Can you be arrested for credit card debt?

You won’t go to jail for it. You could be fined for not paying the bills on time. It will certainly affect your credit rating.

I would contact the credit card company, they may allow you to pay back your fees in instalments.

I’d suggest maybe staying away from credit cards in the future. I used to have one myself in the past. While I never ran into debt with it, I did find the interest rate was pretty high. I only use a bankers debit card now (which takes the funds directly out of my bank account). All I ever pay is a transaction fee.

No, you cannot be arrested but your creditor can file a judgement against you and potentially freeze your bank accounts or garnish your wages, or your husbands if it is a joint account.
Not to mention your credit score will be effected and other creditors may cancel your current accounts if they get wind of your defaulting on this credit card.
Your best bet is to contact your creditor immediately and try to negotiate a payment plan.
You can’t just ignore this, you must take responsibility now to prevent things getting worse.

Creditors can call you at work, debt collectors cannot if you tell them not to. Here is a good site with answers to some of your questions NOLO

If it has already been turned over to collection you may not be able to negotiate with the creditor.
If you want to pay it off, negotiate with the debt collector. Usually they will take a small amount each month. Make sure your interest accrual is stopped or you will never get it paid off. You can also look into declaring bankruptcy. That will cost you some money to do, but it will clear your debts, allow you to start over debt free, and not be hanging over you like a dark cloud.

If we could be arrested for credit card debt, well over half the US or more would have the jails even more overcrowded than now. Can you imagine it?

That doesn’t mean that you should take this lightly but do what you are able to to resolve it.

Yeah, debtors prison went out 200 years ago. Like everyone said, pay what you can, even if it’s only $5 or $10 a month.

And from now on stay the hell away from credit cards. If you can’t pay for something at the moment you buy it, then you simply can’t afford it.

@Dutchess_III Actually, most credit cards will not accept payments below the minimum. If you not able to make the minimum payments they will still consider you in default.

It’s already in collections. I’m pretty sure they’ll take whatever you offer.

@Dutchess_III Probably not, more like what they offer. haha
Nobody will accept paltry little payments of $5, $10 or $20 dollars. They may accept $50.00 payments depending on the size of the debt. If it’s only a thousand dollars perhaps, but if it is like 10k they are going to want a pretty substantial repayment plan.

No, usually you cannot go to jail for unpaid debts. Debt collectors cannot harrass or threaten you in any way. The most that can happen is the collector will sue you for it. You can just ignore the calls and letters, all they can do is keep calling or mailing. If you can make payments, then great. Just be aware there’s potential for a lawsuit if collectors really want their money.

Adding to @chyna‘s point about bankruptcy, if you decide to go down that route, you need to get professional advice and follow the steps they advise carefully. For instance, if you go bankrupt here, and then use one of your credit cards, you can be charged with fraud. You can go to jail for fraud.

I would suggest getting some professional advice about your financial situation. You’re obviously in a bit of a pickle. There are organisations that can help you negotiate payment plans and help you establish a realistic budget.

Can you be arrested for a debt? No. Can you be arrested if you are summoned to court because the creditor is suing you and you fail to attend? Yes (but that’s because you would be in contempt of court not because of the debt)
So generally… (however some states have slightly different laws on collection agencies so its probably worth checking)
Can debt collector contact you at work? Not if you tell them not to.
Can they contact your husband with regards to the debt? No, they can only contact friends and relatives to find out where you live or work in order to contact you.

I would contact the credit card company again. Before you call have your monthly income and outgoings in front of you and work out what you can afford to pay. Explain the situation and tell them what you can afford. They want their money back, you want to pay the money back. It should be possible to come to a compromise that suits both parties, it may just be take longer than both of you would like.

You’ll just quit? You say you’ll quit, and then you say you plan to pay it. Doesn’t sound like you plan to pay it if you will quit. It sounds more like you should be taking as much from your paycheck as possible and pay off your debt. I don’t know your situation, maybe while at work you pay a babysitter and then you are losing money while working, I don’t want to assume I know your situation, but otherwise I think you should work more hours if you can and pay what you charged. If it’s in collections you can probably pay off a slightly lower amount, because they bought the debt for a discount. If it’s not in collections with a collection agency, even more reason to work more if you can and pay off the debt to AE. If you can pay AE your credit won’t be as affected and you don’t cost us all money.

You won’t go to jail.

Interesting to note that he said, “I had a credit card AE that was charged up…”—not that HE charged it up, but like it just somehow got charged up.
What kinds of stuff did you buy? Can you resell it? You need to take responsibility for this. You bought stuff, borrowed money from the credit card lenders and promised to pay it back. You need to bust your butt to keep that promise. Get a second job just for that card or something.

If you pay it back, I promise you’ll be a better, more mature person because of it. If you default on the loan you won’t be able to sleep at night and you’ll set a really bad precedent for your life.

Actually my husband did charge on this card too so he is just as responsible
in my book. He said the next time we were contacted he would talk to them
and see what they will settle for. I told him I was concerned about this debt
and he told me not to worry that he hasn’t forgotten about it and it would be
cleared up in the near future.

Most of the things that were purchased on this card were for
our farm…feed was one thing we had to have and didn’t have
any cash flow at that time. Because of some mental problems
I have I can not work full time or take on a second job. I have
good days and bad days and am on meds. I am not a bad person
that is looking for a free ride….this is one credit card. People who
farm for a living have to deal with the weather and the changing
prices of feed and livestock. It is not easy but we are doing the best
we can at this time.

@MooCows That’s fine, now just talk to the card and work out a payment plan if you can

How long have you known your husband? Do you believe he really will take care of it?

Does the farm bring in income?

I’m sorry you found yourself in this situation.

My husband and I have been married 28 years and yes I think when
the debt is staring him in the face he will take care of it. I think someone
told him the longer you wait…the more you can negotiate with them.
We are in the process of starting a company that sells all natural meats
so our cash flow is a little off but we have had success with it but there
are a few months where the farmer’s mkt where we sell has few vendors
so our customers do not come much either. With our land and our registered
cows and hogs we are worth money on the books….just not in our pockets yet.
We have to put out $ (feed, processing, advertising etc) in order to make $
and there are slow months.I will just be glad when this is taken care of.
I have no credit cards now and my husband only has one. We just paid off
a truck and a 30 acre tract of land so we are whittling down our debt so we
can make the meat business work.

Why did you run up a bill you couldn’t pay? Why do you just work two days a week? You are obviously capable of working, so why just two days? You have unpaid bills. What your future holds is a horrible credit record which can affect every part of your life. This goes to trustworthiness. You said if they try to garnish you’ll just quit. You are part of what is wrong with America. Did you obtain the card to do this? I would argue you’ve committed fraud, not just failed to pay a bill.

@MollyMcGuire Clearly you did not read all of @MooCows posts.

They own a farm and have needed to use the card for farm supplies and she mentions some issues that prevent her from working more or taking a 2nd job. She also, clearly states they have every intention of getting a handle on this debt. They just paid off a truck and a 30 acre parcel of land. Farmers feed you and they are part of whats right about America.

Man, must be nice to be so judgmental and sanctimonious sitting up there in your ivory tower. I had to file a bankruptcy after being wiped out in the recession between 2010 and 2013. Decades of an excellent credit score, never a late payment, very little unsecured debt until I lost my work and was forced to make ends meet with my credit cards for 3 years while plowing through my life savings trying to hold onto my modest home and unable to find new, sustainable work. Obviously you have never experienced hardship with such a callous attitude towards those that have fallen on hard times.

@MollyMcGuire… my first impression was that she was young, too, and just made a foolish error. But she’s been married for 28 years, so she’s not young. It sounds like they made a decision, in the face of some serious adversity, to go into debt, with the prayer of a payback.
However, she says she thinks her husband can take care of it.

I’m just curious as to where she got the idea she, or her husband, could go to jail over this….

@Dutchess_III Going into debt is one thing, defaulting on a card is another. Don’t buy that which you can’t afford, and don’t borrow that which you can’t pay back. I have little mercy about this. When you have assets, it’s foolish anyway.

I understand, but I initially responded as though I was dealing with a kid. She isn’t a kid.

I agree..to quit a job if they attach your wages would be wrong on so many levels. I’d dedicate that job to that card, even if it meant I didn’t see a paycheck.

I think we’re veering into a different question here. Should we repay debts? That’s different to “can I be arrested for credit card debt?” She didn’t ask for a moral debate about whether or not it would be out of order not to repay the debt.

Arrested no. Lose freedom from lower credit scores. Yes. True, we went on a tangent about the moral obligation, but it is not just a moral question, but also a practical one. The consequences of screwing up your credit score costs you money. Higher interest rates if you need to borrow, or flat out denial. If the OP is going to file bankruptcy, or not borrow anything in the next 7 years, or if this is one small blip (if it’s a very small amount of money) on an otherwise stellar credit report, then probably no problem for the OP in terms of being able to borrow in the future. However, not paying a credit card is not explained away (when you want to finance a car or house) like having a dispute over billing with a doctor or someone who provided some other service.

Well, @Earthbound_Misfit, her original question was answered in the very first post by @NerdyKeith. What else was there to say on that one question?