Do You Have A Creditor Ready To Sue?

There are other alternatives out there for you if you don't have the time to
validate the debt or simply just want to pay it off. The most important part of the first
alternative mentioned here is that it MUST be done PRIOR to a judgment being filed or
PRIOR to the date you are served with the judgment paperwork.

Did you know that as long as you are making payments on an account to a Creditor that
they CANNOT turn it over to collections or pursue a judgment against you? If they do, it will
be dismissed by any judge in the country! How do I know this? I've done it and am still
doing it.

About (8) years ago I had elective surgery done. The whole procedure cost my wife and
I about $5,000.00 and was financed through a company that I will not name. The APR was
OUTSTANDING at almost 20% and the payments were to be about $145.00 per month. About,
6 months after the surgery I lost my job and it hurt us very bad financially. We tried making
payment arrangements, but were unable to keep up with the high amount they were
demanding.

The Creditor then turned over the account to an Attorney/Collection Agency in our city. They
began trying to hunt us down and serve us judgment papers on this account. We set up a
NOTICE OF PAYMENT letter to this debt collector, sent a payment of $25.00 and agreed to
continue sending payments of this amount until either our financial situation improved OR
the debt was paid off. We sent out the NOTICE and a MONEY ORDER for $25.00 but made
out the money order to the ORIGINAL CREDITOR, not to the debt collector. It was mailed
certified mail (ALWAYS).

About 3 days later (while still avoiding the process server with the judgment papers) we
received the certified letter receipt back in the mail. The debt collector had received our
payment AND had signed for it. We had proof. My husband then gladly accepted the
judgment papers from the process server. We filed a WRITTEN response with the courts
stating that we were actively attempting to make payments on this account and that those
payments had been accepted by the debt collector. We included copies of the NOTICE and
of the signed return receipt with the response. We then took it all to the courthouse, filed
them and walked away. We also sent copies of our written response to the debt collector
(certified mail).

A week later we received this legal looking form that was titled "Agreed Judgment" from
the debt collector. We refused to sign this bogus journal entry because it was considered
an "open ended" judgment and we would have been agreeing to let the debt collector
obtain a court ordered judgment against us. This was exactly what we were trying to avoid
by sending the payment AND the written response!

I sent a nasty letter to the debt collector stating that we were refusing to sign this paperwork
on the grounds that they were already accepting our payments and that it was open ended
(meaning there was NO mention of the total amount of the debt, no mention of payment
amounts and no mention of when it would be considered paid in full). We then called the
county courthouse and found out that the judge had dismissed the original petition for
judgment because of our written response!

From that date until March 2001, we paid only $25.00 a month on this account!
Each and every month we mailed our Money Order for $25.00 with our Notice Of Payment
via certified mail and made out the payment to the original creditor. The payment amount
didn't even cover the accruing interest each month, but we had them in a catch 22 and they
were leaving us alone for the most part.

In March 2001 we received a letter from the debt collector stating that the original creditor
was no longer satisfied with the small payments and either we were going to have to start
paying more or they were going to attempt to pursue another judgment against us. Now we
had a sure fire defense, but we HAD agreed to increase the payments if our financial
situation improved. We agreed to raise the payment amount to $50.00 a month but
promptly reminded them that they COULD NOT obtain a judgment against us as long as we
were paying on the debt.

Now it is October 2001 and we are still paying only $50.00 a month on a $5,000.00 account.
It CAN be done and it stops any creditor right in their tracks. If your account is a lesser
amount, make a smaller payment. Even if it is only $5.00 a month, you are still "doing your
best" to pay off the debt. It shows initiative. The Notice Of Payment Letter is ACTUALLY
what they call a unilateral agreement. This means that only YOU are agreeing to the terms
of the contract and to live up to your promise. It doesn't bind the creditor to anything but it
DOES give them the ability to take you to court and sue your pants off if you MISS A
PAYMENT as promised! When you use this method to stop a creditor from pursuing
judgment, don't mess it up by not making the payment because then you are liable for the
full amount due and payable immediately. They can put a lien on your home, freeze your
bank account and a variety of other things to get their money. Stick with it and only raise
the payment if you can TRULY afford to.

Also, do not ever state that you will mail your monthly payments by ANY specific date! Just
tell them that you will make these payments each and every month. That's it and nothing
more.