Served with court summons - HELP Please!

first check with your court clerk to make sure the summons is legit.then ask them what you need to do to answer the summons.you can ask them to validate during discovery.make surethe summons is legit.then file an answer.

First let's move this to the proper forum so more people will see it! The Collection agency forum. I am going to forward this post to one of our members who is very knowledgeable in this area so keep checking back for more replies.

ah yes,skydiver.good call shazz.

Thank you,...sorry if I posted in the wrong place,..I'm afraid I am a novice when it comes to forums! I'll be checking back! Thanks! Jen

Quote:

I will be doing some research while I wait,..so no problem. Thanks again!

Wow. I'm sorry to hear everything you're going through. I know it's scary getting served. I got served for a lawsuit by our local sheriff. And we have nosey neighbors. So it was awful.

There should be a number on the summons where you can receive free legal assistance. I would certainly think you are qualified for legal aid with the situation you are in.

If there is no number on the summons, then try calling the court house and asking for information on legal aid. Just whatever you do, don't ignore it and skip your date. I did that last year out of fear and they got a default judgment on me. I'm paying them $100 a month, but it could have been avoided because the CC they sued me over was past the SOL to collect.

Best of luck. There are a lot of amazing people on this board who have lots of information to help you with. They've been a God send for me and my nerves!

Thanks "anc526",....I will absolutely respond. My summons said I had 20 days. Is that the appropriate and legal amount of time to stipulate a response?

Hi repblonde--

the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath. This is unknown territory to so many people and its really easy to panic when a summons shows up. Here are the steps I would take:

1--check with the court clerk's office where the summons came from, just to verify that it is a real summons. Sometimes, debt collectors pull a stunt like sending out a fake summons to scare people into paying them. It becomes a "if you pay us now you will avoid court" deal. That is very illegal.

2--is the court where the summons came from the same as the county where you live? They are not allowed, per federal law, to sue you in any place other than either where you live or where the debt originated.

3--what state do you live in? Also, you need to find out the date that the two credit cards you have first became delinquent. It is possible that the statute of limitations may have expired, and if it has, that would be your answer to the summons. Thats why you need to gather as much info as you can right now. If you answer the summons and the case goes before the judge, the court typically wont allow you to enter any more affirmative defenses on information you already had. More on that in a minute.

4--did the summons come with a complaint? is there any information concerning dates, or does it just say that they are bring action against you for the total you mentioned? If the summons did not come with a complaint, it may violate your state's rules of civil procedure. Those are different for every state. If the summons did not come with a complaint, I would check with the court clerk's office to see if they filed a complaint there at all.

Now, an answer is pretty straight forward--they make claims in their complaint. Your answer is simply an answer to each of their claims. For example, their complaint might say something like this:

1) Defendant opened a credit card account with METRIS on or about (insert date here).

In your case, my answer to that point would be:

1) Defendant hereby denies plaintiff's statements in paragraph 1.

I would deny EVERYTHING that has ANYTHING to do with this debt, because you have no knowledge of it. Getting sued isnt the end of the earth--CACH sues people mostly on the hopes that they will not answer the summons or show up in court--that way, they win their case without even having to prove their claims. You NEED to force them to prove their claims. Along with filing your answer, you should file a motion for discovery, and in that motion you should ask for specific documentation concerning this supposed account, such as an original contract bearing your signature. But I am jumping ahead a bit with that--let us know what state you live in and we will start with that.

Hi Skydiver!
OK,...I'm taking a deep breath! :-) I live in Minden, Nevada (Douglas County--Reno/Tahoe area). The suit was filed in the same place I now live--in the Douglas County Juctice Court. Yes there was a complaint attached. The attorney who filed for CACH is in Vegas. CACH is in Colorado according to the complaint. I will call the court Monday to verify everything,..I did call to find out what to do since I had never heard of CACH or the card company,..but their response while friendly was generic and limited to: "file a response and pay a $33.00 filing fee"--sorry but I didn't know to ask them to confirm it. The complaint says: "METRIS issued a credit card in the defendants name",... but gives no date as to when that happened. Now here's the part that seems screwy: It says on the complaint and in this exact order: I defaulted on the obligation on or about 7/13/08; then it says it was charged off to profit and loss by METRIS; then it was sold to plaintiff (CACH) on or about 1/30/07; and then it says I have made no payments since they bought the account on 1/30/07. I'm confused,...if I made no payments since they bought it,...then wouldn't the default have happened before 1/30/07 and not in 2008? How can that be? Am I missing something here? Did they change dates on me or something or is that a typo? Or am I having a blonde moment?

Bottom line,..I never signed a contract with any company named METRIS. I will go through my records to find exact info. about my accounts. The accounts were opened in Las Vegas. I will have to do some research to find out when the last payments were made to each. I seem to recall getting a letter "way back when" that Chase had bought one of them,..but can't tell you which one right off the top of my head. They were solicitations I got through the mail ...and opened via the internet. So there was no actual signed agreement with any of them--not sure how that works with accounts opened on the internet. But NO METRIS--ever. Never even heard of a credit card company called METRIS. Have you?

I'll get back with you again once I confirm with the court on Monday. Thank you so very much for your help. I'm a quick study,....and I am open to any suggestions you have.
Jen

Alright, first thing's first. Metris is a company that issues credit cards to consumers that most other card issuers will not give a card to--like moderate-income homes, people with lower credit scores, and oftentimes to the hispanic community here in the US. One of their affiliates is Fingerhut. They also at one time issued cards for stores like Target and Sears. One of their subsidiaries is Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank, NA.

OK, now on to this complaint. Wow.....thats really funny. Not only did they make themselves look stupid with that, it is simply not possible, for two reasons.

1--If you defaulted in July 2008, there is no way at all that the card would have been charged off and sold in 2007--that only can happen after the account has been delinquent for some time. The account cannot physically be charged off or sold as a charged off account unless it was already past due......so thats way off.

2--if you didnt make a payment on the account since 1/07, then that would be either the date of original delinquency or it would be very close to it, depending on the records they kept and the actual due dates of payments, etc. There is no way physically possible that an account could have no payments made since 1/07 and then only become delinquent a year and a half later--unless it was a standard loan and you had previously made those payments. In other words, they are full of crap.

I would answer by denying every statement they made concerning this account, stating that the information contained in plaintiff's complaint is not even possible. I would then file motion for discovery and request that the plaintiff make available the following documentation to you:

1) the original, signed credit agreement, bearing the defendant's signature, that would have initiated this account, to prove plaintiff's claim that defendant is obligated to pay this debt.
2) a full chain of custody of the records of this account, beginning with the original creditor.
3) a complete payment history beginning with the original creditor, so that the amount plaintiff claims as owed can be substantiated.

Now, it is common practice for debt collectors like CACH to send an "affidavit" as proof. It is not worth using as toilet paper, but in order to get it thrown out you MUST object to it, citing that such an affidavit is hearsay. As a defendant you have the right to personally question anyone that brings forth ANY statement against you in this case, and by presenting an affidavit, they are allowing an "authorized agent of their company" to make statements against you without you getting your right to due process. If they answer your motion with one of those, you need to object on the grounds of hearsay, and ask that the court compel discovery for the documentation you requested.

This is why I said do not panic--probably 9 out of every 10 times that a debt collector like CACH sues someone, they dont have the documentation to prove their case. They only win because they scare people into either not showing up or admitting to the debt. You must force them to prove their allegations against you. The errors in their own complaint by themselves tell me that these guys dont have a clue. I cannot believe that an attorney filed paperwork with the court that has such errors in it.


More to follow, when you check with the court clerk's office, let us know!

Jon

I have the same problem going on with summons. I live in az maricopa county my wife received a summon with no complaint. I on the other hand did. Both debts were sold off and now being pursued. Great info so far in this thread.

[COLOR=black]Hi Jon~[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Ok,..I contacted the justice court and they verified that the summons and complaint are legit. While it was filed on Sept. 18th,..it was not served until Oct. 8th,...the clerk I spoke with said they have not yet received a proof of service from the process server,..so that I should estimate the 20 day deadline stipulated in the summons from the 8th (the day I was served),..which means I have until the 28th to respond. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]Do you have a template or outline with the things I should include in my response? I worked for an attorney a gazillion years ago,..so I do know how to format things,..but what I do not know is first,..should it be in the form of a letter or does it need to be in the same format as the complaint and second, what should be included in this response other than to deny their claims and point out how impossible their event timeline is,...i.e. my current financial situation, lawsuits and complaints filed against this company that I found on the internet that concerned me and raised suspicions of their legitimacy in my mind, changing federal laws governing credit card companies...etc.,...stuff like that? Jon if you like I will be happy to respond to you via email if you feel it will be easier,..but beggars can't be choosy,..so whatever works best for you. Let me know. I am just so happy to have someone to be my sounding board and guide through this process. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]If this site helps,..as I hope it will with your help Jon,..I will sing this site's praise to the world and you, Jon, will be my hero!!!![/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Oh and by the way,..as I said previously,..I do not have a credit card from a company called Metris. Capitol One, Visa (through HSBC) and WaMu (Washington Mutual),..and a debit card through my bank. So I have never heard of this company until I got that summons, nor have I received anything from them in the mail that I am aware of. Just a FYI.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]Thanks![/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Jen[/COLOR]

Oh I forgot to ask,..as for the motion for discovery,..is this another letter/complaint or is there a form I fill out? And do I file this at the same time that I file the response or do I wait for their response?
Thanks!
Jen

Jon,..another quick question. I was doing some research about responses and formats and came across a site that suggested I should check to see if my state's court system allows you to file a motion to dismiss. I called the clerk back and was told "I wouldn't do that if I were you",...then suggested I go to the library and see the their law book on civil procedure,...make notes and then "If I desire" file a response and a motion to dismiss at the same time. And then the next question if you agree with this person,... can I ask for this in my response or do they need to be separate documents? Trying to save costs on filing two documents obviously. Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Jen

can anyone give me some information on intergrity investigations. supposedly out of georgia. any info would be greatly appreiciated. thanks

Alright....

1--the motion to dismiss is not recommended at this time, for a few reasons.

--you need a valid reason for wanting it dismissed, such as "this plaintiff has previously learned that I am not the obligated party to this debt", or "Defendant notified plainitiff previously that this debt has already been paid in full". And at this point, you dont have any specifics, all you know is that nothing about this alleged debt sounds familiar.

--Filing a motion without a proper reason can cause the judge to not take you seriously when you DO have proper reason later. Court is a funny place, things are simply not black and white.

Before you worry about motion to dismiss, filing for discovery is your best bet. This is what I posted earlier--you need to force them to prove that:

--this is actually your debt
--that they have the legal right to collect this debt
--that the amount they claim as owed is legitimate and legal

It may just be my opinion, but I prefer to attack those in that order. For example, if they cannot prove that it is your debt, it then doesnt matter about the amount being legally owed, because at that point you would argue that they have not proven it to be owed by you.

OK, head to a library and read up on your state rules of civil procedure. This is where you should learn the proper format for filings and when certain filings need to take place. Example--usually, you should file for discovery when you answer the summons, or there may be a court date that you would need to appear at to request discovery. It is different in every state. To get you started, here is an online copy of Nevada rules of civil procedure, current at least as current as 2007.

Along with your answer, you typically have the right to enter any affirmative defenses that you may have against the allegations made by the plaintiff. These would include expiration of the statute of limitations, statute of frauds, estoppel, contributory negligence, that the debt was discharged in a bankruptcy, and so on and so on. The most common one of these would be expired statute of limitations, which at least right now in this case doesnt apply--the dates are just way too fishy and something stinks, I dont like it. CACH has definitely re-aged debts before, it wouldnt be the first time they lied to a court like that. So at least at this point I do not see any affirmative defense that applies--I suppose you COULD try "assumption of risk" but to me that wouldnt be worth it, to be honest. Your state rules state that if you do not possess sufficient knowledge to either affirm or deny a plaintiff's claim, then you must state that you dont possess sufficient knowledge to either affirm or deny. The court is required to treat that the same as a denial, so dont worry.

If you would like to send me anything, like a copy of the complaint, or anything, my email is the same as my screen name here, at yahoo. I would be happy to look over anything you send.

Jon

Thanks Jon! I think you are right about the dismissal. So I have opted not to go in that direction and follow your lead. I have looked over the justice court civil procedures. If I interpreted it correctly I think I can ask for discovery after the plaintiff files for discovery. But I am not certain. I will cut and paste that section to you and see how you interpret it. I will send you the response I prepared and wait to see what you think!
Thanks!
Jen

Hey Jon!
I forwarded the prepared answer. Please let me know that you received it. I also cut and paste that section of the justice court civil procedures regarding discovery for you to take a look at,..as I wasn't sure as to the time frame to do this based on what I read. Let me know your thoughts. I had a bit of a schedule conflict today and was not able to run out to scan the complaint to email it to you,...but will do this tomorrow. Thanks so much and I will wait to hear from you.
Jen

Jon,
Sent you a couple of emails with questions about defenses. Hoping you got them. I also forwarded the section of the justice court civil procedures,...did you have a chance to check it out,...I really was unsure how to interpret it regarding when discovery can be filled. I will wait to hear from you.
Thanks a bunch!
Jen

Take help of any lowyer.

Sunil,
I can't afford an attorney,..that's why I'm at this forum,..looking for resources and utilizing the knowledge of those who have already been down this road.

I believe everyone should seek lawyer's advice in legal matter. That will help.

Hi repblonde,

That fine if you really not afford attorney. Do you have any friend circle or relatives to discuss such matters.

I will suggest you to discuss such matters wth your family and friends. some one have any affordable attorney can get in touch with the help of any friend. Because such issues are sensitive. You should listen to experties in forum but as my personal opinion is to catch any attorney with help of family of friends.

sunil,
I appreciate your thoughts. Of course I know that contacting an attorney is preferable. And I certainly would if I could. Obviously I thought of that and investigated any possible options along this line, including friends and family. And I would hope that you realize that attorneys by there very nature,..rarely provide free legal advice,...particularly in regards to issues such as this. This simply is not an option that is available to me,..so I have no choice but to represent myself,...like many others in similar circumstances. Thanks for your thoughts.

repblonde--check your email

Still working on the discovery question though...

Thanks so much Jon,...I guess discovery will be the next step. The good news is that the folks at the Legal Aid Center said they will work with me throughout the process,...so between you and them,...I should have the help I need. I will probably have to write the discovery myself,..as the legal aid office here is a two person operation,..and I suspect they have limited resources to actually do the work,...so they will just serve as a sounding board and resourse. I am ok with that. I just need some quidance and confirmation that I am following the right steps and not harming myself more by saying or doing the wrong thing. Let me know what you find out about that discovery question.
Thanks!
Jen

Hey Jon!
So,..I'm wondering what happens next? How do I know when a decision is rendered? And how long does this typically take?
Thanks!
Jen

hiya--

legal aid is willing to work with you, thats a great deal. I would ask them about the discovery--to make sure of if you need to wait for plaintiff's discovery or not. They should be able to tell you straight away the correct answer on that one. I have seen things that say plaintiff must file first, and then I have seen things that made no such requirement. Best to run it by the legal aid office just to make sure.

Okay,...will do. Thanks skydivr!