What is the smallest amount of money a collector will sue for?

[jbanks]

I keep reading about these lawsuits and judgements. Do all these collections agencies file. Some of the amounts have been relatively small $1,000 or so. Do they just sue no matter what? I am curious as I am trying to deal with debt one creditor at a time. When you are in a state that they can't garnish your wages is there a way to protect your bank account BEFORE they try to get it. I have been looking at NC law and I can't find a way to file an exemption BEFORE they come after your bank account. I am also still trying to find the website to find out if someone has filed against you--Everyone writes about it -but when I go to the gov sites I can't find where to look it up-Someone suggested I call the county clerks office to ask. I will probably try that.

[mrskal]

County clerk sounds right to me. Mine has it online I think. I dont know your whole story, but if it were me, I would take my money out of the bank accounts, until you file, I think they can fo after it. Never heard of a way to exempt something before you actually file.

[lovemybugs10]

Were you able to find out how to view public records online?

The only way to protect the money in your account is to not put it in there. Try to go cash as much as possible. (we cant do paper checks, so we take almost everything out the day it's deposited)

We still take everything out even though I verify every day that no one has filed against us. I do not trust them. I do not trust that they wont try to get it by whatever means possible.

That's probably my motto- put my money under my mattress and assume every word a collector says is a lie.

[tobee43]

I keep reading about these lawsuits and judgements. Do all these collections agencies file. Some of the amounts have been relatively small $1,000 or so. Do they just sue no matter what? I am curious as I am trying to deal with debt one creditor at a time. When you are in a state that they can't garnish your wages is there a way to protect your bank account BEFORE they try to get it. I have been looking at NC law and I can't find a way to file an exemption BEFORE they come after your bank account. I am also still trying to find the website to find out if someone has filed against you--Everyone writes about it -but when I go to the gov sites I can't find where to look it up-Someone suggested I call the county clerks office to ask. I will probably try that.

a couple of little bits of info may be helpful to you....some or many of these places or cc companies will sue for any amount...mainly because they are at the court house anyway...usally with a pile of others so to them what does it matter....just another one...

now...the very worse scenario is they sue...they win....you have a judgment....i undersand in nc they cannot garnish wages...(which would take a sum of time anyway)...now assuming this all happens once you file bk....and get discharged your atty or you file a motion to vacate the judgments and they are wiped clean...so really there is no problem other than, some atty's charge a bit extra for to file the motions.

[backtoschool]

a couple of little bits of info may be helpful to you....some or many of these places or cc companies will sue for any amount...mainly because they are at the court house anyway...usally with a pile of others so to them what does it matter....just another one...

now...the very worse scenario is they sue...they win....you have a judgment....i undersand in nc they cannot garnish wages...(which would take a sum of time anyway)...now assuming this all happens once you file bk....and get discharged your atty or you file a motion to vacate the judgments and they are wiped clean...so really there is no problem other than, some atty's charge a bit extra for to file the motions.

I totally agree with tobee43. Some junk debt buyers have in-house counsel that will file literally hundreds of lawsuits a week on the debt that they bought for pennies on the dollar. If they only end up collecting on a small percentage of the debts, they are still ahead since they sue for full principal balance plus collection and legal fees.

I did some research on Asset Acceptance when they sued me, and they had lawsuits in my district for as little as $500. So, ymmv, but don't assume that the debt is too little for the creditor or a junk debt buyer to sue.

[tobee43]

backtoschool
I did some research on Asset Acceptance when they sued me, and they had lawsuits in my district for as little as $500. So, ymmv, but don't assume that the debt is too little for the creditor or a junk debt buyer to sue.

exactly...they don't care about amounts...and really 1k is a good sum for many add some fees and interest and it's now up to 3k!

[flyinbroke]

On another board, a frequent FDCPA violator had sued someone for 58 bucks. That is right....58 bucks. Jacked it up several hundred for fees. I think the defendant got a couple thousand and the TL deleted when he countersued for FDCPA and state violations.

Moral of the story: amount does not matter. If you owe it, they can sue.

And yes, I got sued by a lawyer who runs a collection agency...he filed an average of 2-300 cases a month. It is said that Erica Brachfeld sues 500 or so a week, or some crazy number. Lawsuit mills don't care about amounts...most people won't bother showing up, giving them the default. Almost all the remainder do a full confession in their answer and get slapped with an SJ without going to trial.

[tobee43]

On another board, a frequent FDCPA violator had sued someone for 58 bucks. That is right....58 bucks. Jacked it up several hundred for fees. I think the defendant got a couple thousand and the TL deleted when he countersued for FDCPA and state violations.

Moral of the story: amount does not matter. If you owe it, they can sue.

And yes, I got sued by a lawyer who runs a collection agency...he filed an average of 2-300 cases a month. It is said that Erica Brachfeld sues 500 or so a week, or some crazy number. Lawsuit mills don't care about amounts...most people won't bother showing up, giving them the default. Almost all the remainder do a full confession in their answer and get slapped with an SJ without going to trial.

unreal!!...u think these people are going to hell or what...what is the matter with them...write it off already...

[treehugger1]

Funny you mention Brachfeld. They called me 1-2 times per month trying to say they were collecting for BoA. I told them they were lying as BoA has told me that I owe BoA nothing. (They sold my accounts to the entire freakin' CACH/LNV/ETC JDB monster.) In fact, it is amazing that BoA has no issue with me or my past history with them. The Brachfeld office kept telling me they were collecting on a BoA account. I kept telling them to call BoA as I have no account with BoA.

I requested that Brachfeld send me written information within the 5-day FDCPA window. They never sent anything. I am glad I recorded every conversation with the Brachfeld group. They don't call any longer. I guess they also know that it will be no easy/cheap task to come to backwoods Oregon and file in my county. They also know that attorneys cannot sue in small claims court here.

They are one group that If I were sued I might think about answering. I would be curious to know who the plaintiff would be. I also think a suit from them might be worth answering. They seem afraid to mention LNV.

Sorry for going off. This is just one law firm that clearly attempts to break rules and the law.

[flyinbroke]

I am filing against Brachfeld in small claims next week. They did a hard pull and refused to send any justification as to why. I suspect BoA but I don't have to put that anywhere in a complaint. They called my cell with autodialers several times...and it is a number NOT on file with anyone.

Our small claims is 10K. I offered to settle for half of that and a removal of the offending inquiry but neither the Houston office nor the queen bee herself ever bothered replying.

Fine. See ya in court.

(Someone filed in district court here on October 5, and it was dismissed by plaintiff on the 14th. I guess they hate that SUMMONS thing when it is for them.)

[GoingDown]

As for the amount they will sue over, it can be any amount. The only time I was ever sued was over a lousy $300 CrapOne credit card bill, in the WRONG state! So far they have not collected even one penny of that judgment from me, and have stopped calling me and stopped writing to me about it. And as far as I know at this point, the judgment is now so old it is beyond the statute of limitations for judgments in Arizona (5 years if they don't renew the judgment 45 days before the 5 year expiration date).

As for finding out whether someone has filed a lawsuit against you, your county should have some website like this...

http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/

Once someone has filed a lawsuit against you, your money is not safe in a checking account or savings account, regardless of the exemptions. You don't have to do anything until someone files a lawsuit against you, but once they do, get your money out of there and start using cash, money orders, and pre-paid debit cards to pay for stuff. Until you file BK.

[wnguyen]

I had some balances around $400 and they sent me a couple letters threatening to "take legal actions". Dang, if you wanna sue, just say it!

[jbanks]

They do have a site like this but do you do to civil cases?? then where to?? Thanks

[teddybeardj]

It seems to me that the one entity that will definitely sue is medical debt. For an institution of Mercy its amazing how little mercy they show people who owe them money. Credit cards will leave you alone on thousands you owe them, but medical debt will sue for a couple hundred dollars. Evil little people.

[ryan]

As mentioned above, the act of suing takes so little effort on the part of these big creditors, its almost worth it for them to sue for any amount.

Going thru court records I've seen amounts as low as a couple hundred bucks but usually at least $500.
They get judgments as easy as a hot knife goes thru butter. Almost NO defendants show and if one does the judge will almost act startled!....I've seen 50+ credit cards sued tried in just one small court room in an hour and only 2or 3 defendants even showed (i was one).

NOTE: I also think if the creditors end up with a portfolio full of judgments it can be worth more on the debt reseller market than just a bunch of defaulted accounts.