I Can’t Say This Enough: When Sued By a Debt Collector You Need to Respond and Show Up

According to a Scripps News article ( read it here ) upwards of 70 percent of consumers sued over credit card (or other) debts never show up, either because they don’t think showing up will help any, or they are too embarrassed or never receive notification of the lawsuit. Debt collectors are filing lawsuits and winning judgments against thousands of Americans every year, often without having any concrete evidence to support their claims. That’s because the defendants often don’t appear at the hearing. Not showing up in court results in an automatic win for the collectors, and that, in turn, often gives them the legal right to tap a debtor’s bank account or salary. “I’m behind the eight ball,” said James Flanagan, a Suffolk County, N.Y. judge who oversees 25 debt collection cases a day. In all but one or two of Flanagan’s cases, the defendant does not show up, Flanagan said. “I can’t do anything about it.”

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I Can’t Say This Enough: When Sued By a Debt Collector You Need to Respond and Show Up