Q: Bank of America is suing me for not paying business card debt of $7000. I feel this is unfair practice in a Pandemic

A: I’m very sorry to hear about your current situation. The pandemic has placed countless individuals and businesses in detrimental positions due to little fault of their own. However, if the debt is legitimate, Bank of America has a right to file a lawsuit to recover the debt.

From my experience, you may be able to work out a settlement or affordable payment plan before a judgment is entered against you. Be sure to consult with a knowledgeable attorney to determine all available options. I wish you the best of luck.

A: If you are very sensitive or prone to anger, than stop here and read no further because you are not going to like this.

Frankly, I think your pain is largely self inflicted. If you can afford to pay 50% now, I have to believe you could have avoided a default and simply continued to pay the monthly minimum.

And, if they really are suing you, I suspect they previously sent you a bunch of letters trying to work things out, probably begging you to do so along with generous terms - which you must have ignored.

I guess you just talked to them to make your offer. If you spoke to them with even a small amount of the attitude that you showed in your question, it is no wonder they told you "no." You are the person who broke a promise, not them. Negotiating with a debt collector is not hard to do, as my colleague Tristan Brown points out. But you need to be respectful to get anywhere. As they say, "you catch more flies with honey."

A: If Bank of America actually filed a lawsuit which was served on you, you have a specific period of time during which you need to file an answer. If you do nothing, the Bank will get a judgment against you. Contacting creditors to attempt settlement or reasonable payments can be done - a creditor with a judgment is less likely to be willing to negotiate. If you do attempt settlements or payment plans, make sure you can actually make the payments that you are proposing - this requires analyzing your income and expenses to see what amount of disposable income you have available to use for such settlements or payments. Good luck.

A: Once the lawsuit papers are served the clock starts ticking. One usually have 30 days to do something about it. Options can include, settling, filing an answer, or filing bankruptcy. If you they are not interested in settling the debt and you do not want to litigate the lawsuit then bankruptcy maybe the best option. It would not hurt to schedule a consultation with a bankruptcy attorney to go over your financial circumstances and examine bankruptcy options.