Alabama Debt Collection Lawsuit Questions — Part Three — What Are My Five Options?
You can find part one of this frequently asked question series on debt collection lawsuits here. And part two on being served with the lawsuit is here.
WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS WHEN SUED?
So let’s talk about what your real options are, not using some bogus settlement company or some law firm that has no licensed Alabama lawyer. What are your options when sued? Well, you have five of them.
- File bankruptcy,
- Fight the lawsuit on the own
- Settle the lawsuit on your own
- Hire a lawyer to fight it or
- You can hire a lawyer to settle it.
We’ll just quickly go through these and then we’ll cover them in more detail. (You can click on each one to take you the detailed discussion).
“Should I file bankruptcy?”
Bankruptcy is an extreme option when you are sued.
Very, very rare that it would be appropriate.
Maybe you are that person that it would be appropriate for most likely not.
You can take a look at it, but as far as actually deciding to do that, it would be very rare that, in my opinion, filing bankruptcy is a good idea.
“Should I fight the lawsuit on my own?”
There’s an old saying that, “A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for the client.”
The idea is you don’t want to represent yourself, and there’s a lot of wisdom to that.
But sometimes, in the right court, you can actually do this on your own and this can be your best option.
“Should I settle the lawsuit on my own?”
This can be a good option when sued. Now I think usually there are better options than this, but it may be that you want to settle this and you want to do this on your own, and that can certainly be a good option.
You need to be aware of the danger points in this but if you handle it correctly, this can be a fine option for you.
“Should I hire a lawyer to fight the case?”
This can be a great option but you must understand:
- The costs
- The benefits
- How your lawyer will handle the case
You need all of the above to make a good decision. We’ll talk about this when we focus in on this option.
“Should I hire a lawyer to settle the case?”
This can be a fine choice.
You just need to make sure you understand all the costs involved.
In other words, are you paying the debt collector any money?
If so, how much will you pay the collector?
How much will you pay your lawyer?
What’s the lawyer going to do for you?
So just make sure that you know what you’re getting into.
So now what?
We’ll go through each one of these options when sued in detail as we continue our series on debt collection lawsuit questions. Part four — filing bankruptcy — is covered here.
Thank you for reading this and I hope these questions — and answers — are helpful to you.
Feel free to call us if you have a question about a collection lawsuit in Alabama — you can call us at 205-879-2447 or fill out our contact form and we’ll email or call you right back.
Look forward to talking to you soon!