I've been served papers by the sheriff on this debt

Show up for your court date. You will have an opportunity to make payment arrangements there. It's too late to validate the debt now...Unless you can find significant evidence that you don't owe the money, a judgement will be entered against you, forcing you to pay. If you don't keep your payment arrangements, you will be garnished.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Okay - thank you for your help. I will do it - was it legal for them to have inflated the amount due by 2,000? I have the last statement from the CC company itself....

When a debt gets sold it's legal for additional fees to be added on...It sounds like that's what happened here.

North Carolina is a tough state to have a judgment against you. Not so much for wage garnishments (which I believe aren't allowed in either of the Carolinas) but judgment creditors get a lot of power to levy on assets. Given the point your at in the process, I would strongly suggest you contact a local attorney, even if it's just for the free consultation. You need to know what to expect and what your rights are regarding this lawsuit.

Is there any chance to consider the expiry of the SOL looking at the original post? Let's say if the SOL of his state has expired and now he gets the court papers, can he use the expired SOL as a defense? Just wondering..

i live in pa and also got a civil summons. my state is the same as the carolinas no wage garnishments.. what kinda assest are u talking about for them to levy on..just curious i dont have many assets really. only real asset is my home which i owe 26 1/2 yrs on yet

I believe they can go after your home, car, and bank accounts. I have a question about levies: Is that like a lien and when you sell the home you have to pay off the lien, or do they actually take your home away? Hope that doesn't sound stupid, I wasn't sure if they are the same thing.

if im not mistaken they can place a lien on ur home.. meaning that if the judgment is not pd off and u try to refinance or sell ur home they have to be pd first..i am not under teh understanding that they can actually take your home unless u have alot of equity in it.. also not sure if the mortgage lender has teh deed until its pd off how they could take ur home anyway.. im no lawyer so i may be waaaaay off here..

That sounds about right, I just wasn't sure if lien and levy were being used as the same thing.

the only thing im still confused about is i live in a community propert state..50/50.. now an attourney i talked with told me that since teh house is in both my and my husbands name that they couldnt levy on it or naything in it since teh summons is only for me and not him..but im still a bit confused on it all.. if things i have read up on are right then i assume if they choose to levy on personal belongings in the house they can only levy on 50% of it bein my half. which in my case would be about 1000.00 if they sold everything i owned
. still eaving a big chunk of debt left

But..Do you live in NC, or are the attorneys just from NC? No, garnishments are not allowed in the Carolinas, but wouldn't the court follow the laws of the state you reside in?

Isn't that kind of a small debt to lien your house over? I thought there was a standard..

I live in NC and just got served. I am going to respond within my 30 day time frame. I am wondering if I should stop direct deposit of my check as I understand they can control my bank account.
?

rob, I think that I would in case they win a judgment and go after the bank account. If you are in a non-garnishment state (I don't know about NC), the bank account is one of the first things they'll try to get.

Rob,
Just make SURE u answer within the time frame! Who is it that's suing u?? How much is the debt? And when was last payment made on it?
If you can give as much info as possible on this debt, u may recieve a lot more responses from very knowledgable people!
Good Luck,
Ang

Remember as well that in many states, the discovery phase of the case starts at the time of filing and lasts for 30 days. In your response, (most state rules of civil procedure state that the petition must have numbered paragraphs), answer "deny all that is said in paragraph I", (or admit) etc. At the end, state reasons why you think the case should be dismissed and other defenses. For example, if the alleged debt is one on which the statute of limitations has run, state that "plantiff has no cause of action..." and explain, requesting that it be dismissed.

Also if u need an example of how to answer a summons let me know i have one saved on my pc from this forum. Might help a little as to how to do it!
Good Luck,
Ang

Can they go after a bank account that has more than one name listed on it? on mine it is in both husband and myself. I thought as long as it was a community property in Pa they could not touch it.

That's what i'm dealing with NOW Fed! SIGHS! Recieved a summons for hubby last week for garnishment of his wages! Sheeesshhhhh.... The atty seems to be in NO hurry whatsoever and it's driving me batty but then again... got news yesterday that some attys from FL and GA are trying to prepare a class action suit on CACH! (finally, they might get what's coming to them, it's karma!!) I will pm u the information to their website and u can email them ur story! The more of us the better chance of this really happening! :D
Check ur PM,
Ang

I live in SC and this is a Non-garnishment state so is NC.Yes "if" you have a banking account they will take that,but if you Rent,have no bank,your car is owned by someone(like mom,dad,mother-in-law ect)else and basic own nothing then your "judgement proof".In the county I live in I know about ten people who have
CA calling every day but none of them have been sued.About 4 years ago one girl at work got sued for a credit card that limit was for $300 and the bill went up $1200 and they took her to court and the judge ask her what can she pay she told the judge $25 a month.The CA lawery told the judge that was not enough.The judge told the CA in his court room there is not added charges and the amount of the debt is for $300 so its $300!!!!!Thats what the girl payed for at $25 a month!!!!!

I just posted thier response to my discovery request. I would think that they would have to provide me the proof that I have asked for. They are really irritating me at this point. They are a ca that purchased the debt, so they say. I had one other that was with an original creditor who settled for a lesser amount than they originally wanted. Now why can't these jerks that paid pennies on the dollar come to some kind of reasonable settlement offer. This could have been over with if they would not have over inflated the price and then expect me to pay it.

Because they're CACH fed! ARGHHHHHHH!! I'm gonna go check out ur post and see what these jerks are up to now! SIGHS. Had they accepted my payment plan OR lump sum payment this cud have been over with 2 years ago! WTH is wrong with them?? They want 3 times the amount of said debt... They make my blood boil!
UGHHH,
Ang