I wanted to know if I should go to small claims court if it would be worth it. I got a cell phone for someone and I thought I was taken off ...

Question

I wanted to know if I should go to small claims court if it would be worth it. I got a cell phone for someone and I thought I was taken off as any responsible since I never got any bills for this account. Now I am getting a claim in the mail saying I owe 1220 but if I pay 736 or so that I will be paid in full. Is there any way for me to go after this person and would it be worth it.

Answer

You do not post enough relevant information here. You getting a cell phone for someone else was DUMB. If the cell contract is in your name then as between you and the cell phone company you are liable for the bill. So if the other party stops paying, you are stuck with the bill and your credit gets trashed.

Some debt collector is now going after you for the bill. Settling is great but you need to start being smart about how you go about this. Have you asked for written proof that this is indeed your debt? When was the last payment of any kind made on the debt? If you think $736 is a good deal (its not - I would not settle for more than 50% or $600 but I would start off my settlement negotiations at a lower amount) then you get this debt collector to send you a written settlement letter indicating that if you pay the settlement amount then the debt will be considered settled in full. Get a money order or certified cashier's check and make a copy before you send it to the debt collector. 30 days after your settlement call the debt collector and get a final closure letter. Keep the settlement letter, copy of your payment and final closure letter FOREVER. You want to be able to prove that you paid in case the debt gets sold and some other collector comes to ask for the balance.

If this is on your credit, in your settlement negotiations, ask the debt collector if they will delete this from your credit because this was not really your debt. Its called "pay for delete." Some debt collectors will do it on a settlement and some will want the full balance owed. Some will not. If they will not, then that is that ... try to settle it for as low as you can go.

Only agree to pay or settle the debt if the last payment was made less than 4 years ago so make sure you ask in your settlement negotiations when the last payment was made. If it was made more than 4 years ago, tell the debt collector to take a hike if they want money to settle this. There is no virtue in paying on a debt barred by the statute of limitations unless you need a mortgage or credit. And if you pay less than the full balance on a debt that is barred by the statute of limitations, you are reviving the statute of limitations - so that settlement letter becomes doubly important.

The second part of your question involves the "friend" who you got the cell phone for. What exactly was the agreement and how did that happen? Do you have anything in writing by which this person agreed to be responsible for the bill? Do you have a history of this person making some payments on the account? What happened and why did the person stop? When was the last payment made?

You ask if going to court is worthwhile. The answer is it depends. There is no wage garnishment in PA for a debt of this kind. So even if you get a judgment, how are you going to collect on it? There is a process and the small claims court can order payments if you ask for it. But if the person does not pay, then what? You are going to have to get a lawyer to try and garnish the person's bank account. You could easily end up spending $750 just to collect.

Still a judgment does have value but the judgment will not be on this person's credit report until you transfer any small claim judgment to the court of common pleas. if you do not know how to do that, you will again have to get a lawyer.

But all of this is only if you win in small claims. There are no guarantees here and small claims judges may or may not even be a lawyer and can do whatever they want. And if you have nothing in writing and no evidence to support the fact that the other person was responsible then you do not have a case. And before you have a case, you need damages, which means you will have to resolve the debt with the cell phone company first and your damages will be whatever you pay to the debt collector. So if you settle for $736 then $736 is what you sue the person for, not $1220.

Is all of this worth it? Probably not in my book - chalk this up to one of those hard lessons that you learn for not thinking things through. Don't get someone a cell phone. You can buy a phone as a gift if you want but let any person be the one whose name is on the contract. If they cannot get a cell phone without you, too bad for them. Let them get a pay as you go plan and you will not end up victimized, left with debts and trashed credit.