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How to Settle a Debt Collection Lawsuit - Attorney Q&A

Written by Hannah Locklear
Last updated on May 13, 2026

Summary: To settle a debt collection lawsuit, file an Answer to prevent default judgment, use disclosure documents for leverage, negotiate knowing offers aren't admissible in court, and check if statute of limitations has expired. Solo can help you respond properly and SoloSettle connects you directly with collectors to negotiate settlements.

Getting sued for debt can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't mean you're powerless. Every year, millions of Americans face debt collection lawsuits, yet many don't realize they have options for resolving these cases through settlement rather than going to trial.

Consumer attorney John Skiba recently joined The Debt Hotline to share expert strategies for settling debt collection lawsuits. His advice is clear: communication and action are your best tools for turning a lawsuit into an opportunity for resolution.


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File an Answer immediately after being served with a lawsuit

When you receive a summons and complaint, your immediate response determines everything that follows. According to John:

"You need to respond. A written Answer is typically required in most jurisdictions so that you don't end up with a default because it becomes increasingly more difficult to settle if they already have a default judgment against you."

Filing an Answer within your state's deadline (typically 20 to 40 days) prevents collectors from obtaining a default judgment against you. This simple step keeps you in control of the situation rather than letting the court decide in your absence.

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Filing an Answer gives you leverage in settlement negotiations

Beyond preventing default judgment, filing an Answer triggers important procedural requirements that work in your favor. Most jurisdictions require the plaintiff to provide initial disclosure about 30 to 40 days after you file your Answer.

John explains:

"They're required to provide you additional information or documentation in the form of what's called an initial disclosure. That can also give you a lot of information to help give a little more leverage, maybe to get a better overall settlement."

This disclosure process forces debt collectors to show their cards. They must reveal:

  • Documents they plan to use as evidence
  • Witnesses they intend to call
  • Their legal theory for the case
  • Proof of ownership for debt buyers
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Settlement offers can't hurt you in court

One of the biggest fears people have about negotiating is that making an offer admits guilt. John clarifies this important legal protection: "Settlement offers are not admissible in court. It's usually rule 408 in the rules of evidence for most jurisdictions."

This means you can negotiate freely without worrying that your willingness to settle will be used against you if the case goes to trial. The legal system encourages settlement discussions, so you're protected when engaging in good faith negotiations.

Timing your settlement offer correctly maximizes your negotiating power

The best time to make a settlement offer is after receiving the initial disclosure documents. This timing gives you maximum information about the collector's case while maintaining your strongest negotiating position.

John recommends looking through all disclosure documents carefully, particularly for debt buyer cases involving companies like Midland Funding or Portfolio Recovery Associates.

Check for:

  • Proper documentation of debt ownership
  • Complete chain of title from original creditor to current owner
  • Unexpired statute of limitations
  • Accurate account information and balances

Create a realistic settlement budget before making any offers

Before making any offer, determine what you can realistically afford. Consider both lump sum payments and payment plan options. John advises, "Come up with something that's realistic for you and then propose it. The worst thing, you don't want to offer something that is not realistic for your situation."

Remember that whatever you offer initially, expect a counteroffer. "I don't care if you offer 98%, they're going to come back with 99%," John notes. Give yourself negotiating room by starting lower than your maximum budget.

Statute of limitations can give you leverage against collectors

If your debt is beyond your state's statute of limitations, you have tremendous leverage. While collectors can still contact you about time-barred debt, they cannot successfully sue you for it.

"If you know that the statute of limitations has expired, they can't sue you," John explains. In these situations, you might settle for as little as 10% of the original amount since the collector has no legal enforcement power.

Different states have different limitation periods—ranging from three years in New York to six years in Arizona—so knowing your state's rules is crucial.

Handle FDCPA violations and unauthorized withdrawals properly

If you're on a payment plan and notice unauthorized withdrawals from your account, this could constitute a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violation. John suggests checking with your bank to determine where the money went and potentially consulting with an FDCPA attorney if collectors took more than authorized.

The FDCPA protects consumers from abusive collection practices, and violations can provide additional leverage in settlement negotiations or even result in separate legal claims.

Secured debt requires different strategies

Not all debt collection cases involve credit cards or medical bills. When dealing with secured debt like mortgages, the stakes are higher because your home is collateral.

"All debt is not created equal," John emphasizes. "If you're dealing with a mortgage loan, it's a secured debt, there's collateral attached to it." For foreclosure threats, he recommends consulting with a real estate or bankruptcy attorney quickly, as delays can put your home at risk.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy can stop foreclosure proceedings and provide time to work out payment arrangements, but this requires immediate action.

Use disclosure rule failures as a defense strategy

Sometimes debt collectors fail to provide required initial disclosure, giving you a powerful defense. If you go to trial and the collector hasn't disclosed their evidence or witnesses, you can object to everything they try to present.

"If they truly have not disclosed anything, that's a good strong legal position to get the case actually just dismissed and dismissed with prejudice."

This isn't just a technicality; it's a fundamental requirement that protects your due process rights.

Debt buyers face unique challenges proving their cases

Companies like Jefferson Capital, LVNV Funding, and Portfolio Recovery Associates face unique challenges proving their cases. They must demonstrate:

  • The debt originally belonged to you
  • The correct amount owed
  • Proper transfer of ownership from the original creditor
  • An unbroken chain of title through any intermediate owners

These requirements create opportunities for challenges and often motivate debt buyers to settle rather than proceed to trial.

Medical debt receives different treatment under evolving regulations

Medical debt faces evolving regulations that can work in your favor. While proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules about medical debt reporting were put on hold with the change in administration, medical debt still receives different treatment than credit card debt.

Courts tend to be more sympathetic to defendants in medical collection cases, understanding that medical expenses are often unexpected and unplanned.

Real listeners successfully navigated their debt collection lawsuits

During the podcast, we heard from real people facing debt collection lawsuits. Their questions and situations demonstrate that with proper guidance, consumers can successfully navigate these challenges.

One listener asked about settlement after filing an Answer, while another dealt with unexpected withdrawals from a payment plan. Each situation had specific strategies, showing that proactive response and expert guidance lead to better outcomes.

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Build a strong defense strategy whether settling or going to trial

Whether you're negotiating settlement or preparing for trial, having a systematic approach improves your chances of success. Document everything, keep detailed records of all communications, and don't be afraid to ask questions about the collector's evidence.

Remember that being sued doesn't mean you automatically owe the debt. Collectors must prove their case, and many are willing to settle rather than invest in lengthy litigation.

Take action today

The worst thing you can do when facing a debt collection lawsuit is nothing. Whether you choose to fight the case or negotiate a settlement, taking prompt action protects your rights and improves your outcomes.

Solo provides the tools and support you need to respond properly to debt lawsuits and negotiate favorable settlements. Our platform connects you directly with collectors, eliminating the stress of phone calls while ensuring you get the best possible resolution.

Don't let a debt collection lawsuit control your financial future. With the right approach and expert guidance, you can turn this challenge into an opportunity for a fresh start.

Transcript

George
If you open the mailbox and there it's a debt collection letter, suddenly your heart sinks. What do you do next? This is the Debt Hotline hosted by Team Solo. Whether you're here for crazy, real life debt stories or tips on resolving your debts for good, you've come to the right place. I'm George, founder and CEO of Solo, the trusted platform that's helped hundreds of thousands of people respond to debt lawsuits and resolve debt. Join us weekly to hear from debt experts, debt collectors and debt survivors. No shame, no judgment to straight answers, and a fresh start.

Alrighty folks, I am George, founder of Solo and host of the Debt Hotline today with us, my friend John Skiba. Sean, can you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself?

John:
Yeah, George, appreciate you having me on. Again, I am an attorney in the state of Arizona. My practice focuses really on consumer debt type issues. I do a lot of bankruptcy work, chapter seven, chapter 13, and I do a lot of representing consumers who have been sued by creditors. We deal with wage garnishment, debt collection lawsuits, debt settlement, all those kinds of things. So yeah, we do that in Arizona and grateful for the opportunity to be here with you again.

George:
Fantastic. Always happy to have you on the show. And at the end of the show, we will be announcing the winner of our debt payoff giveaway, so you'll want to stay on until the end when we announce the winner for that. So we're talking about specifically our little fun intro topic today is how to settle a debt collection lawsuit. So John, what are the basics on settling a debt collection lawsuit?

John:
Well, I mean usually what I tell people, if you're getting sued by a creditor, if someone shows up the process, server drops off the complaint and the summons, I generally tell people you need to answer it. A written answer is typically required in most jurisdictions so that you don't end up with a default because it becomes increasingly more difficult to settle if they already have a default judgment against you or if they're starting wage garnishment, all those horrible things that follow from having the default.

So my recommendation is to communicate, communicate often, reach out to the plaintiff's attorney and see if it's something that you can get resolved even before an answer is due. But if not, I often will file an answer too because of one thing is usually in most jurisdictions, they're required to provide you additional information or documentation in the form of what's called an initial disclosure about a month after you file your answer, and that can also give you a lot of information to help give a little more leverage maybe to get a better overall settlement. But the main thing is taking action. You don't want to let this thing go to a default because that's when things get really bad and that's when they start to tell you more pound sand, they're not going to take a lesser amount. Getting an answer filed will be a good strong first step to getting it settled.

George:
Fantastic. So we have quite a few people who have left us great voicemails. I'm going to follow up our first recording for that.

Hey, how are you doing? I was trying to see what would be the next step after the debt collector sends you the discovery of the charges on that debt. We went through the process and just said kind of prove it and then now they sent back basically the discovery and I just want to know usually is that the time that you present an offer with them, a counter offer, or what would knowledgeably be the next step of what we should do? Thanks.

George
Alrighty, thanks so much for leaving us that message. John?

John:
Yeah, I think what he's talking about there is what I was mentioning before the disclosure, so you file an answer with the court, usually it's 20 to 40 days later, they have to provide you with their initial disclosure, which is basically where they're showing their cards. Both sides have to show any documents or evidence that they're going to use, and so it sounds like, okay, now they've got the disclosure, the question, when is the appropriate time to enter or offer a settlement proposal? I always say look through the documents, particularly if you're being sued by what we call junk debt buyers like Midland credit portfolio recovery companies that have purchased the debt from the original creditor. I always go through all that with a fine tooth comb, make sure that there's proper documentation, proper evidence that they show that your account has been transferred amongst the various entities.

I go through all that. I go make sure that the statute of limitations has not expired and then I think that it's a good time to reach out with a settlement proposal. The one thing with civil lawsuits, settlement offers are not admissible in court. It's usually rule 4 0 8 in the rules of evidence For most jurisdictions, basically the rules say, look, they want the parties to engage, so if you offer a settlement, it's not where they can take it back to the judge and say, Hey judge, he already offered to pay X amount. Clearly he owes the whole thing. I say, look at what they provided, look at what you have and then also put together what I call a settlement budget. What can you realistically afford? Can you afford some type of lump sum? Is it something where you're going to need you to do a payment plan, come up with something that's realistic for you and then propose it?

The worst thing, you don't want to offer something that is not realistic for your situation because you don't want to put yourself in a situation where it's going to be a negative thing. And also I always say, whatever you offer, I don't care if you offer 98%, they're going to come back with 99%. So I'd say give yourself a little bit of wiggle room and when you're submitting a proposal, but yeah, that's a perfect time after you receive that initial disclosure, that's a good time to present a settlement proposal, see where it's at. If it's something that doesn't work for you, you can continue to litigate the case as it gets closer to trial. I have often found as cases get closer to trial, a lot of the law firms that represent debt collectors are much more anxious to get it settled. They have a lot of cases. The last thing they want is another trial, and you may be able to get a deal there, but I think that's not a bad time right after you have the initial disclosure that's been provided to you.

George:

Yeah, that's for sure. I'll add this is definitely a situation that we hear about frequently and for solo, I just want to emphasize that the main path for people who are coming to solo is usually settling or resolving the debt fully is the best path for you. Sometimes we have people who are coming to us where they are victims of identity theft or they're being sued by a mistake. However, if somebody in that case definitely don't pay money that you don't owe. Right? And if you do recognize the debt they you're being sued for, we find that the best path for people is to just get that paid back and resolve it fully. With that, something that we point to is our solo steps. So just emphasizing some of these steps to really getting out of debt and prospering. First one for people who are coming to us is respond to your lawsuit. If you're being sued, get the lawsuit fully resolved and then settle your lawsuit. It's probably going to be the best option for you and then settle any of your other debts, right? So you can settle other debts on solo as well. You can do a soft credit check, check your credit, look into any other accounts that you might have. You might have like 10 or 20 other accounts that might be good candidates for settling so you can work on getting those settled as well.

Okay, so Roger says, I filed an answer to a creditor lawsuit on May 27th. No response. I sent a settlement offer through solo and it was counter at the amount of the claim debt. What is my next step?

John:
So again, the great thing you did, you filed the answer because that buys you some time. That takes a lot of the pressure off of what you're trying to do here because you're not running the risk of a default. Most jurisdictions, you're looking at about a 30 to 40 day window before you're going to get your initial disclosure, but you submitted the settlement offer through solo's platform, which again is great, and the counter came back for the amount that was owed. Like I said, if it's something that works for you, if they came back with a payment plan or something like that, great, you can get it done and get it settled.

If it's not something that works for you or you want to get something that's at least somewhat better, somewhat discounted, you have to be okay to say, okay, we don't have it right now, or you could counter back. There usually is some back and forth that goes on before a final agreement is reached. So don't be afraid to say no or to submit a counter. Maybe that's somewhat higher than what you submitted before. If they're still not coming down, just continue on in the case until you can get a better situation. My mantra is they want money, you're offering money. There's got to be some middle ground that can be reached, so just keep moving along and don't be discouraged just because they came back with a full offer right from the get go.

George:
Great. We've got another question here from Tori. I was paying creditor monthly payment plan then last month out of the blue I got money pulled out of my account, $70 more saying it was court ordered. Is that legal? I didn't receive anything prior.

John:
That seems unusual to me if you had a payment, well, I guess it says your paying the creditor monthly if it's a set payment plan with that creditor, it would be unusual for them to take more out than what they've agreed to. Depending on who the creditor is. If it's a debt collector, they could run into some F- D-C-P-A liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You might want to double check that there's not something else out there because usually if money just gets pulled from account or garnished, sometimes there's maybe a judgment out there that you may not know of. I hear literally every day in my law practice here in Arizona from people that get judgments who truly had no idea they even existed. So you may want to talk to your bank, see exactly where it was coming from. If they did pull money out of your account, that's more than you authorized them normally to do. I mean, that's something where you could talk to an F-D-C-P-A attorney. I don't do that kind of stuff, but there are attorneys all over the country that handle that who may be able to help you.

George:
Okay, great. Our general path that we recommend for people is to respond to your lawsuit, settle your lawsuit, settle other debts you have, make a $1,000 stash like an emergency fund for you to fall back on, and then at that point you can really start building wealth. We recommend automating investments into index funds, boosting your credit score to 800 or above, and really just generally prospering from there on out. So with our solo community, we are really helping you get all the way from rock bottom, which is oftentimes being sued for a debt and bouncing back all the way to the top and prospering long term. That is the hope and the intent that we have for everybody who's listening in today and everyone who's coming solo. Alrighty. We have another question from a caller

Hi. Question is if there's something in collections, let's say portfolio credit like my wife has, it's something from Barclay Bank from, well, it shows the last payment made was 6 4 22. They haven't done any legal or anything like that. Legal action. So the question is, since the New York, the statute of limitation has passed six four of 25, they haven't done anything. What happens then? I mean, legally they can't go after you. What's good to do? I know we can write those letters, but they have to show all the stuff, valid debts and this and that and sometimes they'll take things off. But after the three year statute of limitations, what's a good way to go about things? Thank you.

All right. What's your take, John?

John
Yeah, I mean if you know that the statute of limitations has expired, so he said in New York it's three years and it does vary from state to state. Like in Arizona where I practice, it's six years. So if it's outside that statute of limitations period, and you know that for sure, I mean one, you need to understand that that means that they can't sue you. It doesn't mean that they can't ask you to voluntarily pay it. It doesn't mean they can't call you and still be annoying and send you the snotty letters and all that kind of stuff so they can still try to collect it and it can still show up on your credit report can be a collection account for up to seven years, so you may still have to kind of deal with it. However, the teeth that the collector has is now gone because really their hammer is a lawsuit.

They want to sue. You get a judgment because of the judgment. They can garnish wages, they can levy your bank account, they can lien your property. If they don't have that, I mean one way to get it if you want it resolved because in that situation a statute's relatively short compared to others throughout the nation, they could still probably harass you for another four years at least credit score wise, you could still probably try to settle it, but you have the leverage now and to me trying to settle a debt where the statute has expired, I mean that's like a less than 10% offer and I don't know if I would offer anything more than that on somewhere the statutes expired because it's if they say no, then they don't really have any other options then just to kind of be annoying.

George:
Right. I would say there's still some value in paying off a debt post statute of limitations, right? As John's saying, it might make a lot of sense to get a really great deal on that, and I said, you can get 'em wrapped up for pretty cheap, even though you can't necessarily be sued, you can still be in collections outside of court on post statutory debts and counsel could make sense for a lot of people just to get those wrapped up. They want to pay you back the money that they may have borrowed and they just want to get things really wrapped up with a little bow on it. All right. We got another question here from a listener that called in. This is from Carl.

I need action taken for Rushmore servicing. They're a debt collector. They're telling me that they're going to do a foreclosure on my property and I don't understand how if all my payments are up. I paid my city taxes last year. I paid my county taxes last year. They did not take in hand with JP Morgan Chase. They went ahead and paid it again this year, paid my city, then I paid my insurance. They turned around and paid my insurance again. All this is before the deadlines and I waited a month this last month here and I canceled the other insurance and bought new insurance and then they turned around and paid for that insurance again and they telling me that I'm in default.

John:
Yeah, I mean this is kind of different than the other types of debts that we deal with. I always say all debt is not created equal and if you're dealing with Rushmore servicing, like you said, it's a mortgage loan, so it's a secured debt, there's collateral attached to it. Apparently a home when there's an issue in relation to collection on secured debts, you have to approach that differently because if you don't pay your mortgage, if you don't pay your car payment, they have lien rights. They can come in and foreclose on the home, repossess the vehicle. So it also depends from state to state. Some states require what's called a judicial foreclosure where they actually go through a court process. So you'd get served just like you would like in a debt collection lawsuit, and then you could present evidence and information as far as why the foreclosure shouldn't go through in a state like Arizona where I live, they do it through trustee sales, so there's no judicial process.

They literally sell 'em on the courthouse steps out of a movie or something. And so when you're dealing with a mortgage like that, I think because we're dealing with an asset, we're not dealing with a $5,000 credit card, we're dealing with an asset that's very large and that you have probably a lot invested into. I usually recommend talking to an attorney with secure debts because you may need to file a lawsuit to resolve that issue. I always say you do have in your back pocket to a chapter 13 bankruptcy. As soon as a bankruptcy case is filed, it would stop a foreclosure proceeding and give you some time to be able to try to work that issue out. But that's one where you may want to get some assistance from a lawyer, maybe a real estate or a bankruptcy attorney in your area to see exactly what's going on with the mortgage lender. You don't want to put the homer risk. That could cause some problems there, obviously.

George:
Yeah, definitely. You don't want to put the home at risk, you don't want to lose the home.

John:
And too much delay could cause that. So that's definitely something take action on quickly.

George:
Okay, I got a question from that digital girl. I go to court next week with LVNV and I'm in the state of Georgia. I didn't receive a disclosure after I filed my answer. Can I use this as a defense in court and do you have any additional tips? Thanks.

John:
The point of the disclosure statement is both sides have to show their cards. There's none of this Perry Mason showing up with the secret evidence or whatever. Everybody has to disclose everything well in advance. That includes witnesses, documents, what their theory is, what your defense is, and so if you go into court and they have not provided you a disclosure, absolutely I would object all over the place if they try to introduce any evidence, if they try to call any witnesses at all, I would object. And so I've had situations like that. Usually what I do is I go into court the day of trial. Often the judge will ask if there's anything they need to take care of before we get started and I just raise my hand and say, you know what, judge? The plaintiff never provided us a disclosure. We don't have the names of any witnesses, I don't have any documents, so we're going to object to them admitting anything, and I bring it right up in the beginning.

In a situation like that, if they truly have not disclosed anything, that's a good strong legal position to get the case actually just dismissed and dismissed with prejudice. So absolutely that's something that you can use as a defense. Just make sure you raise that issue. Even if the judge overrules you continue to raise it because sometimes I run into people that want to appeal things when they actually go to trial. If you can't appeal something you didn't object to, because the court of appeals, their job is to look and see did the judge make any mistakes on the rulings that he was giving you? And if he didn't raise the objection, then there's nothing really to appeal, but absolutely that's something I would bring up is failure to disclose is really one of the stronger defenses that you're going to have as a consumer.

George:
Is that like a technicality or is that a pretty grievous thing that it would actually get dismissed with prejudice?

John:
Well, if it's at trial, so like this one, say if it's at trial and they show up and they have not disclosed evidence, it's a huge thing. It is not just a technicality. I mean it's a complete particularly for an attorney. An attorney's going to be representing LVNV to fail to disclose. The judge will hold them accountable and essentially they'll tell them they can't use any of the evidence that they've brought for that date, and so they're in a situation where the plaintiff can't prove its case. If they don't disclose a witness, they can't use that witness. If they didn't disclose the bill of sale or monthly statements, they can't use it. And so in essence, they have no evidence to be able to support their case and it's not even a dismissal. You're actually just getting judgment in favor of the defendant.

George:
Nice. I'm glad you're up to date on your rules of evidence. So this all comes back to folks. Rules of evidence is real important stuff.

John:
Absolutely.

George:
Okay, let's see. We have a question from Heather.

Hi. My question pertains to when you've had a lawsuit dismissed for debt collection because the judge granted a motion to compel arbitration and then the plaintiff wants to refile the case. I wanted to know is it possible to get the case removed to federal court under the Fair Arbitration Act and if so, does Smith and I think is the case name apply to get the stay in federal court? Thank you.

John:
Alright, what is your take? Yeah, a couple issues there. I mean, so you could file, if your credit card agreement is subject to an arbitration clause, the caller is saying that they filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit to have it heard in private arbitration. So there's a private arbitration companies, the American Arbitration Association, the other one is Jams. There are these private companies where essentially you're renting a judge to resolve your dispute, and so if you have one of those arbitration clauses in the terms and conditions of your credit card agreement, you can ask the court to dismiss the case to allow you to pursue arbitration. Now, if the court dismisses it, it's usually without prejudice, meaning that it can be refiled again, but it's something where if you do that and then you don't pursue arbitration, either you don't or the creditor doesn't, then the creditor will be allowed to refile the lawsuit if it's dismissed without prejudice, as long as it's within the statute of limitations, they still have time to bring that lawsuit again even though it was already dismissed.

Now as it relates to taking into federal court, federal courts only have jurisdiction over cases in very limited circumstances. One, I mean the caller mentioned a federal statute. If there's a federal statute that is in dispute, you often see lawsuits under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act brought in federal court or the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Those are usually brought in federal court or if there's a diversity jurisdiction where the parties are from different states. Usually in cases like this, I can tell you I don't usually do that as far as trying to push it into federal court, I usually try to actually, if the court grants the dismissal for arbitration, I will file the arbitration case even if the creditor has not. I have found that often if you get into arbitration, the creditors want nothing to do with that and they'll often either give you a settlement or even back out completely. So I think taking it into federal court might be a little more too complicated, maybe a little overkill for the situation. We just pursuing it through arbitration would be usually the better route to go there.

George:
Alrighty, fantastic. I have another question from Erica In Virginia: I fell behind on my payments because prior to moving to Virginia, the computer company I worked for was taken over by another after our owner died. With all of the politics, culture and ageism involved with this transition, many including myself after 28 years of study employment, found it too toxic to continue started here, Eric sounds like a tough transition. I am presently being sued for a past debt with Upstart that was purchased by a collection company, Jefferson Capital. Suffice to say the initial loan company closed the file and charged off this account against my wishes to work out an affordable payment plan. I had already paid 4,000 at this point. The debt was subsequently purchased by Jefferson Capital on my Experian credit report. A zero balance is associated with this account. It's interesting. How is this even possible and what recourse do I have to once and for all settle this matter in my favor?

John:
Yeah, I mean Jefferson Capital, I like Jefferson Capital cases. I find that often their paperwork can be lacking and maybe that's some of what you're dealing with there where your credit report is showing a different balance. Those are all things I bring up in the lawsuit for a couple reasons. One, I think they bear the burden of proof. They've got to show not only that you had the underlying account, they've got to show how much is owed that you breached it, and then they have the added burden of showing that it was transferred from original creditor to Jefferson Capital. Jefferson Capital also often purchases debt from other debt buyers, so sometimes there's two or three different companies that they have to show this unbroken chain of title. All of those things though can be used as evidence and things that you would want to disclose.

The fact that your credit report shows a zero balance, the fact that you made payments before you said you made $4,000 of payments on this, often those things are not recorded accurately. Those can be the basis of doing it. And then not only that, but Jefferson Capital, like I said, they've got to show ownership. In my experience in litigating against Jefferson Capital, that's where a lot of their documents are somewhat vague or not really clear, and those are things to point out to the court that look, maybe it doesn't show that your specific account was transferred between these various entities. And then the underlying to all of that is settlement. The more that you can show that you have a strong defense, the more likely it is they're going to take a lower settlement and just being involved. We always talk about showing up as more than half the battle in these situations. It absolutely is just being consistent, making sure you're showing up to court hearings, making sure you're responding to anything that they submit to the court, and then in the background trying to negotiate something, you should be able to get something resolved.

George:
Fantastic, that sounds great. Question here from Sherry. What about medical debt that sues you for not making large enough payments, won't accept the reasonable payment plan? So they sent me to collections and the collection company sent a sub.

John:
I mean, medical debt is, it's different. Pre-law, it's different how as far as the credit reporting issues, it's different. Most medical collections, it's going to be delinquent at least a year before they pursue it and the fact that they filed a lawsuit, that's pretty aggressive. In my experience for medical type debt, we are seeing it more and more though where they are bringing suits over delinquent medical debts. The issue as far as a payment plan, the creditors do not have to accept what you're posing. They may feel that it's more reasonable for you to pay the whole thing. Obviously if you can't do that, then it's in this type of situation. I approach medical debt the exact same way. I do find that courts tend to be more sympathetic towards defendants in medical collections cases. They understand that this is largely not something that was probably planned or that you intended to incur that there's a medical issue that obviously led to these bills. So I approach it though the same way. I do find in general that medical debt can be settled for less than maybe a typical credit card that a lot of them are more open to that. A lot of it depends if it's been bought or sold, that kind of thing. But otherwise I would say you treat it pretty much exactly the same way as you do like a credit card if a lawsuit's been filed.

George:
John, is my impression that medical debt is no longer reported on credit reports as it once was. Is that the case? Do you know? Is that actually a rumor?

John:
It's a good point. I believe that as well. I had a case recently where I dealt with this, so where that came from, all of these kinds of things actually are surprisingly political. And so what happened was under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the end of 2024, they proposed a new rule that said the medical debt would not be reported to the credit reporting agencies like TransUnion, Equifax, Experian. However, with the new Trump administration coming in, the CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is kind of on life support right now. There's questions whether that agency will even survive in its current state. That rule was revoked so well, I should say this, it never actually went into effect. So they can report it, however, I believe it's 120 days. It's got to be a delinquent at least 120 days before they can report it. On the credit report, it might be six months. The bottom line is they can report, whereas under the proposed CFPB rule, they would not have been allowed to report, but now they can. So they just have to wait a longer period of time, like a credit card. They're going to report 30 days when you're late medical debt, I believe it's 120 up to 180 days before they can report.

George:
That's interesting. So the CFPB was working on that rule, but then the CCF PB kind of got unplugged and now things are a little bit in limbo.

John:
Yeah, there was a lot of rules like that that were kind of in the process with the change of administrations. I think everything just got put on hold. That may be something that comes back, but at least right now that's not accurate. They can report. So in your experience, are most people reporting the medical debts or I don't see medical providers reporting it. I don't see the hospital sending these to the credit reporting agencies, but I do see collection companies or if a debt buyer purchases it, companies that are more set up to report to the credit bureaus, they are doing it, but I don't see it if it's staying in-house, no, I'm not seeing hospitals and medical providers doing it because really they're not set up to do it. But like this caller said that there is, if it's with a collection company or a lawsuit or it was bought by somebody, then yeah, we are seeing it.

George:
Okay. Very interesting. Let's see. We have a question from Cindy. I have a debt from a car loan and I have a payment arrangement with the bank that holds the loan. The arrangement was made through their lawyers. My financial situation has changed since I had made the payment arrangement. Am I able to renegotiate the payment arrangement for a lesser amount?

John:
I say yes. I do it all the time. If your situation, I mean usually it's something where you're negotiating from a payment plan to a lump sum, not something where you're just going to a lower payment or a shorter period of time, but there's no real harm in doing it. I mean, George probably knows, I mean contracts 1 0 1 in law school. Basically the concern is that if you have a deal and then you come back with some other type of deal that you're throwing the current deal out, I don't see that being the case. And my experience is that there is no harm in asking If you have a $10,000 payment plan that you're paying on and you've already paid and you come into five grand going in and saying, Hey, would you be willing just to call this good if I give you five grand? I haven't seen that be an issue, and a lot of creditors would be willing to take that. They'd be willing to get this closed out sooner. My experience though is I've seen the larger, particularly larger debt buyers, the Midlands, the Encore capitals, those, they kind of play a long game and some of them will say, no, we'll just take the higher amount, even if it's stretched out over time. But in the end, I don't think it hurts to ask if it's something that you can do.

George:
I suppose we're thinking that Sydney has a deficiency auto debt that she's dealing with. Is that what we're thinking here? She has a debt from a car loan, so folks listening probably means that she bought a car, she defaulted on payments, the car was repossessed, the creditor sold the car at auction or less than whatever Sydney probably hoped the car was worth. And then they sued her for the difference between what was the balance of the loan and the amount they sold the car for at auction. That might've been like they sold the car for 5,000. Balance on the loan was 7,000. They sued her for $2,000. Is that what we're thinking?

John:
Here? That's a good point. This wouldn't be a situation where you have just your regular car payment. You're trying to renegotiate the terms. Yeah, the car gets picked up, they sell it at auction. Any balance is still owed. We call it the deficiency balance. In most states. There's a very limited amount of time for the creditor to actually file the lawsuit. In Arizona where I am, it's four years, they have to file a lawsuit, but then you could negotiate a payoff there or payment plan or settle it like she's trying to do.

George:
Okay, sounds good. Folks. It's now time for us to announce the winner of the giveaway. Very excited to do that. So we have a bit of a message from Hannah who's with Solo that I'm going to share right now.

Hannah: Hey everyone, it's Hannah from Team Solo and we are just wrapping up solo's debt payoff giveaway, and I'm super excited to announce the winner of who will receive $4,700 to pay off towards their debt. We decided to host Solo's first ever debt payoff giveaway to celebrate our seventh anniversary as a company. And we also wanted to give someone a fresh start and a financial reset. $4,700 is the average debt amount that people get sued for on our platform. So we wanted to give someone a chance to pay off their debt and start over. So now one person is going to get to wipe that debt clean. Without further ado, let's randomly select a winner.

Drum roll please. Congratulations, Bianca Pez, you have been selected as solo's first ever debt payoff giveaway winner. We're super excited to help you pay off your debt and help you get a financial reset. To everyone who entered the giveaway, thank you so much for doing so. This won't be the last time that we post a giveaway like this, so keep following along for more announcements about giveaways in the future and keep working hard towards paying off your debt. Just know that SOLO is rooting for you. We believe in you, and we are working hard to create solutions that will help you resolve your debts and get back on track. Thanks so much for watching everyone, and congratulations again to Bianca for being our first ever debt payoff giveaway winner here at Solo.

George:
Fantastic. Thank you, Hannah. And we have Bianca on a call with us here. Bianca, I'm plugging you in now. Bianca, can you hear us?

Bianca
Hi everyone.

George:
Thanks so much for coming on the show. You're on here with me and John. How does it feel to win $4,700?

Bianca:
In disbelief? But I'm very happy when Hannah called me and I got the call, I was in shock. I never really won anything. So being that I won $4,700 was just a blessing for me. So I'm very excited that I won.

George:
Blessing. Glad to hear that. It is a blessing for you. That is fantastic. You want it because you're a winner. Be all good. You're a winner.

Bianca:
Yes.

George:
Glad to have you on the show. Glad that we are helping you out. What are you going to do with the money Disneyland? Are you going to put it towards the balance?

Bianca:
I'm actually going to pay what I owe in order to be financially free and not have that on my back. So when I received the car, I actually felt some weight lifted from my back knowing that I had the opportunity to pay some of my debt and finally be able to take a breather.

George:
Fantastic. Yeah, that was great. Glad you can take a breather as well. Glad you're putting that money towards good use and paying off any debts, the owe becoming debt free and working towards financial freedom and prosperity. John, anything you want to comment on?

John:
No, that's awesome. Congrats. That's a big chunk, like you were saying, trying to get out of debt. It's so helpful when you have a lump sum that you can negotiate with and to get things. It really just accelerates the whole process, allows you to not have any more payment plans, and so that's an awesome thing. That's a great thing. So congrats Bianca. There'll be really great for you.

Bianca:
Well, thank you. I appreciate it.

George:
Bianca. Very glad to have you a part of the solo community. Glad we could help you out. Alright, John. There we go. Bianca's going to do good things with that money. I'm sure putting that towards financial freedom. John, we can call that a show with one last question here from Tony. Do you believe that with the CFPB cuts we will be seeing an uptick in predatory lending from collections? I guess maybe

John:
Long-term it could. I largely saw that the CFPB, they did regulate and they would sanction various debt collectors. I don't know if it changed their behavior, some of the bad actors out there. I almost think that they were viewing some of these fines in that as kind of a cost of doing business because they would enter these consent orders saying, Hey, they're agreeing to not do these different things, and then five years later they would be sanctioned again for doing the same thing. So I think I can tell you to me, one of the biggest things that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau did, they have an awesome database of all the terms and conditions for pretty much every credit card that's ever been out there. And it's super helpful if you're doing things like wanting to see if there's an arbitration clause. You can look up your particular credit card thing right there online and you can use that as evidence.

So I don't think it'll go away completely. I mean I think it definitely serves a role there. It's just, it's weird kind of how it was kind of formed kind of in a political manner. And so it's kind of a political football between the two parties, so it kind of goes back and forth. But overall, I don't think that it will result in any substantial change. I mean, there's other regulations. There's the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act. There's a lot of those things that are already in place. And truthfully, legitimate debt collectors, they try to follow the rules. They're heavily regulated. It's not to say that the rules don't get broken, but in my experience, the law firms that are representing debt collectors, they're heavily regulated and there are big sanctions when they do make mistakes, they do make mistakes sometimes and lawyers like me hold them to account. But it is something where there is a framework in place already to help that. The CFPB was just kind of another layer to provide some additional resources for consumers.

George:
Okay. Yeah. Fantastic. And folks at solo, we maintain good relationships with many of the collectors across the industry so that you don't have to, so that we can just help you get settlements and resolutions, ASAP and get on your way to a debt-free prosperous life. And the really word on the street when we talk with collectors is that nothing really changed with the CFP PB getting cut. No collector is saying, yeah, let's break all the rules. Now. CFPB is gone array. That's not really the case with anybody I've spoken with. They all are still pretty interested in making sure they're compliant with whatever the highest standard might be and trying to abide by that. All right, folks, this is the debt hotline. Until next time, take care.

Disclaimer

The information presented in this podcast is intended strictly for general informational purposes and should not be construed as legal, financial, or investment advice. Solo and its hosts are not licensed attorneys, financial advisors, or other certified professionals. While select guests may hold active professional licenses, their contributions are purely for educational and thematic discussion. They're not delivering professional or personalized advice. Solo is not a law firm, does not offer legal representation and must not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel. It is also not engaged in debt, settlement, credit repair, or financial counseling services. SOLO provides self-directed software tools designed to support users in navigating their own legal and financial situations. Participation in this podcast is not establish an attorney-client relationship. Listeners are encouraged to consult with attorneys or licensed professionals for guidance specific to their circumstances. The opinions expressed by podcast participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of Solo Suit Inc. Doing business as solo or any affiliated organizations.

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