What Happens If I Can’t Pay Credit Cards?

 

What happens if I can’t pay credit cards? Well, that depends on a few factors. The timeline in non-payment of credit card bills will usually determine the activities you will be part of. There is a fairly regular sequence of events that you may expect once you stop paying. In some case it behooves you to be behind on payments. Let’s take a look.

Heres The Timeline…

The first month you are behind, you’ll probably receive a polite phone call or letter that is along the lines of “you’ve missed a payment, perhaps it crossed in the mail, etc.” They’ll go on to say things like “your credit is very important, be sure to make payments in a timely manner, etc…”

After missing two months, creditors will still be somewhat polite, they may express concern, “can we help you, good customer, etc” Get ready for the interesting things to take place after…

The third month not paid…The tone of letters and phone calls will noticeably shift here. No more pleasantries, the letters will be more threatening, saying things like “serious mark on your credit report, lawsuits, etc.” Here however is where you can start entertaining thoughts of credit card debt settlement.

Debt settlement is the process of negotiating with your creditors to pay only a small percentage of your total debt and calling that good. Creditors will not negotiate with you if you are current on your payments however, why should they?

Once you reach the 3 month mark and beyond, expect the phone to start ringing constantly. Creditors (and debt collectors) will call you incessantly, and may start calling neighbors, friends and family members. There are devices you can get for your phone to screen calls and stop the ringing, but they will still call your neighbors and family. If they start calling your work, you can request they stop and they will have to.

Finally you may get taken to court. Creditors can and will sue you, and may be successful in obtaining wage garnishment. In this case bankruptcy may be your only option.

This is by no means a totally complete list of things that may happen if you don’t pay your credit cards, but rest assured, if you ask the question “what happens if I can’t pay credit cards? Your answer will be “not a lot of nice things”