KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- There's hard evidence of how much the economy is hurting all of us, and you can find it down at the courthouse.

People who owe money and fall behind on payments are being sued in record numbers.

Six months ago the numbers looked bad, but now, the court tells us, the problem has grown.

But even if you fall way behind on your bills, those who make their living collecting debts say there's an easy way for you to avoid getting sued.

It's one the busiest courts around, and it has nothing to do with crime. General Sessions Civil Court is the most likely place to sue people who owe money. It's a sign of the times, and on Monday alone there were 315 cases on the docket.

Chief Deputy Clerk Tim Wheeler says, "We have just sort of exploded I guess you would call it."

Court records indicate the explosion is fueled by everything from tenants who don't pay rent to people who fall behind on bills. When ends don't meet, something has got to give.

Deputy Wheeler says, "We are seeing a lot more credit card collections where people will have a balance of a couple of thousand dollars and they just quit making the payments. I don't know, they've lost their job, they're trying to make the house payment and they're just trying to figure out where they can cut."

The numbers tell a powerful story. If you compare the first six months of this year to the same period last year, civil warrants are up 21 percent, landlord/tenant cases increased 14 percent, and petitions to pay, filed by people who've already had their pay garnished, are up 32 percent.

Debt collection attorney Rick Conrad says, "There seems to be more of an attempt to just close their eyes and just hope the thing will go away."

But people in the debt collection business say it doesn't have to be that way. Companies that sue to get money would rather avoid the trouble and expense of taking you to court, if you give them a choice.

Conrad says, "If the debtors would work with the creditors, call them, communicate with them, explain to them their situations, they'd find probably that most of the creditors would be willing to set up payments, defer things, delay matters, as long as there are open lines of communications."

The vast majority of debt collection cases are settled without a trial, though that often happens after everyone shows up to court.

With 300 or more cases to get through, the court day that begins at nine in the morning often goes non-stop until late afternoon or even early evening.