What To Expect If A Payday Loan Company Is Suing You

Can I Be Sued For Not Paying A Payday Loan

One of the most common questions is from consumers who may have defaulted on a payday loan. Often, these consumers receive calls and letters from companies that claim to be direct payday lenders who want to sue them. These consumers are scared and confused because they are threatened with legal action and harassment. However, many of them have done nothing wrong! In a recent blog post, we explained how to determine if your past due cash advance is legitimate and how to handle the process from there.

A payday loan company can sue you and take you to court if you default.

Are you being sued or served papers by a company claiming to represent one of the large direct payday lenders? You first need to take a deep breath, step back, and find out exactly where you are. The first question to ask yourself is if you’ve even taken out a cash advance or installment loan in the first place. If you have taken out a loan from a direct payday lender, determine whether you paid back the total amount. That seems trivial, but it’s essential. Unfortunately, many bill collectors and scam artists will often call on people who only inquired about taking out a payday loan in the past. They aim to scare you into paying them money for a debt you don’t even owe!

How do I know if a payday lender can sue me?

You’ll first want to know if you’re being sued or not and that starts with understanding the payday loan regulations in your state. How were you informed of a potential lawsuit regarding a past due payday loan? Did you receive a certified letter from a law firm saying they are taking you to court for a specific bad credit payday loan or cash advance? Or did a bill collector tell you over the phone that you were “going to be sued?”

Quite often bill collectors will harass you and use scare tactics as a way to get you to make a payment for an uncollected payday loan. Indeed you want to take note of the bill collector’s threat of a lawsuit, but that’s usually where it ends unless you receive a certified letter from a law firm detailing the lawsuit you are not being sued.

Be sure it’s a direct payday loan company that’s threatening to sue you

First, confirm that you’re being sued by a legitimate direct payday lender. Or is the company offering tribal loans from a direct lender? Applicants in the US need to ask themselves a few critical questions. Is the payday loan debt valid, and is it still within the Statute of Limitations for your state? To find out if the debt is valid you need to ask yourself if you took out the loan and failed to pay it back in full. It may be that you’re a victim of identity theft or incompetence by the original direct payday lender.

If the debt is valid, you want to check the Statute of Limitations for your specific state. Remember that the Statute of Limitation time frames vary depending on your state. For example, in Delaware, you have three years; in Indiana, you have ten years until the time expires! If the time in your respective state has lapsed, the creditor cannot sue you to recoup the cash advance you took out.

Direct lenders and bill collectors have limited time to sue debtors for nonpayment of direct payday loans.

Payday Loan Companies Can Take You To Court – But They Prefer Not To

If the debt is valid and the Statute of Limitations has not lapsed, you’ll want to do all you can to prevent this from going to court. Contact the original direct payday lender and try to negotiate a settlement with them. Many companies that offer direct payday loans online will want to work with you. Short term payday lenders will do all they can to avoid a costly and lengthy court procedure. They would rather have the money upfront than wait years, even if they have the power of a judgment to collect on the debt.

What To Do If Your Payday Lender Has Sued You

If you’re being sued by a payday loan company, taking the lawsuit seriously and responding appropriately is essential. As we mentioned above the lender can’t send you to jail and they can’t threaten you physically. But they still have options and can make your life difficult if you do nothing or don’t know how to respond. If you can’t repay the loan and the lender sues you, they may be able to garnish your wages or put a lien on your property. This means that if you have assets, the lender could seize them to recoup their losses. Another thing the lender can do is report the debt to the credit bureaus, which would damage your credit score.

So what can you do if a payday lender sues you? First, it’s important that you show up to court and explain your side of the story. You may be able to negotiate a repayment plan or reach some other type of agreement. If you don’t show up, the judge will likely rule in favor of the lender and they’ll be able to garnish your wages or put a lien on your property. We want to say this is the most important recommendation twice: always show up to court!

If you are facing a lawsuit from a payday loan lender, taking it seriously and responding appropriately is essential. Understanding your options and potential outcomes can help you make the best decision on how to respond and deal with the lawsuit. First, try to work with your lender and negotiate some settlement or alternate payment plan in exchange for dropping the lawsuit. On the day of the court case, be sure to show up and explain your side of the story. Touch on the hardships this debt has caused you and force the lender to provide as much detail and documents as possible. If you’re still struggling after all of this, contact a local consumer protection agency or an attorney specializing in debt relief for more help.

Do all you can to settle this debt before your court date. If your case ultimately goes to court, you will lose. To make matters worse, you’ll end up owing a lot more money. Court costs and legal fees can be added to the original amount owed when you first took out the payday loan!