Michigan debtors will be relieved to know that they cannot go to jail for credit card debt. The notion of debtors’ prisons has been thrown out of the window, and that is exactly what bankruptcy law is aimed at preventing. Nonetheless, credit cards can have other severe implications for a person’s financial future.
Not only can debtors not be sent to prison for credit card debt, but debt collectors are not even allowed to threaten or intimate jail time for a debtor. This is against the law, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives consumers protection from practices such as these.
However, jail time is not the only thing that a debtor must worry about when they are in debt. There is a strong possibility that a creditor could file a lawsuit for the collection of their debt. The worst thing that a debtor could do is to ignore this debt. If they do, they may be subject to a default judgment and whatever penalties the court prescribes. The debtor should at least participate in the legal process so that they can have their say. If the debt load becomes unmanageable with no way out of the predicament, the debtor may consider a bankruptcy filing in order to get some relief from the cycle of debt in which they are trapped.
Bankruptcy law is not simple, and those who are considering seeking its protection may need the assistance of a bankruptcy attorney to make their way through the process. The filing must be correct, and the debtor must not make any false statements. In many cases, the best way for a debtor to navigate the process would be retaining an attorney to represent them. Debt does not have to be a life sentence for those who are stuck in it.