Being sued ..please help

It never hurts to approach them and offer them a settlement amount. Many times they will settle for less.

Thanks I tried to negotiate with them but they said no, what I don't understand is I'll pay back less money with the judgement than I would have making regular payments. Others reading this please give me your input as well I really need help on how to deal with these people and not cave in out of fear. thanks

I am very surprised that American General would act tht fast...when I fell behind a payment, they offered to re-write my loan, let me skip a payment, etc....

Did you walk into their office? I found that working directly with the branch manager will get you farther. They should know better than to pull a stunt like this...

I expected that too, I have friends that are more than 90 days behind on bills and they're not being sued. When they submitted my account to their lawyer I was just over 30 days behind. I always walked in my payments since they were just a few minutes away from where I live, and initially when I received the summons I spoke with the manager and even offered to pay the legal fees and work out a payment arrangement but they denied it. I explained my hardship to one of the reps but she offered nothing

That is awful...they are on the short end of this stick.

At this point, show up to court and ask for a payment arrangement there. Bring your payment records and times/who you talked to when you tried to make other arrangements with them.

I want to avoid the judgement. I'm trying to have about 60% of the amount by the time of the meeting, I'm told this isn't court yet but the initial meeting.Can I request payment arrangement without getting a judgement or should I request to settle and argue that the time frame of me being taken to court was unfair? in the motion for judgement it says I went into the loan in June (refinance) and defaulted in July??? I am more than willing to pay my debt I just don't think a judgement is fair

So March 25 is a mediation or arbitration meeting? Are you meeting at the courthouse or at some attorneys office?

I believe it's something like mediation, when I first got help filing my answer I was told this was the initial meeting to see if something can be done to avoid court. Do you think if I have say 60% of the balance they would agree to a settlement? that was my original plan and my second offer was to have the 60% and request an extra month or two to pay the remainder and avoid the judgement, that way they get their money and I avoid a judgement. Have you heard of this or any success stories with avoiding a judgement

Okay..then this means thwy are probably open to working with you. Cant believe they took it this far in order to do so. :(

I havent known American General to settle....but you can give it a shot! Or you may offer some of it as a "down payment" then make some installments afterwards to pay it off for good.

hopefully that will work, meanwhile can anyone give me some input on how to possibly avoid this becoming a judgement or if I have any argument whatsoever regarding this, all of the details are in my original posting under dee_102503 (the system won't let me post anymore under it saying the name already exists - weird) anyway some input from anyone who avoided or dealt with a judgement or can tell me where they think I should go from here - thanks

All of your details are on this thread...this is the original thread.

All of the advice I just gave can help you avoid from having this become a judgement...making arrangments, etc during mediation. Technically the creditor can take action during any delinquency period...as I mentioned, take all of your notes of when you tried to make arrangements, etc. to show good faith.

I'll do that I just thought that since they didn't want to make payment arrangements with me after receiving the summons that they wouldn't do it when meeting. I have been making small payments before and after receiving the summons, my friend says if I'm trying to pay off the debt I shouldn't bother making payments and at this point they shouldn't be calling me at work asking when I can bring in another payment (which they are) if my account is with their legal dept. I hear what you're saying with taking in receipts, I was just wondering what anyone else may have experienced in more detail with judgements or avoiding a judgement.

DEE:_
WHY DO YOU HAVE FEAR TO GO TO THE COURT?
I BELIEVED MANY PEOPLE IS AFRAID TO GO TO THE COURT AND BECAUSE THIS SOME BAD COLLECTORS ARE TELLING PEOPLE IF YOU DONT PAY A WHOLE BILL WILL BE SOON IN THE COURT.
IT IS A GAME.
I PRAY HERE EVERY DAY FOR MY HUSBAND WILL BE TAKE TO
THE COURT BECAUSE HE IS PAYING ALL HIS CREDIT CARDS
WITH HIS SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY AND PEOPLE STILL
ROBBING HIM WITH MANY FEES SINCE 1993-06 WHEN HE BECAME BLIND.
HE CANNOT WORK ANY MORE BECAUSE HE BECAME BLIND AND MORE MENTALLY ILL.
LAST TIME WE WENT TO COURT WAS 2004 BECAUSE CHASE,
ACADEMY AND SOME LAWYER.
MY HUSBAND HAVE 4 CREDIT CARD WITH CHASE AND CLOSE 3 CREDIT CARDS BEFORE HE BECAME BLIND.
WHEN HE BECAME BLIND WITHOUT WORK THESE CHASE DID NOT ACCEPTED HIS PAYMENTS AND ACADEMY COLLECTION PUT THE BILL FROM 4000,00 TO 10000,00.THEY WANT A WHOLE PAYMENT EITHER BUT THIS ACCOUNT WAS VERY OLD FROM 1991.
I HOPE ONE DAY THEY TAKE US TO THE COURT AGAIN.
MY HUSBAND HAVE NOT A HOUSE,HE HAVE AN OLD CAR FROM
84 OR 85 AND THE CAR IS NOT RUNNING.
SINCE 2004 YOU DID NOT LISTEN MORE ABOUT THE BIG"CHASE" AND SOON IN 2009 I THINK CHASE WILL DISAPPEARED FROM HIS CREDIT REPORT.
I'M SURE GO TO THE COURT IS BETTER THAN BANKRUPTCY
(BANCARROTA)AFTER COURT NOBODY CALL YOU ANYMORE
BECAUSE THEY LOST MORE MONEY TO TAKE YOU IN THE COURT.I'M SURE THEY DO NOT WANT OLD CARS.
I'M WAITING FOR BANK AMERICA,ASPIRE VISA,CAPITAL ONE TAKE US TO THE COURT BECAUSE THEY ARE DOING THE SOMETHING CHASE DID.MY HUSBAND DID NOT GOT PAID THESE 3 CREDIT CARDS THIS MONTH WITH HIS DISABILITY CHECK OF 623,00 A MONTH.I NEED A MIRACLE HERE BECAUSE MY FAMILY HAVE TO SEND ME MONEY TO PAY EVERYTHING HERE.
MY HUSBAND DID NOT ACCEPTED HE IS BLIND NOW AND HE WANTED TO PAY ALL HIS BILLS WITH HIS LOW SALARY.
MY HUSBAND IS VERY ILL MAN AND IF I DIDNT FIND THIS FORUM HE ALREADY HAD KILL HIMSELF BECAUSE SO MANY
ABUSES OF BAD COLLECTORS.IT IS WORST WHEN YOU ARE NOT A DEBTOR AND PEOPLE ABUSING HIM BECAUSE HE IS VERY MENTALLY ILL.
DEE DO NOT BE AFRAID OF COURT AND BELIEVE ME debt consolidation CARE FORUM MEMBERS ARE THE BEST.
HERE YOU WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT ALL YOUR RIGHTS.
HERE YOU WILL MEET OUR "FAMILY FORUM"LIKE BOSS KAREN ALWAYS SAID.
ALWAYS HELPING US AND NOTHING IS BETTER THAN HAVE GREAT FRIENDS IN THIS WORLD.

Thanks for your encouragement, sorry to hear about your husbands illness,its so sad how companies could care less once someone falls ill - I hope everything works out for you. This has never happened to me before so I don't know what to expect. I posted hoping I could get feedback of experiences dealing with the courts and what to expect..

I would love to hear more feedback about dealing with courts, settling etc thanks everyone

THANKS DEE DEE FOR ALL YOUR KIND WORDS.
IF YOU HAVE TO PAY RENT DO NOT WORRY
ABOUT TO BE IN COURT.
HAPPY 2008!!!