There are other alternatives out there for you if you don't have the time to validate the debt or simply just want to pay it off. The most important part of the first alternative mentioned here is that it MUST be done PRIOR to a judgment being filed or PRIOR to the date you are served with the judgment paperwork.

Did you know that as long as you are making payments on an account to a Creditor that they CANNOT turn it over to collections or pursue a judgment against you? If they do, it will be dismissed by any judge in the country! How do I know this? I've done it and am still doing it.

About (8) years ago I had elective surgery done. The whole procedure cost my wife and I about $5,000.00 and was financed through a company that I will not name. The APR was OUTSTANDING at almost 20% and the payments were to be about $145.00 per month. About, 6 months after the surgery I lost my job and it hurt us very bad financially. We tried making payment arrangements, but were unable to keep up with the high amount they were demanding.

The Creditor then turned over the account to an Attorney/Collection Agency in our city. They began trying to hunt us down and serve us judgment papers on this account. We set up a NOTICE OF PAYMENT letter to this debt collector, sent a payment of $25.00 and agreed to continue sending payments of this amount until either our financial situation improved OR the debt was paid off. We sent out the NOTICE and a MONEY ORDER for $25.00 but made out the money order to the ORIGINAL CREDITOR, not to the debt collector. It was mailed certified mail (ALWAYS).

About 3 days later (while still avoiding the process server with the judgment papers) we received the certified letter receipt back in the mail. The debt collector had received our payment AND had signed for it. We had proof. My husband then gladly accepted the judgment papers from the process server. We filed a WRITTEN response with the courts stating that we were actively attempting to make payments on this account and that those payments had been accepted by the debt collector. We included copies of the NOTICE and of the signed return receipt with the response. We then took it all to the courthouse, filed them and walked away. We also sent copies of our written response to the debt collector (certified mail).

A week later we received this legal looking form that was titled "Agreed Judgment" from the debt collector. We refused to sign this bogus journal entry because it was considered an "open ended" judgment and we would have been agreeing to let the debt collector obtain a court ordered judgment against us. This was exactly what we were trying to avoid by sending the payment AND the written response!

I sent a nasty letter to the debt collector stating that we were refusing to sign this paperwork on the grounds that they were already accepting our payments and that it was open ended (meaning there was NO mention of the total amount of the debt, no mention of payment amounts and no mention of when it would be considered paid in full). We then called the county courthouse and found out that the judge had dismissed the original petition for judgment because of our written response!

From that date until March 2001, we paid only $25.00 a month on this account! Each and every month we mailed our Money Order for $25.00 with our Notice Of Payment via certified mail and made out the payment to the original creditor. The payment amount didn't even cover the accruing interest each month, but we had them in a catch 22 and they were leaving us alone for the most part.

In March 2001 we received a letter from the debt collector stating that the original creditor was no longer satisfied with the small payments and either we were going to have to start paying more or they were going to attempt to pursue another judgment against us. Now we had a sure fire defense, but we HAD agreed to increase the payments if our financial situation improved. We agreed to raise the payment amount to $50.00 a month but promptly reminded them that they COULD NOT obtain a judgment against us as long as we were paying on the debt.

Now it is October 2001 and we are still paying only $50.00 a month on a $5,000.00 account. It CAN be done and it stops any creditor right in their tracks. If your account is a lesser amount, make a smaller payment. Even if it is only $5.00 a month, you are still "doing your best" to pay off the debt. It shows initiative. The Notice Of Payment Letter is ACTUALLY what they call a unilateral agreement. This means that only YOU are agreeing to the terms of the contract and to live up to your promise. It doesn't bind the creditor to anything but it DOES give them the ability to take you to court and sue your pants off if you MISS A PAYMENT as promised! When you use this method to stop a creditor from pursuing judgment, don't mess it up by not making the payment because then you are liable for the full amount due and payable immediately. They can put a lien on your home, freeze your bank account and a variety of other things to get their money. Stick with it and only raise the payment if you can TRULY afford to.

Also, do not ever state that you will mail your monthly payments by ANY specific date! Just tell them that you will make these payments each and every month. That's it and nothing more.