Length of Time for a Collection Lawsuit in CA

[keptdigging]

Last night I posted a thread about Chase threatening to sue. Well the helpful comments made me realize I could go online and read the court's docket. And there it is, a suit against me from American Express. 4/6/2010.

So, anyone in California (I'm in San Diego): how fast is this going to move along? What's the approximate timetable from now to judgment.

YES, obviously, it's lawyers lawyers lawyers time. But I also read here that one should plan their bk based on its best timing. So I guess I'm trying to figure out how long before it isn't safe to have money in the banking system.

I'm currently self-employed (no income), house is under water, but I do have some assets I'm selling off to eat.

And I thought I had trouble sleeping last night!

[onthebrink]

How long was it until Amex waited to sue?

Good luck to you! We're all in it together. This site has been a God send. Lots of great people who are willing to share/help. I'm about 3 months late with both Amex and Chase. Have 3 and 4 cards with them, respectively.

[keptdigging]

How long was it until Amex waited to sue?

Good luck to you! We're all in it together. This site has been a God send. Lots of great people who are willing to share/help. I'm about 3 months late with both Amex and Chase. Have 3 and 4 cards with them, respectively.

First missed payment with them 12/19/09. Suit filed 4/6/2010. Owe about $41K on this card; $4K on another with them. Actually PAID OFF my small balances with them. Probably just made me look worth suing.

Also the same day they were suing me they were sending me an offer of help on the smaller balance.

Yeah, thank goodness for this site. Only wish I had found it about 6 months earlier when I thought I had a plan and instead committed the sins that are making me care that I'm getting sued.

I hope that the CCs have just decided to get more aggressive and try to sue and levy before bk's get filed. I fear that I am on their radar as fraudster.

I'm a clever guy (not always a good thing.) Would really like to get back to being a productive member of society with that. But with $200K of unsecured debt hanging over your head...

[albacore44]

Read your docket report on the court website, it will give you dates they need to file proof of service. You should have some papers coming your way soon

[sheilaE]

How did you find the court dockets online? I've been searching, but don't know what I'm searching for

[junker]

if you DONT fight it...they can get judgment pretty quickly...i was served 1st of Feb and the abstract judgment was filed with recorder by april 4th....

[keptdigging]

Read your docket report on the court website, it will give you dates they need to file proof of service. You should have some papers coming your way soon

It was reading your post that got me curious and onto the web site. Thanks. Yeah, papers are coming.

I'm wondering if an attorney might file some sort of generic answer if we need to slow things down a bit. I'm also thinking that if my advances/balance transfer sins can be settled (they're 6 1/2 months old right now) for something like 25% maybe that's the best strategy. They are certainly not so egregious that they're an automatic win for the creditor, and they're a small part of my huge overall debts.

[keptdigging]

It's a local thing.

I googled "san diego superior court." Google had a case search link right in the search results (there is also a case search function on the court's home page.) It's a local court, so I imagine that every locale is different.

[jacko]

Remember, if you are head of the household, the first $1004 monthly income is exempt from garnishment. If you have a spouse and children, the exemption amount increases. If you were to be subjected to a garnishment, reset your fed and state tax withholding exemption to 0. The 25% is based on net after all the taxes are withhold.

It was reading your post that got me curious and onto the web site. Thanks. Yeah, papers are coming.

I'm wondering if an attorney might file some sort of generic answer if we need to slow things down a bit. I'm also thinking that if my advances/balance transfer sins can be settled (they're 6 1/2 months old right now) for something like 25% maybe that's the best strategy. They are certainly not so egregious that they're an automatic win for the creditor, and they're a small part of my huge overall debts.

[onthebrink]

First missed payment with them 12/19/09. Suit filed 4/6/2010. Owe about $41K on this card; $4K on another with them. Actually PAID OFF my small balances with them. Probably just made me look worth suing.

Also the same day they were suing me they were sending me an offer of help on the smaller balance.

Yeah, thank goodness for this site. Only wish I had found it about 6 months earlier when I thought I had a plan and instead committed the sins that are making me care that I'm getting sued.

I hope that the CCs have just decided to get more aggressive and try to sue and levy before bk's get filed. I fear that I am on their radar as fraudster.

I'm a clever guy (not always a good thing.) Would really like to get back to being a productive member of society with that. But with $200K of unsecured debt hanging over your head...

5 months seems like a pretty short amount of time before they sued. Did they offer or did you discuss any sort of settlement? Did you mention the possibility of filing BK to them? Did you send a cease & desist letter? I have heard that this often triggers a suit.

I am meeting with an attorney tomorrow to discuss his helping me work through the cards. We're $125K in CC debt and our home is about $200K underwater, including a $120K HELOC, so I can relate to your comment about wanting to get back to being a productive member of society.

[keptdigging]

Just retained an attorney and here's what she said about timing (this is CA mind you.)

Once they have judgment they need to FIND a bank account. If you don't bank with the creditor and you haven't ever paid them from your current account, it is hard for them to find due to privacy laws.

To find your assets, they'll have to drag you in for a hearing. And, of course, you get warning of that.

If they do find a bank account to levy, it gets frozen, you get notice and a chance to claim the funds are exempt.

Each step of the way is an opportunity to file and stop them.

===

My plan is defense in depth, so to speak:
1. Make sure money is in a virgin account no one has been paid from. Maybe more than one.
2. If the balance is too big, I'll convert some/most of it to cash in a safe place temporarily (keeping plenty of documentation so I can explain it all later to the TT or UST should they ask.)
3. Make sure my big red bankruptcy button is ready.
4. And with that done, go ahead and manage/structure my assets, fix my roof and my broken crown etc. etc.
5. By the time I have to press the button I will probably no longer be an asset case. (And if I get to the point where I'm not an asset point I'll press the big red button anyway.)


As my attorney put it, all the faster suing by the CC companies is doing is getting people off the fence and into her office.

If anyone suing me gets a dime it won't be much more than that... and only their prorata share of the bk estate. In other words, best case, Amex would get about their filing fee back.

[jacko]

If you do not have a pay pal account, sign up for one and link to checking. You can transfer excess cash over. After 60 days of a account opening, you can sign up for their MasterCard debit card. Also, sign up for a WalMart Visa money card. If you have direct deposit with employer, you can split up your pay with checking and money card. This is a sure way to protect your money.

Just retained an attorney and here's what she said about timing (this is CA mind you.)

Once they have judgment they need to FIND a bank account. If you don't bank with the creditor and you haven't ever paid them from your current account, it is hard for them to find due to privacy laws.

To find your assets, they'll have to drag you in for a hearing. And, of course, you get warning of that.

If they do find a bank account to levy, it gets frozen, you get notice and a chance to claim the funds are exempt.

Each step of the way is an opportunity to file and stop them.

===

My plan is defense in depth, so to speak:
1. Make sure money is in a virgin account no one has been paid from. Maybe more than one.
2. If the balance is too big, I'll convert some/most of it to cash in a safe place temporarily (keeping plenty of documentation so I can explain it all later to the TT or UST should they ask.)
3. Make sure my big red bankruptcy button is ready.
4. And with that done, go ahead and manage/structure my assets, fix my roof and my broken crown etc. etc.
5. By the time I have to press the button I will probably no longer be an asset case. (And if I get to the point where I'm not an asset point I'll press the big red button anyway.)


As my attorney put it, all the faster suing by the CC companies is doing is getting people off the fence and into her office.

If anyone suing me gets a dime it won't be much more than that... and only their prorata share of the bk estate. In other words, best case, Amex would get about their filing fee back.

[ryan]

If you do not have a pay pal account, sign up for one and link to checking. You can transfer excess cash over. After 60 days of a account opening, you can sign up for their MasterCard debit card....

If you plan to do this, do it soon....hopefully before your credit crashes..
PayPal in May will begin checking credit reports before issuing the debit MasterCard. ..Just a heads up.

[keptdigging]

I do have a paypal. But in fact I've read some horror stories about paypal accounts being frozen due to poor credit scores. Maintaining a "good" credit score is actually part of their user agreement! Not sure how wide spread it is... So a worry is that if I apply for the debit card, they'll check the score and shut down my whole accounrt.

So my overarching strategy is just to have the big red BK button ready just in case. I haven't been served yet so I have a minimum of 30 days (and realistically at least 60 which is all I want.)

[jacko]

How are they going to know what your credit score is if they never asked for your SS number when you opened account? They do ask for it when you sign up for a MC debit card.

I do have a paypal. But in fact I've read some horror stories about paypal accounts being frozen due to poor credit scores. Maintaining a "good" credit score is actually part of their user agreement! Not sure how wide spread it is... So a worry is that if I apply for the debit card, they'll check the score and shut down my whole accounrt.

So my overarching strategy is just to have the big red BK button ready just in case. I haven't been served yet so I have a minimum of 30 days (and realistically at least 60 which is all I want.)