If a credit card company sues you in a state where you do not live earn any income or own any property can they collect anything?

Answer

Being sued by a creditor (especially if you don't defend against the suit) will result in a default judgment being granted. This legal item will find its' way onto the Public Records portion of your credit report. The fact that the jurisdiction is out of state for you, as the Defendant, simply makes it more difficult to dispose of.

Judgements can accrue interest, depending on the laws of their jurisdiction. They are rarely "collected", but do remain on your records and credit report, causing problems into the future. Consumers usually have to deal with public record issues upon trying to secure credit. Under certain states' laws, judgments can be renewed. This means that no matter how long you try to wait them out, you will have to pay the debt one way or another. In the meantime, all accounts and services which utilize credit reports are costing you more money. These include: Housing, utilities, insurance, employment and (of course) credit.

Having any items in the public records portion of your credit report causes all other marks to impact your score more than someone with no public records. This is the case even when those legal items are paid and have their proper disposition. For all of these reasons, it is in a consumer's best interests to answer/fight/settle all lawsuits to avoid a judgment being granted.

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