Credit Card Lawsuit Defense: Facts About Proof of Judgment

Many delinquent debtors who are currently facing credit card lawsuit might come across the term "judgment proof". What does this mean and how to determine whether or not you are judgement proof?

Being judgment proof either refers to debtors who do not own any assets which could be attached or seize by creditors to satisfy a debt. If your creditor files a credit card lawsuit against you and they won the case, they do not automatically get the right to take your money straight from your bank account and liquidate your properties to get their money.

Of course, know that just because you are judgment proof does not mean you cannot be sued at all. There are cases wherein the creditors will receive a judgment just so they can collect from delinquent debtors in the future, because judgments will last for years and they may be renewed. So if you are judgment proof and your creditor discovers this, they could either drop the credit card lawsuit or wait it out until you are able to repay the debt. In addition, even if say, they are willing to wait and ends up just renewing the judgment, the statute of limitations in your state could prevent your creditor from collection the money.

How do you know if you are judgment proof or not? The best way to do it is to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer in your local area. An attorney can check your situation and can review whether or not your property is safe from preying creditors. An attorney can also advise you on what steps to take in order to keep charge of your own financial situation.

If ever you are judgment proof, you need to send a Cease and Desist letter to your credit card company, explaining your situation. Once they received the Cease and Desist letter, they cannot contact you except to acknowledge the letter you sent or to let you know that they will file a credit card lawsuit against you.

Most creditors feel it is not worth pursuing cases wherein the debtors are judgment proof. Credit card lawsuits are very expensive, lengthy and tedious with very little profit so rather than waste time, effort and resources hiring an attorney and continue pressing charges, creditors just move on to other debtors. This does not mean that one is guaranteed to avoid a credit card lawsuit once he or she is judgment proof but majority of creditors do case any collection efforts once the debtors are proven judgment proof.