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I was 3 months behind on a payment but I am now caught up....somewhere in between the police showed up at my door with an order, the creditor is taking me to court. What will happen in court if I am current?
The creditor may well drop the civil action if you pay up. The creditor wants to get paid, not to get vengeance. The creditor will have to pay a lawyer to represent it (which costs money). If the creditor gets a judgement against you, collecting that judgement is a whole separate process (which costs money). The creditor doesn't know yet if you're solvent enough to collect the judgement or if you have assets against which to place a lien.
Yes, the creditor has paid to file the legal action (probably about $200 to file and serve). But the creditor may be willing to forgo those fees.
The best thing to do is to call it, explain why you were late, state that you will pay up immediately, ask for a payment plan going forward if you need it (and be prepared to negotiate payment on a part of the legal fees). That way, you'll come across as a human being with good intentions and you can be sure that the legal action has halted.
My guess is that the person you were 3 months behind with has passed on your debt to a collector. A person or company can invest in mortgages and debt by paying a percentage to the lender and then assuming collecting the rest. Or, after 3 months your debt was sent to a collection agency. The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing, and the collection agency hasn't updated their files. Check to see exactly who is taking you to court, the collection agency or the lender you paid off.
You didn't mention the amount of the suit. If it's for the entire balance (as opposed to the past due part), then you still have a legal issue. Regardless, you need to contact the plaintiff on the complaint and settle this one way or another. You don't want to wind up in court or with a warrant for failure to appear.
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