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what can i do when collections agencies actually 4 will not accept payment plans and say if I dont pay in full they will have to pursue furthur. I have already received a summons of notice from my local court, I am in new york. I cant afford a lawyer and dont want to go to jail...dont know what to do

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:13 pm Subject:

Welcome to the Community Very Happy

Do you mean you were served a summons for a court date and suit? Did they serve it at your home?

Can you tell us what state you are in, and what company you are dealing with? The first thing you should do is, answer the summons in the time that they give you.

Do you know for sure that you owe the debt and these people are legally holding and able to collect on it?

Sorry for all the questions, but these will help give you a direction to go.

Answer the summons, and be sure to go to court on the date, or they will get a default judgement against you. The judge will set up payments-be sure and take papers showing all your living expenses, etc., with you. Also, some states, you can file a hardship, and they will work with you(in court) on payments..Good Luck..Keep us posted..Karen

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:22 pm Subject:

Your most important move at this point is ANSWER THE SUMMONS AND NOT TO MISS THE COURT DATE! If you do not show up, the judge will have no choice but to enter a default judgement against you in favor of the creditor, which can lead to garnishment of your wages.

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:31 pm Subject:

they tried to hand deliver the summons but noone was home so it was sent regular mail. it is not for a date but to respond. the company is Cohen & Slomowitz atternies in Woodbury NY.. when i called it stated that this was an attempt to collect debt. It is my debt but they will not accept any payment options and i can not afford to pay in full or even settle..

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:49 pm Subject:

collection agencies are not required to accept payment plans from you. When an account defaults balance is due in full.

Make sure you answer your summons. You won't go to jail by missing or showing up for your court date. There is no debtor jail.

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:53 am Subject:

Have you contacted the court to validate the summons? No date on the summons?

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:16 am Subject:

No matter what, you can’t go to jail. If they told you that, they were lying. Call your court and make sure that is a real summons because many unethical CA’s will try to fake you out by intimidating you into paying.

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:03 pm Subject:

I never thought that the summons could not be real. I am going to call my local court tomorrow I wonder if they will verify it over the phone. things always seem to come all at once I got about 19 calls today from another collector NES national enterprise and of course everyone wants their money in full... dont know what im going to do

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:03 pm Subject:

Depending on the debt type and amount, an agency will not sue if you are making some type of payment each month. Where most go wrong is they never pay anything at all - just promise to do so and never do.

If you send them money and they return it too you as a refusal, you have even more to stand on in court. Most likely they will apply the money. They know that if it is truly the best you can do, they will get no more than that even if they went to court. But you have to start paying them something.

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:07 pm Subject:

I was thinking of just sending each i owe something to show that i was tryng to pay it down, but i have read that if you dont pay what they require they can apply what you send as fees and nothing will go towards what they say you owe...as much as i want to pay down the debt i dont want to waste money if i send 100 or 200 i dont want that to be lost to fees

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:25 pm Subject:

That truely depends on what type of debt it is. If it is a credit card that hasn't charged off and is still recieving fee's then yes, you do pay the fee's first before paying on the principal.

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:30 pm Subject:

Tell the CA that they either accept the plan or get nothing and sue if they want. Then they will waste a bunch of time and they will have a judgment that still will not get them paid in full in one lump sum. Then they can get the judge to set a court order payment plan which probably will not vary much from what you are proposing anyway. So basically they can accept a payment plan now or they can screw around and waste a year to end up with the same payment plan.

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:44 pm Subject:

I don't see how being hostile is going to get things solved. You don't even really need to speak with them. Just because they won't accept your proposal doesn't mean you can't make a payment twards the balance. I sincerely doubt they are going to be sending your money back to you.

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:53 am Subject:

As it has been said here, they do not have to offer a payment option...there is no law forcing this. However, what many of these creditors/CAs do not realize is that you cannot squeeze blood from a rock, either. Yes, if the SOL is not passed on a debt, they can go through the courts to collect, and in the end, they will just end up having to accept a payment arrangement ordered by the court. In cases of a judgment, they could also potentially attach certain assets. I would check with your state laws to see what is safe, and what is not (i.e., in Texas, creditors cannot go after real estate it if it the person's primary residence, or homestead...they could, however, go after rental properties a person may own).

hockeyman · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:48 pm Subject: ANSWER THE SUMMONS!!!

The first thing you should do is take a look at the 'caption on the summons' and copy that on your computer, DO NOT FORGET THE INDEX NUMBER!!!

Then look at the complaint and just review the claims they make. If you deny just write "the defendant denies this on accounts of..." and if you acknowledge say "the defendant acknowledges this as true"....

then draft affirmative defenses according to the state law based on SOL, type of service (nail and mail or personal service).

then draft an affidavit of service by mail (you can do regular mail) and have a friend just sign the affidavit (have it notarized) and put it in an envelope and drop at post office.

"_____name agrees that he/she is not a party of the action, at least 18 years of age and resides in ____"

"Name has served 'ANSWER TO SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT" upon 'name of law firm' by placing it in a wrapper entrusted via first class mail with the United States Postal service"

______signed and dated

Sworn to before me_____________notary public _____date
NOTARY SEAL

quick and simple.

Then personally file a copy with the county clerk (bring two copies) file one and stamp one for yourself!

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:35 pm Subject:

my summons turned out to be real. It is a summons to reply to them not for court date. I sent a letter will see what happens. I also sent letters for my other accounts in collections. Just hope that all works out. still fear the whole going to court and have pay garnished. know that employers cant fire you becuase of garnishment, but have heard that they dont like it. they can always find another reason to fire someoone. in my letters asked to be contacted by mail becuse I dont have home phone (which is true) wonder if that can cause a problem.

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