First of all, you should find out if the PDL is legal in your state. There is a thread, on PDL's, on this forum. Second thing (if you feel comfortable doing this) maybe you should explain all of this to the manager of your bank and see if you can close the bank account and open a new one. If you open a new one, don't give info out on it. PDL places can't sue you, take you to court, etc. They like to threaten you as much as they can. I (along with several people, I'm sure) have been through the PDL nightmare cycle and I ended up closing accounts and opening new ones.

I would also like to add..if you happen to receive letters from a 'law office' (and they are bogus, too) about the PDL's, don't give them a dime!! There are experts on this forum that will be more than happy to help you with advice on what to do. :)

Thank you for that but I received a certified letter of summons from the court and the lender is licensed in Illinois. They are called Sir Finance.

being in COOK COUNTY illinois i need some questions answered,because this stinks out loud.why because.

1)in cook,dupage,lake,kendall,dekalb,and mchenry counties you must be served personally by the sheriff's dept.
2)is there a case number,if so and it's more than five characters it's bogus.

check your court clerk's website to see if there is a case.another point.no court date is set until you respond to the summons.i know this is a legal lender,but if you reside in any of the above counties this was a bogus attempt to get you to agree to pay an inflated amount.last thing a judge would set a payment plan you can afford based on any info you give like expenses,and income.check the clerk's website and get back to us.i don't like this.it stinks out loud.

Ok so to answer your questions... The letter came certified US mail. I think the postman gave it to my husband. Secondly, I'm not sure if the case number has more than 5 characters because I left it at home today. I will def. check when I get home. But I did speak to the lawyer's office today and the gentleman said that If I don't pay at least $414 by Friday, he will continue on with the court hearing and that they Lawyer is going to give me one more chance before going to court.

I do recall seeing that the letter was stamped by Dorothy Brown, which is the circut clerk in Cook County. I really want to believe that they are trying to scare me, but I can't afford to pay $414 by Friday, with all my other expenses.

I will be revoking their wage assignment with my HR today, just to be on the safe side. Also, if this does go to court, I can ask the judge to take my monthly expenses into account, in terms of decideing a payment amount?

Thanks for all your help. you have no idea how you have helped me already!!

Sounds to me like this is legit. This is a legal installment loan on which you've defaulted?

The judge can't "make" them set up a payment plan for you, he can only suggest that you try to work something out.

I suggest you contact them and try to work out something so you can avoid court altogether.

You can't revoke this. If they win, they will have a judgment against you and they will garnish your wages. Court ordered garnishments can't be revoked by you as they are involuntary.

Call the attorney and work out a payment arrangement.

But you should still also respond to the summons.

a couple of things on this.

it is legit,but in reading your posts the payment they want is too high and one you can't keep to.i suggest going to court on this as.

1)even with a garnishment(15%of your pay after all other deductions)it could mean a lower amount.it will stay on your record,but if you default on any arrangement they will take it back to court or.

2)go to court with all of your info.meaning income,and expenses.show the hardship this creates.the judge in alot of cases will grant the judgement,but they aren't out to break anyone.

still try to work them for now,but if they refuse to budge.take your chances in court.again if you default on their arrangement(which you said is too high)they will get the judgement anyhow.

Thank you. I figured this whole mess was legit. I've been trying to work with this lawyer for about 2 weeks now and they are not budging. When I calculated the garnishments, I think I came up with some ridiculous amount like $290 a pay period!!! That's a lot, plus the attorney for them is asking $450 attorney fees and court costs. My principle and interest only equals $1,700 and they are suing me for $2,400 plus court costs. They are getting waaay over me.

Anyways I think I will have to fight this in court. My husband does not work and we have 3 kids, so I'm sure that will help my case. Any other suggestions on how to prepare and show that a high payment will bring a hardship?

the only way they would garnish 290 per pay period is if your take home was 1500 or greater.is that the case?remember you can only be garnished 15%of your take home pay after all other deductons.example:

you take home 800.00 and are paid every two weeks.the max they can get per period via garnishment is 120.no judge can overide the maximum for this type of debt.just know that.

Even with a payment plan, they will still get their judgment. If you are able to set up a payment plan, you need to get the judge to set up as a conditional judgment...provided you make the payments monthly, the plantiff cannot step in and garnish you or levy your bank account.

Maybe point out to the law office exactly how much they will get from a garnishment vs letting you pay monthly. Maybe then they will agree to lower payments.