Q. My American Express account just went to a collection attorney. I also just enrolled in a debt settlement program to deal with this debt. The debt settlement program attorney states they will not make an offer until I have accrued at least 20%. I plan sending a letter to the collection attorney validating the debt. How soon can they take me to court even if I notify them I am in a debt settlement program?
A. If you notify the collection agency that you are in a debt settlement program, you are pretty much admitting to the debt. You could hurt your chances of a good settlement, certainly hurt your chances in a lawsuit. Don’t do this.
Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to your question about when or if the collection agency will sue you. However, you are correct in assuming that there is the potential danger of the collection agency taking you to court despite the fact that you are in a debt settlement program.
You can send a debt validation request to the collection agency, but I doubt this will do much. A debt validation request will not prevent a company from taking you to court, but it’s a good idea to send a debt validation request any way, you will be letting them know that you’re not a helpless consumer and they have to play by the rules. Playing by the rules means they will not be harassing you, using bad language or making idle legal threats to intimidate you.
The possibility of being sued is one of the disadvantages of being in a debt settlement company. Despite the fact that you have an attorney handling your debt settlement account, debt settlement attorneys are historically not known to deal with lawsuits brought on by collection agencies with which they are supposedly making a deal.
Why not handle the debt settlement yourself? Why not get out of the program you are in and save up the money in a separate account until you have 20% of the balance? You are losing a portion of each payment you give to the debt settlement attorney as a fee. You don’t need an attorney to make a deal with a collection agency. Many people successfully do this on their own. We have a complete, free, online debt settlement guide on this site. We go over everything in an easy to read, step-by-step methodology.
