Darlene
“Dear Steve,
My husband and I have a judgement against us from Chase for $5200. Our debt settlement company said they would answer the summons for us. The lawyer from Chase said they don’t work with debt settlement. We told them we didn’t have the money to pay (may be losing our home). The next thing we know we received some documents from the local justice court saying “Judgement by Default Without Hearing.” We can’t afford a lawyer and dont know what this means.
The documents we received read “Motion and Affidavit For Entry Of Judgement By Default Without Hearing” Does this mean we just have to find a means to pay it without Chase taking us to court?
Darlene”
The Answer:
Dear Darlene,
There is no rule or law in the United States that any creditor must work with your appointed third-party. In this case, your debt settlement company.
Working with a debt settlement company does not prevent you from being sued, even if the debt settlement company responds to any document or summons on your behalf.
The law allows the creditor to pursue their contractual rights through your agreement with the creditor, and under the law, in the courts.
If you are not paying Chase and have broken your agreement with them, they can sue you and you seem to have no defense to that claim.
I’m not going to address the specific issue about the document they asked you to sign except to tell you to immediately contact an attorney licensed in your state for specific legal advice or contact a local bankruptcy attorney, to go bankrupt and end this issue.
If I was a betting man, which I am not, at least with real money, the safe bet would be that you will lose this fight with Chase, be successfully sued, and that will lead to a judgment against you and a lien against property, wage garnishment, or bank account garnishment.
Somehow I need to convey to you in a loving and caring way that you need to pull your head out of the sand on this issue and go get legal help. Once you do that, this situation with Chase bank will be resolved, probably through bankruptcy. Let me know what you decide to do.
