Civil judgement?

I got a letter from a collections agency telling me if I dont respond in 10 days they will contact a local law firm and file civil judgement against me. My question is..Is this a scare tactic? Will they actually go through with and should I contact them? This was in regards to a loan I had taken out back in '03 to help a family member who did not pay me back so naturally I'm getting screwed. Also at the time I wasnt married and livng in NY but now am married and reside in NE, can they go after my husband's money since I'm currently unemployed? What should I do?

I dont mean to sound ignorant but what is statute of Limitations and how does that work?

If you have not paid this in 4 years then i would let it go. If they sue they sue but these typically are empty threats that all collection agencies display. Your credit report has already been tagged with the problem and if you make even a 1 dollar payment now the limits it stays on your credit report resets. So you can ignore it or pay it but since you haven't paid in 4 years i would say trow the letter in the trash.

Isn't there a statute of limitations on that?

I guess in New York it's 6 years.

If you aren't paying, odds are they are suing to get paid. Illegal to make a threat they can't carry thru on. Call them and set up some type of repayment plan; sooner or later you'll need to pay what you owe

They can go after you if you owe somebody money who got a collection company involved. They can come after your money. You're best bet is to contact them and try to work out some kind of payment plan.

They can file suit against you and can obtain a judgment agains you. If your husbands name is not on the loan, then I doubt they can sue him. If they do obtain a judgment, it will appear on your credit report.

Call them and see what they say do not sign anything they send you in the mail. if they are rude you can report them as it is illegal to use scare tactics for collection. they can file a judgment and you won't find out until you try to buy/sell your house or a car. you can sue your family member depending on the amount, they may not be able to collect from your husband, but a judgment under your name certainly affects both of you.

The fact is that they still can come after you, even if you are married - but I don't think they can go after your husband b/c the contract was made before you were married - but if you have a joint account - they can legally go after your joint account because your name is on the account as well.

My advise - contact them, and try making payment arrangements - does your husband know?

First, you have 30 days to send them a notice of disputed debt, ask to send verification of the debt, that buys you time and evidence - surely they've added excess interest and collection fees which you can dispute. By denying and disputing the debt the statute of limitations continues to run against the debt collector, ie never ADMIT the debt - this STARTS OVER the statute of limitations for collections each time you admit the debt!
Second, yes they can file a civil collections action in court to get a judgment, then with the judgment they could initiate collection actions (garnish wages most likely). But, that will cost them about $750-$1000 to get a judgment; is your debt excessively more than $1,000? If not, they won't sue you. No, they cannot go after your husband's money unless he has co-signed on the debt. If its a lot of money, say $10K or more, they probably won't give up, and you might consider making payments, but you can also agree to that after they get judgment against you. NOTE: if they do get a judgment against you, you have only 5 days to file exemptions from judgment (most of wages, first house, primary auto, living expenses, etc.), that they cannot touch! Don't forget to file the exemptions ASAP if they do get a judgment against you!