Is this typical after SOL passed?

[merime]

Just curious. My sol on all my cards have passed. I have one judgement that was voided during a refinance of my house. I do not get collection calls or letters anymore. I get offers for cards and offers, which obviously I do not accept as to not make the same mistakes again. I checked my credit score and it is 790. I finally opened a "real" checking/saving account at Wells Fargo last week. Is this normal after a SOL? I feel like I got off easy. Maybe because I live in NC. Thanks everyone!!

[LadyInTheRed]

Your credit score is probably good because the negative entries on your credit report were 7 years old and dropped off your credit reports and you have avoided additional negatives. But, that really doesn't have anything to do with the SOL.

The SOL is probably the reason you haven't heard from any creditors. It sounds like the creditors wrote off the accounts and if they were sold, whoever bought the accounts gave up and decided it wasn't worth trying to collect. It's possible the debt will get sold again and whoever buys it will start trying to collect again. The worst of debt buyers might even start reporting to credit agencies or sue you, even if there is a law against it. In that case you would need to dispute the reports or respond to a lawsuit.

You also very well may never hear about about the debts again.

[merime]

Thanks! I was not paying much attention to my credit score, but then got curious. It never dipped below 650. Is it possible that living in NC with a spouse with PERFECT credit effects that. I do mean perfect. Mortgage, paid with extra every month, no credit debt, no loans that are not paid off early. When he went to refiance the house, the bank asked, "do you intend on paying the $24,000 judgement your wife has? He replied no. The bank refinanced at an excellent rate, and because he was unaware that a judgement had placed a lien on the house , it was removed. About a month later the judgement was dismissed. Is this an exception, or normal operating procedures. Again, thank you.

[GoingDown]

The SOL is probably the reason you haven't heard from any creditors. It sounds like the creditors wrote off the accounts and if they were sold, whoever bought the accounts gave up and decided it wasn't worth trying to collect. .

See? This is what I have been saying. In a lot of cases, they do give up and stop trying to collect the debts.

That's what they did with me.

They don't want to waste their time, money, and efforts going after someone who is very unlikely to pay them anything.

I personally think that because I made it very difficult for them to do their collection jobs-- by sending them cease and desist communications letters which made it illegal for them to call me-- and when I informed them that I was judgment proof and so they wouldn't get anything from me even if they sued me, they gave up on me.

Not everyone can live the judgment proof lifestyle.

But if you can, if you are in that situation with no assets of any significance (I was a renter and my car was old and junky and I did not have a checking account), and no wages to garnish (I was self-employed), then they don't want to come after you.

You are more trouble than you're worth to them.

There is this huge myth out there from the debt collector community that they want everyone to believe that they will sue every debtor who doesn't pay up.

It is simply not true.

It is a lie.

Most of the time, they will not sue you.

They simply can't afford to go around suing everyone, paying all the court costs and attorney fees, when they know that most of the debtors cannot ever pay them back.

So, I am here to remind everyone, that yes, most of the time, if you are judgment proof, you have nothing to worry about. They aren't going to sue you, and even if they do, there isn't a whole lot they can do to you with that worthless judgment.

I know this from my own experience.

In my case, filing bankruptcy would have been a waste of money for me.

I played chicken with them, waited them out, and never paid any of them one penny. They never got anything from me, and they never will, and I didn't pay any fees to file bankruptcy. I still have that "nuclear" option of filing bankruptcy if I ever need it at some point in the future without having to wait seven years.

[HHM]

Hmm, let's see, 7 years of bad credit, always looking over your shoulder, or as soon as financial distress hits, file bankruptcy and move on immediately...doesn't seem like a waste of money.

In reality, very few people actually make it to the SOL, the average debtor ends up getting sued.

[GoingDown]

In reality, very few people actually make it to the SOL, the average debtor ends up getting sued.

I disagree.

I think only a tiny fraction of debtors actually get sued.

Most of them make it to the SOL without getting sued.

This is from my own experience, and the experience of family and friends in Arizona and Oregon.

The reason we hear so much about people getting sued is because they are the ones who go on forums like this and are desperate for information. The vast majority of the ones who don't get sued, don't bother posting on these sorts of forums.

[HHM]

And you base that on...a few friends and family.

As opposed to over decade in the debt solution and bankruptcy industry, interesting.

[GoingDown]

You missed this part:

The vast majority of the ones who don't get sued, don't bother posting on these sorts of forums.

You usually don't hear from these people. Your information is being skewed.

[HHM]

You missed this part:



You usually don't hear from these people. Your information is being skewed.

Yes, if you accept the "assumption" that my information and "facts" are based on the people who post on this board, which they aren't

[merime]

Another funny thing that I found out. If you do accept a repayment offer , it is considered income and it is taxed as such. At least that is what I was told.

[keepsmiling]

Another funny thing that I found out. If you do accept a repayment offer , it is considered income and it is taxed as such. At least that is what I was told.

TRUE,unless you can prove insolvency at the time... and most 401k's and other typically exempt retirement assets--count as assets for this purpose.
We are talking about the difference of the original amount less the amount settled for, of course.

[merime]

That said, at least in my case it was sound advice and a no brainer. Funny, I remember back when I was working a collector called and said I could use my tax return money. I told him what I had heard and that I lost money working and she herself started laughing!

[LadyInTheRed]

Most of them make it to the SOL without getting sued.

This is from my own experience, and the experience of family and friends in Arizona and Oregon.

That is a statistically insignificant sample. Do you have any significant data to support that only a tiny fraction of debtors who default actually get sued?

Anybody who decides to try avoiding BK as you did needs to realize that there is a very real possibilty that they will get near the end of the SOL and get served with a lawsuit when they could have already had the debt discharged in BK and begun rebuilding their credit. I completely support anybody's decision to take the risk, as long as the risk is not discounted based on the experiences of a few people and understand that the expiration of the SOL isn't always the end of the story thanks to sleazy JDBs.

[AngelinaCat]

Our credit cards (only 2) never sued us. The lien holder for the car note that 'Hub foolishly co-signed for, did. So did American General Finance from whom we got a 5K loan and had repaid about 1k of it. But the CCs totaling about 42k never did.

[merime]

I have seen a lot of what happened in AngelinaCat's circumstance. Secured debt trumps unsecured any day as far as collectors go.