How to Handle a Credit Card Case in the Pennsylvania State District Court
It can be unnerving to defend a credit card debt case in front of the magistrate in the Pennsylvania district court system. In Pennsylvania, magistrates generally can hear matters up to $8000, so many credit card cases find their way into the Pennsylvania district court.
The first thing that you need to know about magistrates is that they don’t have to be attorneys, but often they are.
The second thing you need to know about magistrates is that the credit card companies representative is probably just as nervous as you are, because these courts are unpredictable, a little bit like the Wild West.
What makes these courts so unpredictable are the judges. Frankly, the magistrate system in Pennsylvania is broken because the wide variety of cases that these judges have to hear it sure is that no magistrate is likely to be an expert on any given field. This is not the bankruptcy court where a bankruptcy judge will be an expert in the field because all they do is bankruptcy.
The best way to defend a credit card case is to make sure you don’t go in front of the magistrate. Don’t let your debt problems get that far.
I’ve seen instances where an unsecured creditor has gone in front of a magistrate, gotten a judgment, got a lien on the debtor’s home, and made it difficult to get a mortgage modification and frustrate the bankruptcy case as well.
This is ridiculous. Discover card should not be able to make itself a secured creditor simply by getting a judgment, and as a consumer it’s your responsibility to make sure that it doesn’t happen.
So I’ve been summoned to the magistrate, how do I avoid actually going to the hearing? You could pay your debt, but if you could pay your debt you probably wouldn’t have made your creditor chase you for a year or more. So my suggestion is if you are unable to immediately file bankruptcy protection is to discuss a settlement with that credit card company.
Once a case has been filed, the creditor is not likely to be as generous as they were prior to the filing of the case, because they have expended money in bringing the case and they are going to want to be reimbursed for that. Generally speaking, creditors are excepting 80% percent of the balance or $200 per month on the full balance until the debt is paid in full.
It may seem sneaky or even dishonest, but I would find out from the creditor how long they would wait to except the first payment. Alternatively, you can tell the creditor that you’re planning to seek bankruptcy protection, and therefore they are unlikely to receive any money. At least one creditor, Capital One, it has been known to cancel hearings based on that alone because they don’t want to pay the attorney who will have to appear for them when they are not likely to recover anything.
I’ve told you before him to tell you again, credit card companies have lawyers an army of working on their behalf, you really should get one too. Chances are you don’t have just one credit card, but several credit cards in this situation, and its only time before they all come knocking.
If you’re ready to fight back against the credit card companies underhanded tactics, call me at 484-661-2891 or e-mail me at jim@padebt911.com to schedule your free, no obligation, consultation.
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