Get a judgment - Go to Jail?

[WhatMoney]

Help -
Some of you Collection regulars should add your two cents to this thread over in the Chapter 7 forum. Some readers are going to think they will go to jail if they get a judgment and cannot pay it. I'm tired of defending the fort alone.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=56750

[nodollarsnomo]

I read that thread last night and it scared the hell out of me. If anyone can offer more insight on this it would be appreciated.

Also, was there not a thread last month from someone that went to court to face a creditors lawyer and they had nothing to prove that the debt was hers,so it was dismissed.

[frogger]

Thanks for pointing that out, for I hadn't seen it.

You and I are defending the same fort from the same side of the fence.

My response is on that thread.

[Faust]

I call BS on that thread.

[NHC]

Ditto.

[GoingDown]

There might be a debt collector troll posting misinformation to scare debtors into thinking that debtors will go to prison for not paying their debts.

If that was true, I would be in jail right now.

There is a difference between civil matters (debt) and criminal matters (felonies like murder, robbery, assault, etc.).

I rarely go to the chapter 7 forum, but here I come.

[WhatMoney]

I rarely go to the chapter 7 forum, but here I come.

Thanks GD.

But look what happened after your post. It was a good thread while it lasted.

[BrokeIn2010]

There might be a debt collector troll posting misinformation to scare debtors into thinking that debtors will go to prison for not paying their debts.

If that was true, I would be in jail right now.

There is a difference between civil matters (debt) and criminal matters (felonies like murder, robbery, assault, etc.).

I rarely go to the chapter 7 forum, but here I come.

There's a young-mother at the bank I use, that was told by a bill collector that in TN that they could take her kids, put 'em in foster care, and she wouldn't get them back till she paid off her CC bill. Hit for $2000 dollars, then turned around and used the bank acct info to generate a western union moneygram for another $2000 and put her into overdraft.

They're getting skeezier and they're not afraid of the fines anymore.

[AngelinaCatHub]

There's a young-mother at the bank I use, that was told by a bill collector that in TN that they could take her kids, put 'em in foster care, and she wouldn't get them back till she paid off her CC bill. Hit for $2000 dollars, then turned around and used the bank acct info to generate a western union moneygram for another $2000 and put her into overdraft.

They're getting skeezier and they're not afraid of the fines anymore.

Are you talking about collectors or our current administration? The problem is the law is there. The debtor is too scarred and too broke to prosecute or at least bring it to the bk Judges eyes. Telling your own attorney is like pizzing in the wind as they care less and just about say "go to sleep Gracy" and pet you on your head. I have heard of people actually killing themselves over this kind of scam. It is plainly against the law. 'Hub

[BrokeIn2010]

Are you talking about collectors or our current administration? The problem is the law is there. The debtor is too scarred and too broke to prosecute or at least bring it to the bk Judges eyes. Telling your own attorney is like pizzing in the wind as they care less and just about say "go to sleep Gracy" and pet you on your head. I have heard of people actually killing themselves over this kind of scam. It is plainly against the law. 'Hub

How 'bout both?

[GoingDown]

We need a sticky for that thread so people can find it later on.

Another thing we should have is a sticky thread where we list the people on here we suspect of being debt collector trolls-- debt collectors posing as debtors and then trying to spread their misinformation in an effort to scare debtors into paying them.

Or if not that, then maybe start posting the names of suspected debt collector trolls in our signatures?


This forum has grown immensely since I first signed on here in 2005. It is doing a lot of good for a lot of debtors, and that is attracting attention to it. The debt collectors are coming here now as well. We need to have a way to impede their progress.

[AngelinaCat]

This thread is now 'stuck'.

[WhatMoney]

This topic keeps showing up in other forums and threads.

Here are two more threads about this "going to jail for debt" myth.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=57838

and the full reprint of the article here:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=57980

and of course the thread that started it all:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=56750

[CnsntWithdrn]

Help -
Some of you Collection regulars should add your two cents to this thread over in the Chapter 7 forum. Some readers are going to think they will go to jail if they get a judgment and cannot pay it. I'm tired of defending the fort alone.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=56750

You do not go to jail if you have a judgement against you. A judgement is not an issue if you plan to be a cash only consumer.

[frogger]

You do not go to jail if you have a judgement against you. A judgement is not an issue if you plan to be a cash only consumer.

A judgment is always an issue, even if you're a cash only consumer. If you have any assets, they are subject to seizure when you have a judgment against you.