Summons from LRL re: Capital One

This will be somewhat lengthy due to the complexity, so apologies in advance.

I received a summons for two (2) separate Cap One credit cards last Saturday, January 15, 2011. One had a filing date of August 18, 2010 and the other a filing date of December 17, 2010. I went to the courthouse this morning (Tuesday, January 18th) to find out if a default judgment had been filed due to the dates showing on the two summons and they said no. It is their "assumption" that although filed several months ago, until I am served the 30 day clock does not start. My concern, which I stated to the court staff, was that it could be my word against their process servers as to when they served the papers. Regardless, I am responding and need some input from the group. I'll place comments and question by number so any responses can be addressed accordingly. Thank you.

The Summons dated August 18, 2010:

1. It states Legal Recovery Law Office, Inc, aka Mark D Walsh is representing Capital One. My assumption is that LRLO purchased the debt, but cannot confirm that. The Summons states I am being sued by Capital One and that LRLO is representing the Plaintiff.

Q-1.0: Should I assume that LRLO is the debt buyer and is simply stating they are representing Cap 1, or is there a way to verify one way or another?

2. In February 2010, I received a notice from MRS Associates that was dated February 16, 2010 indicating the account had been placed with their office for collection. I received a call from an MRS representative that same date (2/16/10) which was prior to my receiving the written notice.

3. On this same 2/16/10 date, I faxed a letter to Capital One and MRS Associates through the General Correspondence line indicating that I had received the call (again, I had not received any written notice at that time, but the notice was dated 2/16/10). In this faxed letter I referred to a payment plan that I had established on November 5, 2009 for three (3) consecutive payments. I had just made one of these payments on January 29th, less than 3-weeks prior to the account being sent to collections. This 1/29/10 payment was the 3rd and final payment in their interim payment plan, but rather than contact me directly to either extend the re-payment plan to show some good faith or discuss other options, they immediately sent it to collections. In this faxed letter I stated I would contact their office to try and structure another interim payment plan (they refer to them as, "Fee Credit Payment Plan").

4. On March 1, 2010 I called and spoke with a Capital One account supervisor and worked out an extension to this Fee Credit Payment Plan that also came with an increased payment amount. NOTE: I had been very forthcoming and proactive in all my dealings with Capital One prior to this and they knew both from speaking with me and from written correspondence that was unemployed and was unable to make my regular minimum payments.

5. On May 15, 2010, I received written notice from LRLO (a.k.a. LRL) stating the account had been "placed with this office for collection and resolution".

Q-5.1: It was my understanding at that time that Capital One had charged off this account, so unless I am mistaken, once a creditor does this they are no longer involved in any collections and/or suits. Is this a correct/incorrect assumption?

6. On June 5, 2010 I mailed a VOD request to LRL. This letter stated that I did not recognize the account number (I'm assuming this was LRL's internal account number) nor had I ever conducted business with LRL.

7. I received a packet of information from LRL dated June 8, 2010 they claimed was the VOD. In this packet, they provided copies of credit card statements, but there was no documentation that stated Capital One had assigned the account to them or that they had any authorization to collect on the account.

Q-7.1: My understanding is that a valid VOD must contain written documentation from the original creditor assigning and/or selling the account to the collector. Again, all LRL provided were photocopies of monthly statements. With this one account, they also had a copy of the form I filled out when I applied for the card, but there is/was no proof they owned or had been assigned the account. Are my assumptions correct/incorrect?

8. I replied on June 15, 2010 that I was in receipt of their information, but that the information was incomplete and as such, the debt remained in dispute. I reiterated that the account number they used (again, LRL's internal number I'm assuming) was not an account I recognized, etc.

9. I never received any response; written or otherwise until being served last Saturday.

Q. What is my best course of action at this point? Since I remain unemployed (I'm 57 and finding a job has been impossible in the current economic environment) I cannot afford an attorney and will need to represent myself.

2ND SUMMONS - Dated December 17, 2010:

1. This summons pretty much mirrors the first one with the exception that I never had a repayment plan established and the account, at least to my knowledge, had not been assigned to another collection agency as the previous one had been.

2. All issues, other than those related to the interim repayment and more than one assignee are pretty much the same. I just need some guidance on how to address these issues. One option is Chapter 7, which I am trying to avoid. One final question: If these go to court and I am found liable for repayment, in the event I file for bankruptcy following a judgment, can these accounts be included in that proceeding?

Again, sorry for the length. I appreciate any assistance.