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Is Bankruptcy the Best Option for You?
Times are tough, but there are solutions. Maybe you just need a little helping hand and a fresh start.
I am a consumer rights and bankruptcy lawyer located right here in Portland, and I may be able to help. Many people think that bankruptcy is a bad word. But it isn’t. In truth, it is the most powerful of all our consumer protection laws and has provided millions of people with relief that they desperately needed. Of course debt collectors, banks, and credit card companies don’t want you to know this. In fact many of these companies have filed for bankruptcy themselves at one time or another. They just don’t like bankruptcy when it helps the everyday people who really need it, because they want to maximize their huge profits. Fortunately, although banks and credit card companies have pushed to make it more difficult, bankruptcy is still available as a way to stop collections, garnishment, and lawsuits, to wipe out debt, and to allow people to get a fresh economic start.
Across the country, and especially here in Oregon, many people are losing their job or their home, or just can’t make ends meet. High interest credit cards or loans may have been a last resort. Maybe a disability, illness, or a sudden medical emergency resulted in large hospital bills. Either way, people expected that they would get back on their feet, and then they could pay their creditors back. Unfortunately, for many things only got worse. Now the creditors are trying to collect not just the amount borrowed, but an alarming amount of interest and penalty fees. Worse yet, the original creditors are selling off accounts to debt buying companies that the borrower has never even heard of until they are sued. Once these aggressive debt collectors get a judgment against you, they will likely try to garnish your bank accounts and/or paycheck, and attach a lien on your home.
In this climate, many Oregonians are drowning in debt and need help–- and they need it now. Trying to hide from, or ignore, the situation is not a solution and can often make things much worse. Facing these difficult economic circumstances, more than 16,000 Oregonians filed for bankruptcy in 2010 alone. Many others who are also struggling, or falling too far behind, are asking themselves the same question— is bankruptcy the best option for me or my family?
What Are My Options if I am Being Sued for Credit Card Debt, Medical Debt, or Other Debts?
Just because you allegedly owe a debt does not mean that you have no options or no rights. But you need to exercise them. As a Portland bankruptcy and consumer rights attorney, I may be able to help.
Getting sued is scary. You likely got a knock on the door and were served with some documents by a stranger. Chances are that stranger wasn’t that nice. Or maybe it was a police officer from the sheriff’s department (many debt collectors use the sheriff to serve because it is more intimidating). As I discuss in my other post about filing for bankruptcy in Portland, often times you may have never even heard of the debt collector until you are served with lawsuit documents naming the debt collector as the plaintiff.
In recent years the debt buying industry has exploded. Debts are sold by the original creditor (like a bank/ credit card company) to one of thousands of third party debt buying companies, often for pennies on the dollar. These debt buying companies range from somewhat legitimate to very shady. This process is known as an “assignment” of the debt because often the contract you signed with the original creditor permits them to assign their interest (to collect, sue, etc.) in the contract to other entities. Of course, the contract does not allow you to sign your interest/liability to anyone else (because they wrote the contract). Eventually, the debt buying company usually hires a local debt collection lawyer to represent them and file the lawsuit against you in your local district (Multnomah County Circuit Court for example).
Now you find yourself being sued by a lawyer claiming you owe a debt to some company you never heard of and demanding a really high amount which you have no idea is correct or not. The language in the documents (summons) says you must respond within 30 days or else. Scary? Yes. Confusing? Yes. Fair? Not really. But, do you have options? Yes.
