I have an update on the threatened lawsuits from US Foods and Sysco. I have agreed to a re-payment plan with US Foods, and it is actually something that will be reasonable. Sysco is negotiating, nothing final yet, but it looks like there will be something reasonable.

This brings up the topic, how do you know when a threatened law suit is something to be concerned about? About fifteen different creditors have threatened to file suit, and one never tried to contact me but just filed a suit instead (I was able to get it dismissed by paying it in full prior to having a court appearance.)

So when are these creditors?just barking and when are they going to bite? My experience, which is somewhat limited, is that an account in a collection agency is very unlikely to move directly to a law suit; however, they are the most likely to threaten to. GC Services, a collection agency for American Express, for months said they were going to file a law suit. I was never worried, because I knew who I was dealing with. I kept sending a monthly payment that I could afford, and always returned their phone calls. A couple of weeks ago, their threat to file suit changed to a written payment plan that they were offering, which I agreed to.

With US Foods and Sysco, I had been working with accounts receivable personnel from each of their companies. It went from them directly to an attorney, no collection agency involved. When they sent the letter saying the monthly payments were not acceptable and they were going to file a suit, I believed them. Maybe I just got played for a higher monthly payment, but when I spoke to them, it was nothing like the collection agency. Their desire to go ahead and secure a judgment sounded real to me. Even if I did get played, it was still a win, win for me.