If you have accumulated excessive amount of credit card debts, you may be asking an obvious question, can you be sued for credit card debts. The hard reality is yes, you can be sued, though most of the credit card companies would resort to other ways of recovering the amount. When you have signed up for the credit card, you have signed a contract with the company agreeing to its terms and conditions. Failure to make payments is taken as a breach of that contract and they may or may not consider suing you.

When does a credit card company sue?

If you are still wondering 'can you be sued for credit card debts', here's what a credit card company does before suing a person to recover the debts.

1. Cost - Companies will calculate the cost of suing you depending on the amount you owe and other factors. If it seems more than they could recover, they would avoid suing you.

2. Time limit – Most companies wait at least 10 - 15 months before filing a lawsuit while some may start even earlier.

3. Balances – Companies are likely to sue you faster if you owe them a large amount.

4. Charge-offs – After months of non-payment, the company writes off the debt and closes the account.

5. Contact – If you have refused to acknowledge the company's initial effort to contact you to negotiate a payment plan, they can sue you.

What can you do if you get sued by the company?

There are 3 options that you can resort to when you are sued by the company:

• File an answer – When you are served with a summon, read the complaints and file an answer by admitting or denying what is stated.

• File a counter-claim – If the credit card company has violated any laws or has made a false claim, you can file a counter-claim.

• Negotiate a payment schedule – You can also contact the attorney's office and attempt to negotiate a payment arrangement.

Remember that if a legal judgment is issued against you, it will affect your credit score negatively. So stop wondering 'can you be sued for credit card debts' and act immediately.

This content was provided by one of our users, jason