Greetings everyone in the Debtor-sphere.

I am located in South Carolina and have a non-jury trial date for April 1. There is a lien against the house. I was told by the mortgage Co. who we have the loan with that no creditor can take the property unless we used it as a collateral. The only other tangible asset I have is a paid for eight year old car.

I have been out of work for sometime and my wife recently lossed her job. She is in the process of filing for unemployment benefits and we are about to apply for food stamps any other help we can get.

Although I'm quite certain we are indigent I would like to move with great caution. The lawyer wants to throw everying at me. He has shown proof that I did use the credit card. He did offer a settlement before the court date was set.

The question I have now is; should I go through with the trial and explain my financial situation or is it too late to seek a settlement? I am almost certain that if a settlement is granted I could not pay it in one lump sum. If I ask for a settlement should I mention in my initial request that it's quite likely that I would not be able to pay the full amount at once -should I send a copy of my request to the court?

All suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Here are the judgment exemptions for S. Carolina Total Bankruptcy - South Carolina State Bankruptcy Exemptions

You can send a letter to the creditor explaining you are judgment proof, that may possibly help get them off your back. Judgment Proof Notification Letter

If you don't go through with the trial they will obtain a default judgement against you. While you may be judgement proof now, you may not always be.

Being judgement proof is not a defense.

I would try to negotiate a settlement, but don't be surproised if you can't come to agreement with them.

I'm so sorry to hear about this. I have a feeling that I will be in the same boat soon with Discover. Between my husband and I we owe about $25k to them and the Law firm/debt collector wants $6-7k to stop interest and to begin a payment plan. There's no way we can do this. If so, we wouldn't be in this boat.

How long did it take before you received notice of a court date?