Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

I just want to ask a question hi I have a debt that is over 7 years old and it went into third party collection I went to district court one time and agreed tob20 dollars a month but I only make 300 dollars take home and have to support a family on this so I couldn't follow through with my Court agreement the debt is just 1000 dollars so years later they are giving me another supenuea and what can I do and what will happen for such little debt to me


Asked on 3/31/14, 7:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You don't recite the relevant facts. The issue is not how old the debt is if the creditor received a judgment against you. The judgments never go away and are there forever unless discharged in bankruptcy or paid/settled. For enforcement purposes, judgments on real property are good for 5 years but can be renewed. Judgments on personal property are good for 20 years.

I don't know what you mean by "they are giving you another subpoena." There is no such thing in regard to debt collection in PA. Do you mean something else? And there are no district courts in PA. There are district magistrates and there is the court of common pleas. Do you mean you went to a hearing before the district magistrate? Was the judgment ever transferred to the court of common pleas for enforcement purposes? Or did you make your payment deal before transfer and since you defaulted, the creditor has now filed a praecipe to transfer the judgment?

Judgments in PA earn interest at a rate of 6% per year but the interest accrues daily. Making a deal was probably not a good idea. You should have used that money to save up and resolve the judgment.

You do not indicate what the judgment is for. A credit card? Something else? Most unsecured judgment debts can be settled provided that you have the funds to do so.

Since you don't know what is going on, I suggest that you go to the court and make a copy of the court file. There should be a summons and complaint, any motion for default judgment, entry of judgment and maybe a copy of whatever payment agreement you had with the creditor as well as the new documents which you call a subpoena. I would take everything to a consumer lawyer and pay him/her to review to see what is going on.

There are many lawyers who could assist you here at Law Guru.

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Answered on 4/01/14, 11:28 am


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