I have a judgment hearingregarding credit card debt,what assets are at risk?
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I have a judgment hearingregarding credit card debt,what assets are at risk?
The debt is approx $1,800. I only have 1 bank account with a few hundred dollars and no property of value, except a truck and motorcycle but both have loans on them. Can be forced to sell them once I get the judgment against me?. I am also unemployed. I do have some left over financial aid money coming, can they attach that? Is there any defense I can take short of bankruptcy? I read somewhere that a man had his case thrown out because the collector never attached a copy of the original contract to the summons, is this a possibility? Is there any kind of statute of limitations on being sued (I believe it has been over 4 years now since the debt went bad)?
Asked on February 28, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
1) It appears that the statute of limitations on credit card debt in PA is 4 year, so you might have a defense based on the statute of limitions.
2) Yes, a case could be dismissed if the paperwork is not filed or served correctly, but that's generally just a temporary reprieve; it is almost always a dismissal "without prejudice," which means that the creditor can try again and refile the case.
3) If the vehicles have loans on them, then unless the loans are almost paid off, it's unlikely a creditor would try to reach them at this point, since the secured creditor (e.g. the one who loaned money on the vehicle) would have first call on any proceeds from selling them.
4) Any money you receive is something the creditor could potentially try to reach.
5) Note that the statute of limitations on judgments in PA is 4 years; that means that if you are sued and the creditor wins, they have a further 4 years to take action to collect; that means they could try to wait until things look up economically for you, then act.
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