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Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:34 am Subject: Over $10,000. Felony?

I have other posts out there about an account I am dealing with which was originally through Citibank. They recently served me with a summons...no court date...they just want an answer.

I noticed my summons is from Superior Court. I thought Superior was only for felonies. When I called the court, I asked what had to be written on the summons, and asked why superior court, I thought that was only for felonies. The guy said "yes...anything over $10,000". My credit limit was $9,300. They are suing me for close to $17,000. So, is this a felony charge? It cannot be...can it?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 12:15 pm Subject:

It isn't a criminal charge. Felonies are criminal.

This is a civil matter. Small Claims court is anything under a certain dollar amount, and Superior is anything over a certain dollar amount.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:09 pm Subject:

They can't charge someone with a felony for an unsecured debt default can they?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:26 pm Subject:

Not at all! The company needs to prove that you have been doing some fraudulent activities by intentionally writing a bad check. You have to put a strong defense in front of the judge and turn the case in your favor. Consult an attorney to deal with your situation.

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:47 pm Subject:

Thank you!

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:27 pm Subject:

Goudah has it right on the head. Small claims courts usually only handle up to $1500 or $2500. Large claims like $10K have to go through the the higher courts (a small claims court would toss the case if they tried to file the case there).

Eleroo and Weeswie are also correct that defaulting on a debt of itself is not a criminal action, even if it is for $10K.

If they were trying to nail you with a felony charge, it would be the DA or States' Attorney prosecuting you (and the case would be captioned as People Vs ...). If a company name is appearing as the plaintiff, then it is a civil case.

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:43 pm Subject:

Wow, that would have scared the crap out of me. Until you take a minute to think about it being a civil matter and not a criminal one. It would have shaken me up I think. Goodluck dealing with this.

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:53 pm Subject: reply

I just would like to thank debtcruncher for clarifying this. This was new information for me. I'm sure it will help others as well. Thank you, debtcruncher! Very Happy

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Over $10,000. Felony?

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