Collection agencies employ a number of different strategies to get you to pay the monies owed on your account. From making harassing calls to your home or job to sending threatening letters, it can be hard to know which methods are effective and which are just tactics being employed to get you to pay your bills. Particularly when it comes to legal action, you may wonder if, in fact, a collection agency can force you to appear in court.
Collection Efforts
Collection agencies may go through a number of steps to get you to pay up on your debt. From offering settlements at a fraction of the overall cost of your debt to harassing you daily with phone calls, emails, faxes, letters and text messages, the goal is to aggravate you enough to pay attention to the debt and take care of it. In addition to the aggravation, the collection agency may also sometimes pursue legal action.
Lawsuit
If a collection agency acts on behalf of the creditor, it can bring a lawsuit against you in civil court to collect on the debt via a judgment. If this is the case, you don't have to appear in court, but know that if you don't, then the judgment will automatically fall in favor of the collection agency and you then become legally required to take care of the debt. There may also be additional legal fees tacked on to what you owe because the agency was forced to take you to court to collect.
Resolutions
If you are sued by a collections agency and a judgment is issued against you, you can generally set up a payment plan that works for your personal budget. However, you can also avoid going to court altogether by working out a payment plan with the collection agency before legal action is taken against you.
Considerations
If you are dealing with a collection agency, get everything in writing, from the debt you owe to the actions they say they will take against you if you don't comply. If you are uncomfortable working with the collections agency, you may be able to re-approach the original creditor to pay off the debt if the debt isn't too old. The creditor may not be willing to do this, but it's worth a call.
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