Should I let my credit card balances fall off after 7 years or get the companies to agree to a settlement now?

[Austinsg210]

So I did some real damage to my credit back in 2012 as a dumb kid.. now I’m waiting for the balances to fall off my reports and my credit to start to get repaired after that finally happens. Well in Texas where I’m located you can’t be sued after 4 years since your last payment.. and a creditor lied, went to the courts and I didn’t go to the court date because of the mental state I was in at the time so I was unable to show that they had lied about the dates in order to sue me.

Now they’re threatening further legal action against me, should I just keep waiting it out until the 7 years are closer to being here or go ahead and settle/pay it since they already have the judgement against me.

I wanna start paying down my debt now mainly since my credit is too low to get a secured card or a really high APR card even.. and I’ve got a family to start worrying about soon. Can’t be playing these games still..

So keep waiting or just step up and pay it? It’s money I definitely don’t have to waste so it’s a big deal.

Thank you for your help!

[Anonymous_]

---

@Austinsg210 wrote:

....or go ahead and settle/pay it since they already have the judgement against me.

---

You might want to contact a bankruptcy/debt attorney in your area for at least a brief, in-person, consultation if a creditor has a judgment against you.

In many (possibly most) states, judgments are valid for ten years and the judgment creditor can typically place a lien on any real estate you own (so it cannot be sold without the amount of the judgment being paid), obtain a garnishment order, and/or a writ of execution to seize and sell your property to satisfy the judgment.

Handling judgment creditors properly requires professional assistance.