December 11, 2009

By: Michelle Grinberg

Debt settlement may sound like a perfect solution to a person who cannot pay the full amount of their debt. The most important thing to remember is that debt collection law firms are often willing to settle the debt in lieu of taking a debtor to court. However, some debt collection firms are unwilling to be reasonable and a suit may be filed against the debtor.

Law firms who deal with the collection of debts have a mass number of such cases and therefore usually do not spend the time familiarizing themselves with each and every case. An attorney representing a debtor can use this information to challenge the case. Further, when a suit is instituted by such a debt collection firm, the debtor usually does not serve an Answer, which results in an automatic win for the plaintiff. Therefore, debtors should always reply to a Complaint in order to prevent such an automatic win. However, even if a suit has already been instituted, debt collection firms are still open to discuss settlement options.

The debtor’s attorney should take advantage of this information to persuade the collection law firm to settle the debt quickly, instead of wasting time on filing a lawsuit.