Got "Attorney Placement Pending" from Discover. Anyone sued by them?

[Violet]

My Discover account is at the 180 day point. Today I got a Priority Mail envelope from them with a letter threatening legal action unless I contact them by August 31. Has anyone been sued by Discover? I am in Michigan and have no job, property or money in the bank. The only asset I have is a paid-off 10-year old Chevy Cavalier which my mother co-owns (I had no credit when I bought the car, so she co-signed).

I think it's ridiculous that they want to sue me already, as I own basically nothing and only owe them $4,000. I probably won't have the money to file BK for another 3 or 4 months at least.


1. If they sue me should I just skip going to court and let it happen, since I'll file BK sooner or later? I assume the courts here in the Detroit area must be at least somewhat backed up by now.

2. Could they take my car even though it's co-owned by my mother?

3. If they do sue me and get a judgment, will other creditors be able to look at the attempt to find assets and, seeing that I own nothing, decide it isn't worth suing me?

4. Does anyone know of a good Detroit-area BK lawyer? I see a lot of ads for Walter Metzen. Anyone dealt with him?

[jacko]

Relax. I got those to. I ignored them. You are judgment proof. Let them sue. I doubt it, more like they are scaring you into paying.

How much is your total debt?

[VirginiaGuy]

I got that letter too! Discover said that if I didn't contact them by July 31st they were going to turn my account over to a lawyer who would proceed to sue me and get a judgment. Lots of words were in bold capital letters to try and scare me. LOL.

I didn't do anything. Discover stopped calling me after July 31st. Before that, they had called daily.

It appears to be Discover's standard practice to hand accounts over to Legal once they pass the 180 day mark. If that's the case, in this economy, there will be so many accounts for the lawyers to deal with that it will take weeks for any of us to hear from them. They'll go for the big fish first. I owe them about 5,000 dollars. That's similar to your debt. I haven't been sued yet.

Discover is supposedly quick to sue but given how backed up they are right now, we both probably have a few weeks or months. I am going to file in September and I would encourage you to start consulting with an attorney about your situation to determine whether or not you should file.

[albacore44]

yeah, dont sweat it. I got one from Wells fargo at 60 days past due, and I got several others from other CC's. Thats a standard tactic there using trying to generate funds with so many people defaulting.

[catleg]

I've been threatened a little bit by Discover but they haven't acted yet.
Chase and Citi are the worst in my experience, one of my Discover accounts has been placed with shyster lawyer's Pressler and Pressler in NJ so that's likely my next suit but I just DV'd them and they said Discover may have to consider its options whatever that means. Honestly the most notorious cards like Discover and Capital One have behaved "relatively" better than the too big to fail banks Citi especially though I think Chase has a special place in hell waiting for them, I see them opening new branches here all over the place, I think they feel like they're going to come out of the current debt crisis as a winner.

[Violet]

Relax. I got those to. I ignored them. You are judgment proof. Let them sue. I doubt it, more like they are scaring you into paying.

How much is your total debt?

When I stopped paying in January '09, I owed about $35,000 to five different cards (2 BofA, Discover, Citi, Amex).

So send a DV even though the letter is on Discover letterhead? I guess like you say it gives me the opportunity to tell them I'm broke.

EDIT: I looked up the Michigan Post-Judgment Asset Exemptions:

Personal Property: Building and loan association shares up to $1,075 par value, in lieu of homestead. Burial place, church pew, clothing. Family pictures, appliances, books and household goods, up to $3,000 total. Food and fuel for 6 months. Motor vehicle up to $2,950.

Though my car runs fine, it has been in two accidents and I seriously doubt it's worth more than $1500-$2000.

Thank you all for your time.

[albacore44]

I've been threatened a little bit by Discover but they haven't acted yet.
Chase and Citi are the worst in my experience, one of my Discover accounts has been placed with shyster lawyer's Pressler and Pressler in NJ so that's likely my next suit but I just DV'd them and they said Discover may have to consider its options whatever that means. Honestly the most notorious cards like Discover and Capital One have behaved "relatively" better than the too big to fail banks Citi especially though I think Chase has a special place in hell waiting for them, I see them opening new branches here all over the place, I think they feel like they're going to come out of the current debt crisis as a winner.

it seems like you have most of the same cards I have. When did you stop paying ?? mine are just passing 120-150 days. I got a message last from some guy from B of A called Jean-Pierre, heavy French accent saying he was the last stop before something, and he had a deal for me. I dident know B of A was farming out collections to France . Anyhoo, I'm filing in January, so i need to keep-em at bay untill then.

[Violet]

it seems like you have most of the same cards I have. When did you stop paying ?? mine are just passing 120-150 days. I got a message last from some guy from B of A called Jean-Pierre, heavy French accent saying he was the last stop before something, and he had a deal for me. I dident know B of A was farming out collections to France . Anyhoo, I'm filing in January, so i need to keep-em at bay untill then.

I made my last payments in December '08. It looks like they're all in the process of being charged off right now. I was only able to access one of my accounts online yesterday, which is a slight drag, because I think there are a few I don't have all my statements for from the last six months. Hopefully I can get them later if I need them.

I only have about half the money I need to file Chapter 7, and will probably have to sell some of my meager belongings to come up with the rest. I'm still looking for a job, but it's pretty much pointless in Michigan right now.

[albacore44]

I made my last payments in December '08. It looks like they're all in the process of being charged off right now. I was only able to access one of my accounts online yesterday, which is a slight drag, because I think there are a few I don't have all my statements for from the last six months. Hopefully I can get them later if I need them.

I only have about half the money I need to file Chapter 7, and will probably have to sell some of my meager belongings to come up with the rest. I'm still looking for a job, but it's pretty much pointless in Michigan right now.

I realy feel bad for Michigan people. so much tied to the auto industry. I lived there in Troy for a couple of years as a kid, 1966

[catleg]

I stopped paying my cards around October 2008, and most of them charged off in May.
I pretty much never talked to them esp. Chase and never really tried to work them with any sob stories, they ask for so much information and ultimately they're looking for a payment, ignoring the fact that you have other "obligations" as well. So I just hopped off the gerbil wheel and figured eventually it would be BK for me.

P.S. I love the use of priority mail, UPS 2nd day overnights, etc for threatening letters to get your attention. I'd almost say, when they do that, it normally means they aren't going to sue you. I used to get all kind of crazy "big" mail from Advanta and nothing ever happened with them. They don't even call anymore ... knock wood.

[catleg]

BB: Funny, I'd guess the bank is getting ready to sue you, sending the same letter regular mail and certified mail is one of their tricks to prove they reached you. Maybe the lawyers won't take the case unless they've established that the victim can be found.

Here in NJ the courts have established regular + certified mail constitutes legal service after 3 days. The logic being if the certified mail is not signed for or is refused, they "know" the address is correct and "assume" the regular mail was received.

In my scenario, before the miserable "casino in Atlantic City" sued me, I got a demand letter regular and certified mail, then the demand letter from their lawyers, regular and certified mail, then the complaint, regular and certified mail. Clearly the big winner here is the post office. It's us and Netflix providing the only growth for the USPS.

Advanta hasn't sold mine yet. Maybe nobody wants to buy their paper anymore its so bad.

[Violet]

To Violet: I didn't realize your account was with the OC, you can't DV the OC. Wait for it to get to collections and ignore any letter from the OC. The OC itself is not going to sue you they are going to farm it out to a CA first and then it should be off to a law firm if still no payment. They may skip the CA of go for a law firm first, but I am not aware of anyone that does that that I have dealt with.

Is it worth it to send the "I am Judgment Proof" letter to them by their "due date", or should I just wait until I hear from a CA?

I just read your suggestion to tell them if you're judgment proof on the "TO DV or Not" thread and googled some form letters for ideas. I'm so glad I came back to this forum.

[catleg]

I'm not sure that sending them a letter saying you're judgment proof will always have such good effects, a lot depends on your age. If you're a young person the judgment essentially lasts forever so they can hang out until your situation improves. It helps to be unreachable like BB is too. Mid 40's and up it's probably a viable strategy, if in addition they can't locate any property in your name, for others, maybe not so much.

[Violet]

I'm not sure that sending them a letter saying you're judgment proof will always have such good effects, a lot depends on your age. If you're a young person the judgment essentially lasts forever so they can hang out until your situation improves. It helps to be unreachable like BB is too. Mid 40's and up it's probably a viable strategy, if in addition they can't locate any property in your name, for others, maybe not so much.

I'm 43. What if I say "I have no job, money or assets now, but I will get back to you if my situation improves"? Or just don't bother?

[Violet]

I don't think it is wrong to tell your creditors that you have nothing right now, but this is why you need to work on a plan since at some point you will have something and what will you do to protect yourself. Maybe you just need to buy sometime to get the funds to hire an attorney etc.

Let us know where you stand and we can all give you hand on making a plan.

I wish I had started making plans two years ago. Of course like most people I didn't, because I was brainwashed and afraid to ruin my credit rating (har har) just trying to keep my business going, and I don't sit around figuring out how I can work the system. But I should have been figuring out how to work the system.

If I'd played my cards right, I could have charged at least a year's worth of certain essentials, like food, household goods, health insurance, and visits to the doctor/dentist. I'd have paid my bills for another 4 - 6 months and THEN defaulted. But like most people I didn't even think of defaulting until I had to.

One thing that makes me hesitate to file Ch. 7 is that I don't have health insurance, and haven't been to a doctor or dentist in eight years. If for some reason I need to go to an emergency room, I could get the treatment I need, and then file BK. I don't want to go to a doctor and default; this is simply a matter of survival.

In the absence of employment, I guess all I can do is C&D creditors, sell enough of my few belongings to pay for BK, and wait until I get sued to file.

There is one thing I've wondered about the creditors' magical formula for whether they sue or not. I wonder if they take into account what you were using your credit cards for before default. If they look at my credit card usage for the two years before I quit paying, it is all for essentials/non-luxury items. Business expenses like online postage, groceries, gas, and car insurance. I think it would be pretty obvious that I was living on my credit cards out of necessity, and that I probably had no cash or assets to hide. But who knows if they're intuitive enough to take that into consideration.