Can A Lawyer Help With Debt Settlement?
Yes, a lawyer can help with debt settlement. A legitimate question is whether you need to use a lawyer to assist with your debt settlement. Due to the legal complexities surrounding debt, and the various ways in which a debt can be settled, your choice to use a lawyer to help you with your debt settlement is a meaningful choice.
While settling the debt is your primary concern, you also need to be aware of the different remedies creditors have for collecting upon their debt. Remember, there are different types of debt. Depending upon whether your debt is secured debt or unsecured debt, your creditor may propose differing settlement options with different results.
Unsecured Debt Settlement
If you have unsecured debt, your creditor’s only remedy is to pursue you personally. A well-known example is credit card debt. While you owe the debt, if you stop paying, your creditor will simply continue to nag you for payment while threatening to take legal action to procure payment.
While your continued non-payment will result in negative credit reporting, the creditor is generally limited to attempting to collect the debt from you personally. That being said, keep in the mind the creditor can take steps to take their debt to judgment. If a creditor obtains a judgment against you, their available remedies expand dramatically. These remedies for judgment execution may include utilizing the sheriff’s office to try to collect on their judgment. If you receive a Writ of Execution or a Notice Of Right To Claim Exemptions, your creditor is pursuing your assets in an attempt to collect on their judgment.
Secured Debt
If your debt is secured, your creditor has different remedies available to them as compared to unsecured debt. Secured debt is a debt that is secured by ownership of property. Generally, this means that in exchange for the credit that was extended to you, you pledged property as collateral. A lender is more inclined to loan larger amounts if the debt is secured because they know that if you stop making payments, they can take steps to seize the property. This seizure may come in the way of foreclosure on real estate, repossession of a vehicle, or other seizure of property—depending upon what was pledged.
If the creditor seizes the secured property and sells it, they may come up with a shortfall to pay off the balance of the account. In that event, the creditor can continue to pursue you as an unsecured creditor, in an attempt to obtain the remaining balance.
The Effect Of A Judgment
As mentioned above, a judgment gives an unsecured creditor some of the power that a secured creditor has. For example, if you own real property and a creditor obtains a judgment against you, that unsecured debt will now attach to the real property by way of the judgment. This means that if you sell the real property, the judgment will need to be paid as part of the sale.
Settling Debt With A Lawyer
Given the complexities of debt, there are natural complexities to debt settlement. It is important to understand whether the debt being settled is being released as to a particular piece of property, or satisfied in full. The difference in the language of the debt settlement agreement will dictate the value you are receiving, and whether you want to accept the debt settlement being offered. By way of a simple example, assume a creditor has a judgment against you for $100,000.00 and you want to sell your home. If the creditor is willing to accept $10,000.00 to release the lien from the home so you can sell it, this does not mean that the creditor is prohibited from pursuing the debt outside of the sale transaction. It simply means the house can be sold without paying the debt.
The goal with debt settlement is to reach an agreement that cancels the debt in full—this way, you can move forward in life without fear that this debt will somehow interfere with your financial well-being moving forward. While our firm negotiates debt settlement in all shapes and sizes, the most important aspect is knowing what you are receiving in exchange for your debt settlement payment.
Speak With A Debt Settlement Lawyer Today
Our firm routinely settles the debt for clients who have not been successful in attempting to settle the debt on their own. Using a lawyer can help tremendously with debt settlement. If you would like to speak with a debt settlement lawyer today about your options, we are here to help. Call us at 704.749.7747 or click HERE to request to speak with a lawyer today. We know you have choices. We hope you choose Layton Law.