What's the worst that can happen?

[ltrain823]

Hello everyone,,,I really enjoy reading through the forums and how inspiring/educational it has been for me to listen to unbiased individuals. It has been a blessing and I appreciate everyone who contributes to the forums.

I have a very general question and I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this but I love starting conversations and figured this could stir up some great ones.

If I am someone who only has 70k of unsecured debt, nothing else! What is the absolute worse that can happen to me if I just dont pay the creditors back? Is having a ton of late payments and collections on your report just as bad or worse than filing ch. 13? How far can an unsecured creditor go to collect? I understand that there will be many threats of collection but where do they draw the line.

I'm comparing this mainly to Ch. 13. I read somewhere that a collection goes away after 5 years or something of that matter. Would you file 13 and try to start over? Would you take the risk of not paying them back and waiting for all the collections to eventually go away?

I'm hoping to keep this more fact based vs. opinionated but any feedback/insight is much appreciated.

[epiphany]

Hello everyone,,,I really enjoy reading through the forums and how inspiring/educational it has been for me to listen to unbiased individuals. It has been a blessing and I appreciate everyone who contributes to the forums.

I have a very general question and I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this but I love starting conversations and figured this could stir up some great ones.

If I am someone who only has 70k of unsecured debt, nothing else! What is the absolute worse that can happen to me if I just dont pay the creditors back? Is having a ton of late payments and collections on your report just as bad or worse than filing ch. 13? How far can an unsecured creditor go to collect? I understand that there will be many threats of collection but where do they draw the line.

I'm comparing this mainly to Ch. 13. I read somewhere that a collection goes away after 5 years or something of that matter. Would you file 13 and try to start over? Would you take the risk of not paying them back and waiting for all the collections to eventually go away?

I'm hoping to keep this more fact based vs. opinionated but any feedback/insight is much appreciated.

The collections are not just going to "go away". I believe you are thinking of the statute of limitations that says a debt may not be collected on if no attempt of collection has been made in the last five years..that's the law in some states and that's completely different! And not likely to happen.

Ignoring your situation will only make things worse. You will probably be sued and some or all of your debts will be sold to collection agencies (and resold when they can't collect, and then resold again and so on and so on and so on) You will be hounded forever! Your wages may be garnished.

Do you by any chance qualify to file a chapter 7? Do you know? If you don't already know the difference between a chapter 7 and a 13, you need to start researching now...start with the numerous posts on this board and you will learn a ton.

Good luck,
EP

[buchanj]

It doesnt matter how many times a debt has been sold. If the sol has expired they cannot sue you and win and the worst thing is they will send letters that you can just throw away.
There are companies that sue and some that dont. You asked whats the worst they can do, they can take you to court and get a judgement against you and then they can access your paycheck and/or checkings and savings.
If you can take the constant harrassment for 4 years(CA.) Who wants to live with worry about who is on the other line and if your wages are going to be garnished?

[epiphany]

It doesnt matter how many times a debt has been sold. If the sol has expired they cannot sue you and win and the worst thing is they will send letters that you can just throw away.
There are companies that sue and some that dont. You asked whats the worst they can do, they can take you to court and get a judgement against you and then they can access your paycheck and/or checkings and savings.
If you can take the constant harrassment for 4 years(CA.) Who wants to live with worry about who is on the other line and if your wages are going to be garnished?

I stand corrected. The statute of limitations runs from date of last purchase or payment. Nevertheless, the likelihood that you will not get sued, especially if you have multiple creditors, within that timeframe is slim. And as buchanj pointed out, who wants to live like that for several more years at the inside?

You also ask if people would take the chance of waiting for the collections to go away or file a chapter 13? If you take a moment to consider your audience, I think you will find your answer.

EP

[HHM]

If your choice is between doing nothing and filing chapter 13, and you are concerned about your credit, FILE CHAPTER 13 before you stop making payments. Doing nothing will trash your credit far worse than filing a chapter 13. Charge offs, late payments, judgments, collection accounts are going to do more damage and be harder to deal with than simply filing chapter 13.

As for the worst case scenario, if you do nothing, some of your accounts will eventually sue, get a judgment against you, and could garnish wages (assuming you live in a state that allows it), lien assets, and judgments are essentially permanent.