Updated 1/12/2019

Although registration of arbitration awards as judgments seems to have ended in North Carolina there are many questions surrounding credit card debt explored herein including debt defense and debt settlement.

Yes- Credit cards are legally allowed to sue when the borrower is in default. For some reason many people think all creditors can do is put a negative mark on a borrower’s credit report. The bottom line is this- If banks could not sue for credit card debt they would stop issuing cards. Some of the main law firms that represent banks and debt buyers for credit cards lawsuits in North Carolina are listed below. These law firms generally represent the plaintiffs listed and do not actually own the debt.

• Brock and Scott- Wells Fargo
• Sessoms and Rogers- FIA Card Services, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Unifund CCR Partners
• Bernhardt and Strawser- Bank of America, Citibank
• Smith Debman- Discover Bank, BB&T, Midland Funding
• RAS LaVrar, LLC- Capital One
• Dominion Law Associates- Target National Bank

Many States like North Carolina do not typically include Social Security numbers or birth date information as part of the public record for civil judgments. As judgments in NC are good for ten (10) years and can be renewed for an additional 10 year period this is significant news. Removal of judgment reporting means some consumers may experience a boost to their credit score in the coming month as negative items are removed from their credit report. As fixing credit report errors is often a nightmare for consumers this is a welcome change to the bureaucracy of the credit reporting industry. The Wall Street Journal is estimating this change will improve the credit score of some 12 million individuals in the United States. The expected increase is a modest 20- 40 points.
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If an unpaid account has not been charged off, it can remain on the report for seven years from date of delinquency. ​