Okay, this is going to be a long post, but I want to list all of the details because I really, really need help with this. Here's the situation: I owe US Bank roughly $10,000. This was a credit card that I used to pay for all of my things and would get points for doing so. I would usually pay this off at the end of the month, however, I ran into a bad stretch with money and needed to keep all of the cash I could get. So the balance ran up to $10,000 after about 4 months. I had all intention of paying it off and then one day I received a letter from US Bank. I had disputed a charge on my account for $4,500. I used to own a business and bought some things for it from a company for $4,500. I returned all of the products and disputed the charge with US Bank. US bank gave me the credit back, but 6 months later the company tried to say that I returned empty boxes. I provided UPS signatures for delivery of the package (showed their weight was 32 lbs), e-mails from people within the company saying that they had received my return, I had insurance on the packages, etc. Bottom line is that I had plenty of proof that I had returned everything. Us Bank "could not decide" who to award the money to so they sent it to a Visa Arbitration committee. Visa decided against me because they said US Bank did not provide any supporting documents for my case. When I contacted US Bank, the only thing they said was that they made a mistake, and all I could do was contact the President of US Bank via letter, which I never did. I got upset and basically said screw this bank and quit paying on the card. After a month or two they started to call my phone all of the time with collection calls. It's been about 4 months now and I received a call from a US bank agent who wanted to inform me "that some things had changed and she needed to discuss a matter with me that could greatly affect me." I am very well aware that this could be just a scare tactic, but at the same time it really made me think. One other important thing to note, the reason why I stopped paying the card is because they said they were going to charge me back on that claim, however, when I viewed my credit report last month they did not include that $4,500 on the amount I owe them listed on my report. My original plan was to wait until they came after me, then go after them for negligence for failing to turn in my supporting evidence to the Visa Arbitration committee. So now that you know my situation, here are my questions:

1. What is the probability that that they will sue me? A lot of websites and sources I read say that credit card companies sue only 1% of the time and I cannot find any documented cases via basic internet search in regards to US Bank (I have found many for Citi and Capitol One).

2. If they do sue me, is there still a chance I could work out an agreement with them before the court date?

3. Should I continute to avoid their calls or should I call them and try to work out a deal before it's too late?

I'm fairly young and I want this to just go away, but obvioulsy that's not going to happen. The rest of my credit is excellent, I have roughly 20+ accounts in good standing. So now that my credit report is hurt, I really don't see the point in paying the money back unless they sue me. If I pay it off at this point, I will be $10,000 poorer and my credit will be hurt. At the same time, I don't want to end up in a way worse situation than I all ready am in. If it goes to collections, and is on my report for 7 years then so be it. I don't want to be sued and I don't want my wages garnished. Also, I 'm kind of scared to even call them to work out a deal because I've been told that once I make that call I'm "admitting debt."

Ahh someone please help. What would you do?

1. Wait it out and see if they do actually sue then deal with it

2. Reach out to them and see if I can get them to work out a deal where I pay the balance and they report it as "Paid as Agreed" so it doesn't hurt my credit (if that's even possible and if they would even do it).

3. Pay a lawyer to get me the best deal he can

First, you had no right to stop paying just because they pissed you off. All you have accomplished is building the debt up by interest and late fees and affecting your credit rating. When was the last time you checked your credit? This can have a major affect. Paying a delinquent balance , especially if it's the only one can help repair your credit.

Second, for $10K I would suspect they definitely will sue, if you continue to ignore them. Even if that 1% figure is accurate, its probably skewed because most delinquent accounts are much smaller. Suing for a few hundred is not cost effective.

NEVER avoid a creditor's calls. That's when they go after you even harder. And don't worry about admitting debt, I would suspect they have the documentation to prove its your debt.

I would recommend option 2. Call them and explain to them you are young and foolish and got pissed off at their screwing up your account. But you know realize that was cutting off your nose to spite your face. So you are willing to work out a reasonable settlement.

Yes, for over 10,000 they will sue, but they most likely will allow it to grow to 20,000 or so with fees and interest first.

Next you may find soon your other credit lines will soon start either cancelling or reducing your lines of credit with them, Once your credit is getting bad and once esp they sue you, and get a judgement you will find many of your other lines of creidt may reduce your max to even lower than you owe.

So not paying is and was the worst thing you could do.