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When You Owe Money
Table of Contents, Introduction and Definitions
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IMPORTANT NOTICE This information is not meant to be legal advice or to
replace the advice you should receive from an attorney. There are times
when it would be wise to consult a lawyer and other times when it is
essential to do so. Always remember, each individual case is unique. This
information applies to general consumer situations and should help you to
avoid many problems before they happen. If you have additional
questions or want legal advice, follow this link to find the
Prairie State office nearest you. |
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SECTION
CONTENTS
Content Updated: January 2006
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About These Materials
If you owe money to a creditor, the following articles will tell you
what the creditor can do lawfully to collect from you. It will tell you
some of the common methods and tactics which creditors use to collect
debts. It will give you important information to deal with these methods.
It will explain your rights with regard to collection agencies and will
tell you how to respond to a collector's lawsuit. It will explain what a
court judgment means and how to protect your money and property when a
creditor tries to collect on a court judgment.
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Three Ways Creditors Try to Push Consumers
Around
Dealing With Intimidation and Harassment
Dealing With Reports to a Credit Reporting
Agency
When It's Good to Refinance and When It Isn't
Some Legal Terms
What Collection Agencies Cannot Do
What Collection Agencies Must Do
What You Can Do if the Collection Agency is
Breaking the Law
Will a Creditor Sue on a Debt?
How to Respond to a Collector's Lawsuit
How to Present Your Defenses or Counterclaims
to the Court
The Judgment
How to Appeal
Citation to Discover Assets [on the Debtor]
Citation to Discover Assets [on Third Parties]
Wage Deductions
Non-Wage Garnishment
Judgment Liens and Enforcement of Judgments
Against Real Estate
What Are Your Exemption Rights?
Putting Money from an Exempt Source In the Bank
How to Claim Your Exemption Rights
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Table of Contents
A Few Definitions
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A Few Definitions Back
The following terms are used throughout "When You Owe Money"
- Consumer or Debtor - the person who owes money to a creditor.
Most frequently, the debt arises from a sale or from a loan.
- Creditor - the person or entity to whom you owe money. A
creditor may be the seller or it may be a bank or other financial
institution which holds your contract.
- Default means that you have not kept up on your payments as
they have come due.
- Exemptions - certain kinds and amounts of your property or
money which the law says you can stop creditors from taking. Creditors
cannot take exempt property.
- Security Interest - certain rights in your property which you
give to a creditor. This happens when you put the property up as
collateral to get a loan or to get credit for a purchase. Sometimes
the property you use for collateral is the item you are borrowing
money to buy, and sometimes it is other possessions you already own.
By giving a security interest in an item of property, you are giving
the creditor the right to repossess it if you default.
- Plaintiff - Person or company who sues.
- Defendant - Person who is sued.
- Complaint - Legal document that says who plaintiff is suing
and what plaintiff wants from defendant.
- Summons - Document that tells you to come to court or to file
an answer to the complaint by a certain time.
- Judgment - What the judge decides. If the judge decides you
owe money, there will be a judgment against you.
- Citation to Discover Assets - The legal document that tells
the person who already has a judgment against them to come back to
court and answer the creditor's questions about income and property.
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A Few Definitions
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