Consumer Law

Alabama Collection Lawsuits - Why Answering "I Have No Job" Or "I Have No Money" Is Not Recommended

By M. Stan Herring

In this time of economic difficulty, many Alabama residents are hurting financially and just don't have any extra money. Overtime may have been cut back or jobs completely eliminated or perhaps medical expenses have taken the rest of the monthly dollars in a household. Then a debt buyer sues and demands $3000 or $8000. With no money or no job, what do you do?

Many potential clients come to us after having answered the collection lawsuit. Many times the answers are wonderful - they deny the allegations and force the debt buyer to prove that the debt buyer actually owns the debt.

But sometimes (and this is growing) the answers say "I have no job" or "I have no money". Often these are simply letters written to the judge or the collection lawyer (Nadler, Nathan & Nathan, Zarzaur & Schwartz, Ingram & Associates, etc) that are considered "answers" and put in the court file.

We wrote a more detailed article on this subject of answering but here is a quick summary.

Whether or not you can pay is not relevant to whether or not you owe this debt buyer and whether or not the debt buyer owns the debt. Being liable for a debt and having the ability to pay the debt are different things altogether. Answering with "I have no job" or "I don't have any money" can sometimes lead a court to believe that you are admitting that you owe the debt and therefore a judgment is entered against you.

Our suggestion is to not confuse the issues. Either settle the case or fight it but be clear about what you are doing and don't leave any room for confusion with the court.

If you would like more information about fighting debt buyer lawsuits you can call us at 205-879-2447 or fill out our contact us form and mention the free report on secrets debt buyers don't want you to know about or you can fill out the form below. Whatever you do, we wish you the best of success.

Fill this form out for the free report!

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on April 13, 2009 (boomark / email).