Ask HN: I Used My Credit Cards to Fund My Failed Startup and Now They're Suing

About four or five years ago I applied for several credit cards to augment my freelance income, so that I could drastically cut back on the hours I spent working for others and focus mostly on my project. We're not talking huge amounts here - three cards with around 5k each.

Anyway, fast forward a couple of years and the freelance market collapsed in my region and my startup failed.

I recently received notice that a process server is trying to track me down to serve me. I'm assuming the other debt collection companies will too at some point.

Is it too late to contact the debt collection companies and try to work something out? I can probably swing a 1k down payment and the rest over monthly payments for a year to a year and a half.

There's also the additional issue that I may have exaggerated my freelance income somewhat on the applications. I'm not sure how worried I should be about that at this point.