In early 2019, the credit card balance that Americans carry from month to month rose to $423.8 billion. Many Americans get in a bind and use their credit cards to pay for everyday expenses including their electric bills, clothes, and other essentials.
One wrong move and the house of cards can come tumbling down. Many Americans use the risky move of paying one credit card payment with another credit card. One of the major dangers of paying a credit card payment with another credit card is that the principle on the card never decreases and the debt continues to mount.
Many credit card companies will not allow debtors to pay their credit card payments with another credit card. If you’ve got into debt and creditors are suing you, you may feel stuck and worried without a clue what to do. Continue reading this article to learn the five reasons you should hire a debt collection attorney.
Must-Know Information Regarding Debt Collection Attorneys
If you’ve been looking over websites like https://www.mccarthylawyer.com, you may be wondering if there are benefits to hiring a debt lawyer.
Can’t you just deal with the problem on your own instead of incurring fees from an attorney? The following information will help you understand the benefits so you can make a decision about what is right for you.
1. Deal with the Problem Quickly
Depending on the state that you live in, you may only have a few days to reply to a lawsuit. When you view the lawsuit, you’ll be able to see how much time you have to reply.
If you ignore it and don’t respond to the lawsuit, the court is likely to put a judgment against you. Contacting an attorney will allow you to get started on your case quickly while you go about your life as normal taking care of your family and working your job.
Many attorneys allow you to come in for a free consultation to make sure they are able to help you with your case.
2. No Second Guessing Your Decisions
When you’re getting letters from attorneys and being serviced with papers, it can be extremely scary. You may also be second-guessing every decision that you make. When you work with a debt attorney, you don’t have to make your decisions based on your limited knowledge.
When you work with a qualified attorney, you’ll be able to consult with them and take advice from someone that knows the laws of your area in and out.
Make sure you hire a reputable attorney to get the best results — more on that later.
3. Possibility to Pay Less Than You Owe
You might be thinking that working with an attorney is just going to be another bill that you have to carry. While attorneys do charge you to take care of your case, that doesn’t mean it will cost you more to work with them.
If you have a valid defense against the creditor like unfair collection practices or some other infraction against the law, you are likely to come out paying less than you would without an attorney.
You must be totally open and honest with the attorney to make sure they understand your case fully before they take it on. If they believe they can help you and still get a good payday out of the case, they will take your case on.
4. Get Your Credit Back on Track
The sooner you start taking care of your debt, the sooner you’ll be able to get your credit on track. Bankruptcy, judgments, liens, late payments, high credit card utilization, and other similar marks on your credit make you look like an undesirable debtor.
The sooner you start working with an attorney on your case, the sooner you’ll be able to start getting your credit back on track. Even if your credit shows that you got into some trouble, it is going to be better for you if it shows that you’ve taken care of your debt.
5. Avoid Monthly Debt Settlement Company Fees
When you start struggling with debt, you are likely to come across debt settlement companies that claim they can help you get out of trouble. Most of these companies claim they will be able to negotiate with your creditors to get them to take less money than you owe them.
The only problem is that the debt settlement company has no true power to make these creditors do anything. You may work with these settlement companies and never get the results that you want.
These companies are not held to high standards like attorneys are which could mean that you find yourself working with less than desirable companies.
If you work with a debt settlement company, most of these companies will advise you to pay them instead of your creditors as you work with them. If you do this, you will notice that your credit score begins to suffer more and more.
You’ll be told to save your money to a recommended amount to offer a lump sum to these creditors. Since the sum is less than you owe, the settlement company says this is the value they offer to you. In truth, you could negotiate your own settlement while still paying your creditors, in most cases.
Attorneys will not charge you monthly fees in hopes they will be able to negotiate with your creditors to allow you to pay less money than you owe. They will use the law to help you get out of trouble.
How to Find a Good Debt Collection Attorney
You shouldn’t trust just anyone with your case. You need to make sure the person that you’re dealing with is a reputable attorney. There are some things you can do to make sure the attorney of your choice is one that gets good results and is trustworthy.
Start Out the Old-Fashioned Way
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways to get things done. Speak to your friends and family as well as any professionals that you know and ask them for a referral.
Who have they worked with or do they at least know of someone that has worked with a debt collection attorney? Knowing someone that has personal experience with this attorney will allow you to rest easy that you’re making a good decision.
You may not know anyone that can give you a referral in your area. If that is the case then you should follow the tips below.
Researching Attorneys
Since you don’t know anyone that has experience with an attorney, you need to do some research.
Look at online review sites to see what people are saying about different attorneys. Don’t just go with the first attorney that you find. Set up meetings with at least a couple of attorneys.
When you get to your meeting with the attorney, have a list of questions to ask them so you can get a feel of which person is going to be your best bet. Some of the questions you should ask are as follows:
- How many cases like mine have you worked on?
- How long do you foresee this case taking?
- What means of communication should I expect?
- Do you do case negotiation yourself or give it to a paralegal to do?
Once you ask these questions, you can get an idea of how they would work with you and which options sound like the best for you. If you don’t want an update every time something changes with your case, it might not be a deal-breaker if they don’t update you all of the time. Some people want to know every step of the way and in their case, it would be a deal-breaker.
After you find an attorney that you think would be a good option, ask them for references from their previous clients. You don’t want to only read reviews from their site but you want to speak with a real person on the phone to hear about their experience.
Now you know how to choose a great attorney and how they can help you with your debt challenge and it is time to get it taken care of.
Keep Your Family Together After Debt Challenges
It’s no secret that financial problems can tear a family apart. The stress of creditors calling, liens and garnishments can cause stress and frustration with even the strongest couples.
Having a debt collection attorney to help you through the process is helpful but you might need further help. We understand what it is like to go through this scary time.
Read through our other blog posts today for helpful tools and products for your family as you’re recovering from debt.
