Chase Manhattan Bank is Suing Me!
I am writing with hope that I can find a way out of this situation without losing my car or having to claim bankruptcy.
SITUATION:
1. I am a self employed resident of Massachusetts and had a Chase Manhattan credit card issued to me in March 2002 with a $10,000 credit limit. After a divorce and birth of my child, I am now in a tight financial situation and unable to pay. According to my credit report, it seems the charged off the debt in March 2004 at about $11,000.
2. I regularly received notices from creditors who purchased the debt from Chase but due to financial difficulties, I ignored the notices.
3. Recently I received from Harvard Funding LLC, (an assignee of Chase) an official summons to respond to a demand for full payment of the debt in the amount of over $11,000. Again, I did not respond as I do not have the means to pay this debt.
4. I then received last week a "Judgment for Plaintiff(s) by Default" and they are now asking for just over $17,000.
5. Today I received a letter from an area attorney representing Harvard Funding and they are saying that unless payment arrangement is made within 10 days, they will institute a post judgement collection remedy against me that may include a sheriff's seizure and sale of my car, and other assets that do not apply to my situation today.
QUESTIONS:
1. Because I have no way of paying this debt off or even making payments at this time, will my car be seized for sale by the Sheriff as they are threatening? The registration for my car is in my name but the financing is a joint account.
2. Assuming they are not able to seize my car, will I be forced to file chapter 7 to get the creditors to stop, or will I be ordered by law to serve jail time or some other stiff penalty?
Please share your thoughts on this matter as I am a single mom and deeply concerned about this situation.
Best,
CreditProblems