I received a summons...now what?

New to here...although I've been reading for a few weeks. I'm in Colorado and have about $4,000 out in payday loans all except one were store front types, most of which I've already defaulted due to a job loss, then a job change.
I'm pretty terrified about all of this, the only light at the end of the tunnel is that I hope to be able to pay them all off by March. Which isn't far off, but feels pretty far. Especially since I just received a summons this afternoon for my oldest defaulted loan.

The summons doesn't say too much about my options other than answering it to say why I shouldn't owe the debt, which I obviously know I do. Do I go to the court hearing? Do I try and pay it before the hearing? Or am I just screwed....I'm so overwhelmed and upset about this whole thing. Also, if they get a judgement against me, does my state allow for wage garnishments? I work in the financial world ironically so a wage garnishment would look really bad, especially because I just started this job.

Can anyone give me some more advise? Most of the posts on here are about illegal payday lenders, if I was only that lucky, but pretty sure all mine are legal.

Signed,
Carlovegirl

Is it a legit. summons? If so, I'd first send the Court a notarized "Sworn Denial" in which you say something along the lines of "I affirm that this debt does not belong to me and if it does belong to me I affirm that I am being sued for an incorrect amount"... that basically removes their ability to use an affidavit judgment. Next, send certified requests for documentation of the Governing Contract (with TILA disclosures) and all available documentation regarding payments and finance charges accrued to both the PDL's "attorney" and the Court. If they don't respond quickly, file a "Motion to Compel Discovery" (check with the Court Clerk's office to see if your state allows this). Compelling Discovery is more or less exercising a right to be provided with the evidence that will be used against you at Trial. It also forces the PDL company to play the role of a legal corporation. If their "contract" could potentially violate State usury laws or TILA, they may not be so keen on filing it with the Court and could drop. If you're really worried, consult an attorney.


~Internet advice, not guaranteed legal advice~

Scared,

This is not a tough thing to do. The PDL has opted to use the court to collect a debt. The question is not whether you owe the debt or not, they can prove that you borrowed (and have done so at the time of filing), they are a licensed lender which means that thier contract is compliant, and you agree to to owing the debt. At this point, you have 4 real options:

1. Go to court and work out a payment arrangement in fron of the judge

2. Contact them/thier atty directly and work out arrangements

3. Ignore and wait for a default judgement

4. Listen to the above poster, try to play atty and really tick them off forcing them to refuse to honor any arrangements that you propose.

They just want to get thier money/costs back and should be willing to make arrangements to avoid additional time in the court room. The main thing is to stick with these arrangements once agreed upon.

Good luck and don't stress.

Did the original creditor or a collection agency take you to court? What state are you in?

Thanks for the advice. I think I will just go to the court date and work out an arrangement. The only problem is that I've already worked out how I'm going to pay the PDL's that have been very patient with me and have not sent me to collections or to an attorney. I feel that they should be paid since they have been so patient with me, so now there's no money left over for the people that are really trying to collect.

BS to the contention that a company being licensed means all their practices are in compliance w/ a State's laws. Did they break any of these:


Max Term of Payday Loan: 40 days
Max Fees and Finance Charges: 20%: $0-$300 + 7.5%: $301-$500
Number of Rollovers: One (renewal)

Also, "opting to use the Court" to collect by filing an affidavit complaint to intimidate people (when you have no intention of actually showing up at the trial) is a worse misuse of the court system than that woman who sued McDonald's over the coffee.