Credit card debt in this country has passed a trillion dollars, and the collection calls are following it. These are seventeen Americans telling you what happened to them — the letter that went in a drawer, the default judgment that went through while they were at work, the account that had already been sold two or three times over before anyone picked up the phone.
If you take one thing from this: these cases are almost never lost on the argument. They are lost because nobody walked into the room.
Three things worth knowing before you send anyone a dollar:
• You can demand validation in writing. They have to prove the debt is yours, and you have 30 days to ask.
• In most states, one payment on an old debt restarts the entire statute of limitations. Find out the date before you pay a cent.
• Retirement money is protected where it sits. The moment you withdraw it, it is not. Sit with an attorney for an hour before you touch it.
None of that is complicated. It is simply nobody’s business to tell you, so nobody does.
CHAPTERS
0:00 A lawyer, a bankruptcy filing, and $67,000
0:26 A trillion dollars, and the calls that follow it
0:44 22 years old, $91,300, filing Chapter 7 today
2:09 Why would you buy a debt I already refused to pay?
2:54 Never pay a debt collector — a lawyer explains
4:56 American Express is cutting credit lines without warning
6:27 $73,000, paid down in micropayments
8:13 Bankruptcy is not shameful — and rent on a credit card
10:30 She emptied her 401k to clear the cards
12:19 When did merchants start charging you to use a card?
12:56 A collection call, recorded start to finish
15:11 45, no pension, no house, one year to fix it
16:29 What actually happens when you stop paying
19:52 A bankruptcy attorney lists the downsides
23:07 Credit One will not let it go
24:09 29 years old, filed, and $67,000 gone
26:25 What the means test actually looked like
29:39 22 months unemployed, $80,000 down, back to work
32:32 What I wish somebody had told me forty years ago
This video is not legal or financial advice. Talk to a licensed attorney about your own situation.