[JeffKWI]

Hi everyone, my wife is being sued by Capital One for $1200, original credit limit was $500. Neither of us have been to court for a debt and we don't really know what to expect. I do have a few questions:

1. Is it worth going to court? We don't disagree we owe them money, maybe disagree with the amount (because of all the fees), but probably won't do much good to argue that now.

2. If we do go to court, what happens there?

3. My wife is unemployed, and I'm only working part-time (seeking full-time). We've had to move in with relatives because of our inability to locate better jobs. What can the court do if we have no way to make payments? Our only assets are probably our 2 cars, which we need, especially when we both get work.

Thanks for the help

[JudyKayTee]

I would not skip Court - that's never a good idea.

Have you attempted to work out a payment arrangement with the cc company? The cc company may agree to get the Judgment against you but not enforce it unless you stop making payments as agreed.

When you go to Court you will be asked if you have a defense - you don't but you can always ask for verification of the debt (which will simply buy time) and you will have the ear of the cc company. It's pretty informal and the Judge will hear both sides and then decide.

I don't see the creditor seizing your vehicles. With the economy as bad as it is they aren't interested and that also seldom happens.

I wish I had wise words for you but I really don't - the economy is rough for everyone.

I wish you luck. Keep us informed.

[JeffKWI]

I spoke with the lawyer that is suing to see if I could avoid this going to court. I had to do a financial disclosure over the phone. Their only solution was for me to pay $1100 this week to settle it, or if I wanted to make $240 a month payment, they would still need to pursue the judgment.

We can't do either, as we only have about $400 a month of income, before taxes, which goes mostly to food and prescriptions. Thank goodness for us being able to live rent free till I find full time employment.

It will be interesting to see what they try to garnish. I know the IRS & Bankruptcy court has minimum allowable expenses to live on, which is around double of what we have coming in every month. Hopefully they have similar guidelines and won't leave us unable to buy food and meds.

[JudyKayTee]

They can take whatever is legal in your State - it has nothing to do with IRS/Bankruptcy Court guidelines. They WILL move on any bank accounts so keep that in mind.

[JeffKWI]

They can take whatever is legal in your State.

Is there a document or website that lists what is legal for them to take. I live in Wisconsin.

[ScottGem]

This site should help:

Wisconsin Judgment Enforcement Wisconsin judgment collection agency

[JudyKayTee]

Sorry, my mistake - I should have posted the site but didn't realize the State was posted. Thanks Scott.