I was listening to this segment on NPR that talks about how a lot of debtors don't show up for their debt court case, thereby giving their creditors a default judgment. I wonder if folks just figure that they know they owe the debt and they don't see how they would be able to prove otherwise, and thus contesting it would be a waste of time?
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They don't show up because of fear and ignorance. If they understood that showing up can only help and cannot hurt, most would show up.
Chapter 7, above median, no asset. Discharged with no UST involvement. -
In most states, you don't just "show up to court"--you have to respond to the lawsuit in accordance with your local rules of civil procedure, and just filing an answer to a lawsuit costs money. As the case progresses, and you serve the plaintiff with discovery requests (and respond to their discovery requests), it costs more money. After the discovery stage, the creditor will then file a motion for summary judgment, typically supported by "affidavits" of dubious value, and the case will typically end here (with a judgment against the debtor).
My take is that fighting a lawsuit is really only worthwhile if you truly don't owe the debt, or if you just need to buy time in order to file for bankruptcy or to spend down non-exempt funds. This is from my own personal experience of being sued by Discover Bank through a bottom-feeder collections law firm. Fighting the lawsuit took a lot of effort and cost hundreds of dollars in court costs, document copying fees, and certified mail charges. The only reason I even bothered was because at the time I was sued, I had over $4000 in the bank from my summer job, and I had some deferred expenses which I needed to use the money for. Fighting the lawsuit allowed me buy time to spend down the money, and then I filed for bankruptcy.Comment
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