One of the most frequent questions consumer advocates get asked, or told, is, “But, I know I owe this debt. I did have a credit card and didn’t pay it and thought it went away. I want to just pay the debt because I did have that credit card.”

While, this is an honest response, and shows that my clients are good people who are responsible and hardworking, it just makes me shake my head. I appreciate people’s willingness to do what is right.

However, why would you pay someone who says something similar to this over the phone:

“Hi, I’m a debt collector with __(company name)_____, and did you have a Discover credit card in 2006 with a balance of $1,690.00? Well, you never paid that amount and you still owe that amount of money for that credit card. If you pay us right now over the phone, we will discount that amount to $900.”

Not only does that sound like a scam, but how on earth do you know that this person on the phone works for that company? That the company actually did buy that Discover account, or that the company does work for Discover? How do you know that the amount they say you owe is really the amount that you owe?

Why would you just pay someone any sum of money without seeing any documentation about it? Who says that you should just give away an amount of money to this company or this person over the phone when you don’t know anything about them or the company? The answer is NO ONE! There is no one that says you should pay that person. And legally, that person can’t do anything to you other than file a lawsuit.

What you should do is:

1. Keep all documents, letters, call logs and voicemails from the company;
2. Send the debt validation letter; and
3. Sit and wait and see what they will do.

In Georgia, these companies have to file a lawsuit against you, and as long as you answer, must prove to you and the Judge or Jury that they do, in fact, own this specific account for this specific amount of money. And in Georgia, there are substantive and procedural rules on how a company must prove that right to collect.

So, before you pay a company to make them go away, think to yourself

1. Why does this company deserve my money;
2. Can they legally prove they have the right to my money;
3. What will just paying them do to my credit report versus fighting this?

If you are successful in your lawsuit, or in negotiations and get the debt collectors to write off the debt, then they must report that to the credit reporting agencies and the redline be removed from your credit report. Whereas, if you pay, then it will still be on your credit report that an account went into default, and that you were not up to date on your payments. That can be devastating to a person who is trying to rebuild or start over.

So, in the long run, I believe that everyone should fight these lawsuits. And all too frequently, I see these companies’ attorneys in Court just asking judges to sign default judgments when a hurting individual like yourself ignored the lawsuit in hopes that it would go away.

Why hire an attorney?

The purpose of legal services, in my opinion, is to always place a person in a better situation after your assistance than they were before, or could do themselves. Wouldn’t you rather pay me than pay the debt collectors who call you all day long? You call an attorney because you as a consumer have rights. You have protections. And you should not be taken advantage of for not knowing those rights or protections. Who knows? The debt collectors may end up paying you money and your legal fees.

The key to these cases is that you have nothing to lose by trying to fight it, and have everything to gain. By fighting these cases and hiring an attorney you then take control of not only rebuilding your personal life but having someone else in your corner.

Okay, I decided to hire an attorney. Now what?

Well, now you will have your case evaluated. Most of my clients prefer to do an evaluation over the phone, which is fine for these kinds of cases. Phone consultations are free, and if you do decide to hire my office to represent you, then we can orchestrate getting copies of documents and I can even email you our fee agreement to sign and send back. During our phone consultation, I will let you know what documents are needed depending on the stage of your case.

Good questions to ask me are:

1. Have I dealt with the Plaintiff?
2. Have I dealt with the Plaintiff’s lawyers?
3. Are they a third-party buyer or original creditor?
4. Advise on the litigation strategy.

I cannot promise any specific result, however I may be able to give you an idea of what I have seen in the past.

Contact me if you wish to speak to an experienced credit card lawsuit attorney. And good luck, no matter what, on your case!