Chances are you will not get sued for old credit card debt, the process is long and expensive and most creditors would like to find another solution before initiating a legal claim on the debt. Some of those solutions are payment plans, debt consolidation or debt settlement. The threat of a lawsuit looms when we fail to make our payments on our credit cards, becoming delinquent on our accounts bring about a series of events that could lead to legal action. In most cases if this action can be avoided by coming to terms or entering into an agreement with our creditors to pay our loans back.
As I mentioned before the process of legal action is long and expensive, most creditors would rather find a solution, in some cases state laws protect the consumer from being sued, other things such as the statue of limitations also protect the consumer. Depending on how old the debt is or how much is owed weighs heavily on a creditors decision to follow through with a lawsuit. This does not mean or can be taken as an assertion that you would not be sued. The best thing to do is to let our creditors know that we are having difficulty meeting our monthly responsibilities and working out an arrangement with them.
How old does an account need to be to be sued? Well no one really knows, it is like playing the roulette wheel that is what makes it so unpredictable. I have seen some consumers get sued at three months delinquency, some at six, others two years later and there are others that never get sued and the statue of limitations runs out on the debt. In the end it really depends what type of debt we are talking about and which creditor we are dealing with.
Secured debt has a better chance of going into litigation than does unsecured debt, business debt has a better chance of going into litigation than does personal debt. Anyway you cut it you are walking a fine line if you are carrying old debt. There are many things depending on your state laws that can happen before getting sued, such as wage garnishments, bank accounts being attached to, liens on property, etc… If you are carrying old debt whether it is business or personal, secured or unsecured debt it is always a great idea to seek professional help. There are lawyers or debt management programs waiting to help.