What are the ramifications of not paying a credit card bill at all?

if your credit is already destroyed why bother paying the bill? What else can they do to you?

I see the range of answers here, from the judgemental to the slightly helpful. I will answer your question and go a step farther.

Here is the reality check:

Not much, if anything.

A small part of your wages can be garnished, but the process of doing this is very complicated and almost never done to my knowledge.

Credit card debt is what is called "unsecured" debt, that is it is not secured by an asset such as a house for a mortgage loan. In a secured loan, such as a mortgage, you legally pledge to give up a readily seizable asset like the house in case of default. This is why home loans, and other secured debt generally has a lower percentage rate, i.e. the loan is less risky from the lender's perspective.

Your credit card, on the other hand has no such guarantee on your part. If you don't pay, they have no assets that have been pledged to seize. This severely limits the actions that credit card companies can undertake.

Realistically here is what will very probably happen:

They will charge you a NASTY amount of fees and interest, and then after a certain period of time, sell the debt to a collection agency at a loss and write off your debt from their books.

The collection agency then will "step into the shoes" of the credit card company and do all manner of things to convince you to pay them back. The collection agency will also probably add some sort of penalty or interest to what they say they say you owe.

Ultimately, they can't do much other than pester you, although THAT can be HIGHLY irritating. Be sure to read your rights and what is legal at the links at end of this answer.

BUT

You did borrow the money, and ethically should make an honest attempt at paying it back. If you do so, you will be better off in many regards.

That said, you can at any point, negotiate the terms and settlement.

Given the choice between no money and some money, what do you think the credit card company/collector will choose?

With the knowledge that there is ultimately nothing they can realistically do to you, all the bargaining power, and ethical responsibility is on your side.

You might not be able to pay all of it back. This is ok, but do try to tell them honestly what you CAN pay back.

There are lots of good self-help websites that can teach you how to budget so that you can get an idea of what you can afford to pay back. Be realistic and honest, and make a good faith effort to pay off the debt, and you will be surprised at how quickly those penalties and interest rates go away as the credit card companies understand that it is better to meet your terms than not get anything at all.

Regarding garnishment. You will note that the law says "25% of disposable income". This is why garnishment is so rare: How do you prove "disposable" income in court? If you are in so much trouble with debt that you can't pay it back, chances are your "disposable income" is non-existant. 25% of nothing = nothing, and lenders know this.

BOTTOM LINE:

You can ignore credit card debt if you REALLY want to, but you should pay it back, and if you ask and negotiate honestly with them, can probably get terms you CAN afford.

It will severly damage your credit score and make it difficult to get credit/loans in the future. It will get you turned into a collection agency and then you will get about a million phone calls and letters from the collection agency. It will cause you to pay higher interest in the future because of a lower FICO score.

They can take you to court for a judgment, which can be used to garnish your wages, interfere with any potential inheritance you may get in the future, and a host of other financial issues.

You might be unpleasantly surprised as I have been...your debts to your CC company are recognized by all US, state and local governments....first of all you will be charged about $40 per month in "late payment fee"; then soon you will be charged at the highest leagle rate of about 24 % per year or 2% a month on what you owe. My advice is to call them and tell them you have a problem and negotiate a lower rate....if you can get it payed down, quit using credit cards...they are not for you.

they can ruin your credit in the long run. you should pay it because it is money they allow you to use in time of need. now they can take you to court to recover their money.

they can take you to civil court. As for ten years from now it will all be discharged off your credit report by then. You can look up the ucc codes and common laws for more info. By the way you can request a free credit report and dispute any debts that are not legit or are more than three years old. They have 30 days to prove the debt exists or discharge the debt.

They can take you to court and garnish your wages. And one day, 10 years from now, when you want to repair your credit, you will owe a million dollars in finance charges.

They'll get a judgment against you, garnish your accounts and start calling you at work. Eventually your boss will get tired of the interruptions and start to wonder how smart you can be if you're in such a big hole. When the opportunity comes to fire you, you're toast.

They will harass you to the point where answering the phone will be excruciating, they call night and day. A debt will follow you around (forever) you are better off to either try to pay it off or declare bankruptcy.

I don't think they can garnish your wages but they can start court proceedings sueing you for the money that is owed to them. from there the court will make its determination how the money will be repaid.

Well, first of all you charged on your credit card and you owe the money. As far as what they will do: They will call and bug the living daylights out of you and then when they can't get anywhere they will sell your account or turn it over to a collection agent. They will call you and send you letters and bug you some more. They can take you to court and get a lien on your house if you own a house or possibly garnish your wages. Plus, you'll have the weight of knowing you owe it hanging on you.

Collection companies bugging the crap out of you, making your life miserable. Bad Karma - you spent the money - so please pay it. Your credit can be restored.

What a "loser attitude" in even asking this question.

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