What happens when you get a default judgement on a credit card?

Answer 1

That depends. A default judgment occurs when one party, after receiving notice and summons in a suit, fails to file an appearance and response before the court.

If you got a default judgment against the credit card company, congratulations on your incredible victory - that doesn't happen often. Its exceedingly rare for a credit card company to make such a mistake.

What you probably meant though was that a credit card company got a default judgment against you. Bad luck my friend, you should have showed up. By not participating in the judicial process, you have significantly limited your options. You could attempt an appeal, but because you didn't show up, the facts are assumed to be exactly as the credit card company stated them, so your grounds for appeal are practically non-existent. Really the only time default judgments get overturned in most cases is when one side failed to properly serve the defendant, which I assume is not the case here.

You could try bargaining with the credit card company to reduce your debt, but the credit card company isn't going to be as willing to bargain now that they have a judgment against you. Why? Because now that they have a judgment, if you fail to pay, they can go to court and get an order enforcing the judgment against you. This kind of order typically allows them to have a law enforcement officer collect your property and sell it off to pay your debt (exactly how this works varies from state to state). Because of the default judgment, the credit card company also enjoys priority in any bankruptcy you might have, so they have very little incentive to negotiate with you over the amount of your debt. Speaking of which, if you can't pay, your best option now is probably to go to a lawyer and discuss your bankruptcy options. Whatever you choose to do, do it sooner rather than later. Putting off dealing with this type of issue puts people in hot water FAST.