Can a Credit Card Company Sue Me? (2024)

Table of Contents
What happens if you miss your credit card payments? What happens when a credit card company sues you? Deadline Calculator Your deadline What happens if the judge rules in favor of the credit card company? How to respond to a collection lawsuit Verify that the debt is yours Request a settlement Pay the Debt in Full File for Bankruptcy What is SoloSuit? Can credit card companies take you to court? Statute of Limitations Calculator The Satute of Limitations How to Answer a Summons for debt collection in all 50 states Guides on how to resolve debt with every debt collector Resolve your debt with your creditor Settle your medical debt Guides on arbitration Stop calls from debt collectors Federal debt collection laws can protect you Get debt relief in your state Debt collection laws in all 50 states Statute of limitations on debt state guides Check the status of your court case How to stop wage garnishment in your state Other wage garnishment resources How to settle a debt in your state How to settle with every debt collector Other debt settlement resources Personal loan and debt relief reviews How to repair and improve your credit score How to resolve student loan debt Civil law legal definitions Get answers to these FAQs on debt collection How-to debt guides Learn more with these additional debt resources

Hannah Locklear | April 11, 2024

Can a Credit Card Company Sue Me? (1)

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Fact-checked by George Simons, JD/MBA

Can a Credit Card Company Sue Me? (2)

Co-Founder of SoloSuit
George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons is the co-founder and CEO of SoloSuit. He has helped Americans protect over $1 billion from predatory debt lawsuits. George graduated from BYU Law school in 2020 with a JD/MBA. In his spare time, George likes to cook, because he likes to eat.

Can a Credit Card Company Sue Me? (3)

Summary: Yes, a credit card company can sue you if you owe them money and you haven’t made any payments on your account for several months, but the lawsuit must be filed within the statute of limitations. The best defense to a credit card lawsuit is to file a written Answer and negotiate debt settlement.

As of 2024, US credit card debt has reached a new height at $1.13 trillion. If you're part of this statistic and struggling to pay your credit card debt, you might be wondering if the credit company can sue you for failed payments.

The answer is yes. A credit card company can file a civil lawsuit to recover the debt if you stop making payments.

What happens if you miss your credit card payments?

If you miss your monthly credit card payments, the credit card company will probably mail you a notice of the missing payments. Then, after some time, usually 30 days, you may start receiving phone calls from the credit card company's representatives requesting you to pay what you owe. If you miss the next payment, the credit company may escalate its efforts to recover the debt.

For instance, they may hire a debt collection agency to help recover the debt. Your credit report will be negatively affected when this happens, and your credit score will drop significantly. In addition, if time passes by and you show no effort to repay the debt, the credit company might resort to extreme measures such as filing a lawsuit against you.

Use SoloSuit to file an answer to a debt collection lawsuit.

Some people believe that credit companies won't bother spending their time or money to sue them, but this isn't true even though it might be expensive to file a lawsuit, credit card companies bank on the assumption that most people won't show up in court if summoned for credit card debt.

For this reason, the creditor can decide to sue you if they believe they can recover the legal fees if the court rules in their favor.

What happens when a credit card company sues you?

If a credit card company sues you, here’s what happens:

  • You will receive court documents in the mail, notifying you of the case. These documents are called the Summons and Complaint (also known as a Petition in some states).
  • You have to respond to the lawsuit with a written Answer before the court’s deadline.
  • If you fail to respond, you will lose the case by default, which could lead to wage garnishment and other consequences.
  • Filing an Answer will be your first line of defense. The court may schedule a hearing where you can meet with the credit card company’s lawyers to negotiate a settlement.
  • Debt settlement could be a good option to resolve the debt, especially if you owe everything they claim you do.

Let’s take a closer look at what happens when a credit card company sues you.

If a credit card company sues you, you'll need to file a response to the court before your state’s deadline. The deadline could be anywhere between 14-35 days, depending on your state. If you fail to file an Answer to the court, the plaintiff can request the judge to enter a default judgment against you. They can also request you cover the interest on debt, attorney, and court fees.

Check your state's deadline to respond to a credit card lawsuit below:

Deadline Calculator

Your deadline

This calculator is for educational purposes only. It does not factor in weekends or holidays, so your actual deadline may be some days later.


Back to the unanswered summons, the court may serve you with a request for a default judgment and give you a second chance to answer the complaint. However, if you ignore the court summons, the judge will go ahead and rule in favor of the plaintiff. This ruling gives the credit card company legal authority to take additional action against you to try and collect its debt in full.

Protect yourself from shady debt collectors. Respond with SoloSuit.

What happens if the judge rules in favor of the credit card company?

After the credit card company wins the lawsuit filed against you, they can request the court's permission to garnish your wages. They may also petition the court for a judgment lien. A lien will be placed on your assets, e.g., your home or car. So when you sell any of your assets, the creditor will take a share of the proceeds.

In most cases, you can't be jailed for not paying a debt unless you fail to appear in court and the judge issues a warrant of arrest against you for contempt of court.

For this reason, it's always advisable to take a collection lawsuit seriously and respond to it in time.

How to respond to a collection lawsuit

Most credit card companies often sell their debts or delegate the duty of following up on credit card debts to independent debt collectors. For this reason, a debt collector might contact you to pay the debt on behalf of the credit company. If you fail to make any payments, the debt collection agency can file a lawsuit against you in court.

It's always advisable to respond to a lawsuit as soon as you're served; SoloSuit can help you file an answer document if you don't know where to start.

But before doing this, there are a few things you should do. These include:

Verify that the debt is yours

Sometimes debt collectors make mistakes and sue people for debt they don't even owe. These mistakes are rare, but they do happen. In some cases, the debt may be inflated and not what you originally owe the credit card company.

To avoid being a victim of such mistakes, request documentation from the debt collectors verifying that the debt has been assigned to them.

You'll need to make the request in writing and then send it by mail to the debt collection agency. The debt collector will then respond by sending a copy of the credit card agreement between you and the credit company.

They will also attach proof that the debt has been assigned to them. After verifying that the debt is indeed yours, evaluate the other options as discussed below.

Make the right affirmative defense with SoloSuit.

Request a settlement

This is the best option if you want to avoid going to trial and paying legal fees. You can contact the credit company and discuss a payment plan with them. Often, creditors may accept a lump sum payment in exchange for forgiving the remaining debt amount or an installment plan.

If you don't know how to pursue a settlement agreement on your own, you can hire a lawyer to represent you in the negotiations. However, there's no guarantee that the credit company will accept a deal with you. If you agree on a payment plan, ensure you put the agreement in writing to prevent any other issues from arising in the future.

Settle your credit card debt.

Pay the Debt in Full

Settling the debt in full is the best option to consider if you can afford to pay the full amount. It resolves the debt account immediately and helps avoid a lawsuit. However, the collection account will remain on your credit report for at least seven years, and there won't be much difference in your credit rating even if you settle the debt in full.

File for Bankruptcy

This is the last resort to consider if you can't pay the debt and face the risk of wage garnishment. You'll need to consult a bankruptcy attorney to help you with the process of filing for bankruptcy before the court enters a judgment against you.

There's nothing more stressful than struggling to pay your credit card debt and facing a collection lawsuit at the same time. Worse still, the court can rule against you and give the creditor power to take measures such as wage garnishment or judgment lien.

For this reason, it's always advisable to respond to a collection lawsuit within the stipulated time. SoloSuit is a great place to start if you're looking for a fast, attorney-approved response to your debt collection lawsuit.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

Get Started

>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate

>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit: A Student Solution To Give Utah Debtors A Fighting Chance

Can credit card companies take you to court?

Yes, credit card companies can take you to court for failure to pay. If you’ve been sued for credit card debt, it’s because you’ve gone several months without making payments.

Note that credit card companies have to file a debt lawsuit within the statute of limitations in your state. The statute of limitations is a deadline set by state laws that prevents people from being sued for old credit card debt. The statute of limitations on credit card debt is usually around 6 years, but it depends on which state you live in.

If your credit card company files a lawsuit against you after the statute of limitations has passed, you can use this information as an affirmative defense in your case to win.

Check your state’s statute of limitations on credit card debt using the calculator below:

Statute of Limitations Calculator

The Satute of Limitations

This calculator is for educational purposes only.

How to Answer a Summons for debt collection in all 50 states

Here's a list of guides on how to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in each state:

The Ultimate 50 State Guide

Guides on how to resolve debt with every debt collector

Are you being sued by a debt collector? We’re making guides on how to resolve debt with each one.

Resolve your debt with your creditor

Some creditors, banks, and lenders have an internal collections department. If they come after you for a debt, Solosuit can still help you respond and resolve the debt. Here’s a list of guides on how to resolve debt with different creditors.

Settle your medical debt

Having a health challenge is stressful, but dealing medical debt on top of it is overwhelming. Here are some resources on how to manage medical debt.

Guides on arbitration

If the thought of going to court stresses you out, you’re not alone. Many Americans who are sued for credit card debt utilize a Motion to Compel Arbitration to push their case out of court and into arbitration.

Below are some resources on how to use an arbitration clause to your advantage and win a debt lawsuit.

Stop calls from debt collectors

Do you keep getting calls from an unknown number, only to realize that it’s a debt collector on the other line? If you’ve been called by any of the following numbers, chances are you have collectors coming after you, and we’ll tell you how to stop them.

Federal debt collection laws can protect you

Knowing your rights makes it easier to stand up for your rights. Below, we’ve compiled all our articles on federal debt collection laws that protect you from unfair practices.

Debt collection laws in all 50 states

Debt collection laws vary by state, so we have compiled a guide to each state’s debt collection laws to make it easier for you to stand up for your rights—no matter where you live.

Statute of limitations on debt state guides

Like all debt collection laws, the statute of limitations on debt varies by state. So, we wrote a guide on each state’s statutes. Check it out below.

Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection by State (Best Guide)

Check the status of your court case

Don’t have time to go to your local courthouse to check the status of your case? We’ve created a guide on how to check the status of your case in every state, complete with online search tools and court directories.

How to stop wage garnishment in your state

Forgot to respond to your debt lawsuit? The judge may have ordered a default judgment against you, and with a default judgment, debt collectors can garnish your wages. Here are our guides on how to stop wage garnishment in all 50 states.

Other wage garnishment resources

How to settle a debt in your state

Debt settlement is one of the most effective ways to resolve a debt and save money. We’ve created a guide on how to settle your debt in all 50 states. Find out how to settle in your state with a simple click and explore other debt settlement resources below.

How to settle with every debt collector

Not sure how to negotiate a debt settlement with a debt collector? We are creating guides to help you know how to start the settlement conversation and increase your chances of coming to an agreement with every debt collector.

Other debt settlement resources

Personal loan and debt relief reviews

We give a factual review of the following debt consolidation, debt settlement, and loan organizations and companies to help you make an informed decision before you take on a debt.

How to repair and improve your credit score

Debt has a big impact on your credit. Below is a list of guides on how to repair and improve your credit, even while managing major debt.

How to resolve student loan debt

Struggling with student debt? SoloSuit’s got you covered. Below are resources on handling student loan debt.

Civil law legal definitions

You can represent yourself in court. Save yourself the time and cost of finding an attorney, and use the following resources to understand legal definitions better and how they may apply to your case.

Get answers to these FAQs on debt collection

How-to debt guides

Learn more with these additional debt resources


It only takes 15 minutes.
And 50% of our customers' cases have been dismissed in the past.

"Finding yourself on the wrong side of the law unexpectedly is kinda scary. I started researching on YouTube and found SoloSuit's channel. The videos were so helpful, easy to understand and encouraging. When I reached out to SoloSuit they were on it. Very professional, impeccably prompt. Thanks for the service!" – Heather

Get Started

Not sued yet?
Use our Debt Validation Letter.

Our Debt Validation Letter is the best way to respond to a collection letter. Many debt collectors will simply give up after receiving it.

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Can a Credit Card Company Sue Me? (2024)
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