with a computer print-out, showing that you allegedly owed your original creditor money. No. Many, many cases are won against these debt buyers because they cannot prove that you actually signed contracts or failed to pay bills. This is great news for you, especially on a credit card debt that might be years old. The long-and-short of it is that you likely will not be obligated to pay a debt that is years old if the new debt collector cannot get copies of contracts and legal documents, showing that you promised to pay. You would be surprised at how many times the new debt collectors fail to obtain copies of contracts signed by you. This is usually fatal to their case.
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Does a Charged Off Debt Relieve You From Liability on that Debt?
No. A creditor may unilaterally charge off a debt for tax purposes, but this does not relieve you from liability. The creditor is free to sell the debt to somebody else who, then, would have the right to sue you.
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I was sued by my credit card company and lost. They charged huge amounts of fees and costs that seemed inappropriate. What can I do?
Most people don’t go to court and defend cases brought against them by credit card companies or creditors. Usually, most folks never show up and lose by default. After the default is entered, they get notice that a judgment has been entered against them. It is not unusual to learn that the judgment amount is substantially larger than the amount that you owed. This usually happens when credit card companies tack on huge fees, costs, and expenses, on top of the amounts owed. What can you do if this has happened to you? First, you need to get the default judgment set aside by the court ( Look at the questions on this website, "I was sued on a very old debt, but never answered the lawsuit? Is it too late to change the outcome?" for help). In short, the court will usually allow you to get back into the lawsuit and defend yourself. Once you get back in the lawsuit, you can object to the fees, costs, and expenses as being unconscionable (i.e., grossly unfair or shocking to the conscience). This will allow you to pair down the amount owed, or to negotiate a much smaller settlement. However, if you don’t attempt to set aside the default, then the law will require you to pay the entire amount listed in the judgment.
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I was sued on a very old debt, but never answered the lawsuit? Is it too late to change the outcome?
No. If you were sued on a valid debt and lost by default, then you have six months after the default to ask the court to set the default aside. Basically, you must have some excuse for not answering the lawsuit. If you have a reasonable excuse, then the court likely will vacate the judgment and let you get back into the lawsuit.
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I have a judgment against me that I never appealed and probably owe. Is there any way to pay less on this judgment than is owed?
A: Yes. The first thing that must be considered is whether the judgment against you contains punitive damages. If not, then you are in a good position to negotiate a settlement. In some cases, civil wrongs can be discharged in bankruptcy if the judgment does not include punitive damages. This threat, alone, can cause a creditor to willingly lower their asking price. On the other hand, if the judgment includes punitive damages (e.g. for fraud or intentional wrongdoing), then you likely cannot bankrupt such a judgment. This puts you in a more difficult position when it comes to negotiating a settlement of the judgment. Nonetheless, we still can help you in this situation. In short, we can provide you with legal strategies to make it appealing for your judgment creditor to accept less than the full amount that is owed on the judgment.
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What if I do not have enough money to pay a judgment?
A: The simple answer is that you cannot be forced to pay on a judgment if you have no money or property to pay the debt. There is no such thing as debtor’s prison anymore. A judgment creditor can only garnish your wages if you have a surplus of money to pay your debts. The law will not allow a judgment creditor to garnish your wages unless you first have money to pay bills necessary for survival.
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What will happen if I can’t pay off a judgment that a creditor got against me?
You cannot be sent to jail for failing to pay a judgment. If you have money, then the creditor can garnish your wages until your debt is paid. If you cannot afford to have your wages garnished, you can do a few things. First, you may have the right to file bankruptcy. Second, you can apply for an exemption which would allow a creditor to only garnish a small amount of your wages.
A judgment creditor is hounding and harassing me, trying to get money out of me. I’m scared and don’t know what they can do. What can they do?
A: First, they cannot put you into jail. That’s not an option. Rather, they are only allowed to attempt to locate your assets and attempt to sell those assets. In their attempts to locate your assets, they are allowed to question you under oath (in a deposition), as well as send you written requests for information and documents. However, they cannot abuse these requests, but, rather, can only ask for these items on a limited bases. Other than investigating your net worth, they cannot force you to do anything. You must realize that, if you are financially broke, then a creditor has virtually no power over you. The law will not force you to pay a debt if you have no money to pay it.
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I am not an American citizen and owe debts: can I be sent to jail?
A: Your status of citizenship has nothing to do with whether you can be sent to jail for unpaid bills. You cannot be sent to jail simply because you are a foreign citizen who owes debts. You have the same rights as Americans when it comes to paying debts. In America, you cannot be imprisoned for owing debts.
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Can I be Deported if I do not Pay My Bills
No. You cannot be deported for failing to pay your bills. It is illegal for a creditor to threaten to report you to Immigration as a means to get you to pay your bills.
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What if I sue a creditor who has harassed me: Could I be deported if I am not a legal American citizen?
No. You cannot be deported for suing a creditor for harassment. It is illegal for a creditor to threaten to report you to Immigration as a means to get you to pay your bills.
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I was unreasonably harassed by a creditor while living in the United States but I"m not an American Citizen: Can I sue a creditor for harassing me, even though I’m not an American citizen?
A: Yes. Moreover, your citizenship has nothing to do with whether you have been wronged. There is no requirement that you be an American citizen to file a lawsuit against a creditor who harasses you. Nor can this issue be raised in the lawsuit, as it has no relevance to the legal proceedings. We have represented clients who have spoken Spanish, Russian, and Tagalog. Simply put, you can sue in American courts if you have been legally wronged, regardless of whether you are an American citizen.
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I Paid A Debt that a Creditor Claimed Was Owed, Only to Find Out that the Statute of Limitations Had Expired on this Debt. What Can I Do?
If a creditor represents that you owe a debt, when you don’t, then it is fraud for them to cause you to sign an agreement to repay such a debt. Likewise, if a creditor represents that you are legally obligated to pay on a date (when you aren’t, since too much time has passed), then this, too, is fraud. If a creditor represents that you owe a debt, when you don't, then it is fraud for them to cause you to sign an agreement to repay such a debt
based upon such misinformation.
Any contract or agreement that is entered into based upon fraud is not enforceable. Not only is the contract void, you could also sue the creditor for fraud. In such a lawsuit, you could recover money paid under this fraudulent agreement, as well as receive additional money for the fraud. You have not lost your rights simply because you have already made the payment.
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A Creditor Claimed that a Debt Was Owed by Me. I Paid it but Later Found out that I was not the Person Responsible for the Debt. Can I do Anything?
If you paid off a debt that was not owed by you, then you can get your money back if the creditor wrongfully caused you to believe that you were obligated to pay the debt.
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I signed an agreement to pay a debt, but later learned that I never owed the debt. Am I stuck?
A: No. If you agreed to repay a debt for which you were never obligated, then the agreement is void. You would have no further obligation to pay such a debt and, in fact, would be entitled to have the money which you have paid returned to you. In addition, if you signed an agreement to repay this debt because the creditor insisted that you owed the debt (even after you had asked for proof that you owed the debt), then the creditor could additionally be liable for fraud.
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What will it cost to hire a lawyer?
In most cases, we will not charge you anything unless we successfully prevail at trial or settle your matter. Having said that, there are two types of cases.
First, if a creditor or debt collector has engaged in illegal activities against you while trying to collect your debt, then you would be entitled to sue them. Such illegal activities would include a creditor suing you for a debt that was past the statute of limitations, calling you at work after being told to stop, or harassing you with incessant and rude phone calls. If your case fits into this category, then our firm will put up all the costs to pursue the lawsuit and will not charge you anything unless you win or favorably settle the case. If you fail to recover anything, then you will owe nothing to us. We will put this agreement in writing so that there is no question as to your legal rights.
Second, if you are being sued on a debt this is legitimately owed and for which the creditor has not broken any laws while trying to collect, then we can represent you for a reasonable fee. In such a case, we could set up a very reasonable monthly payment plan. No tricks and no unexpected charges. Just the straight facts. If you are financially destitute, we can still work with you.
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All initial telephone consultations or email inquiries are answered free-of-charge. If you have a question, you can email us by clicking on Contact Us or you can call us at
(619) 741-1735. Ask to speak with Craig Fagan. Email inquiries will be met with a prompt response. Again, there is no charge for the initial inquiry. |
The Law Offices of Craig P. Fagan
7863 La Mesa Boulevard, Suite 101
La Mesa, CA 91942
(619) 741-1735 FAX (619) 528-9675 |
| *Any person making an inquiry to The Law Offices of Craig P. Fagan through this web site is advised that no attorney-client relationship will be formed with The Law Offices of Craig P. Fagan absent a written agreement that is signed by the lawyer and the client and that defines the scope of the representation. |
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