Being Sued

Have you actually been served papers from the county couthose? Have you sent a validation letter to this lawyer reqiring him to show you who the creditor is, where they came up with this amount how they obtained this debt. etc. Has the statute of limitations run out or about to run out. If you call and try to work something out the Statute of limitation wil begin all over again. Do not admit to having this debt whatever you do. The burden of proof is on them. If the SOL is about to run out they will try to trick you into admitting you owe the money. Find this out first before you do anything. A sample of a validation letter can be found by doing a search on this site.

Make sure the debt validation letter is return reciept and certified! Also make sure u answer the summons, DO NOT IGNORE, speaking from experience here!

If this is valid service and the copy of papers are at the courthouse,then you need to do the following right away:
1.Send a debt validation letter to attorney certified return receipt mail. What is the full name of the law firm and who are they representing as the client?

You can send out a debt validation letter (return reciept requested) but make sure u answer within the time frame!! If not they automatically get a default judgement against u.
I saw somewhere on here on how to answer or u may want to get an atty to answer it for u. U can look at www.naca.net to see if they have an atty in ur area!
I know i copied the post of how to respond to a summons but not sure how to get it to u! Let me work on that and see wot i can come up with to get it to u if u want to try to answer on ur own but my advice would be to get an atty to make sure it's done properly!
Good Luck,
Ang

Jamie, on the right side look for do it yourself, click on that and scroll down until u see sample letters. Try not to copy it exactly, use ur own words where it's applicable to u.
I found where i had saved how to answer a summons on my computer. Here is wot i have but only thing that worries me about answering it urself is if it's not in the EXACT way the court will accept it... maybe someone else can help better than i can! (I ignored the citaton and got a default judgment, DO NOT DO THIS!)

There should be advice on the summons that you have 20 days to respond, do not avoid this or they will win by default. You need to either contact a lawyer or do it yourself.

You can answer the summons by typing up a front page just as they have, only reverse the information putting you first as the defendant of course. Then on a second page. number and answer to each allegation. For example.

on theirs:

1. XXXXX is an adult that lives at 1234 dillyduck lane, wayward NJ

Your response would be:

1. Yes, XXXX is an adult who lives at yada, yada, yada

The lawyer I consulted told me that only to confirm or deny each number.

their statement:
6. XXXX owes plaintiff X amount of money, with 6% interest, yada yada

my response
6. Denied

(reason, I did not ever enter into a contract with the collection agency, they are not the original lender)

I then filed it with the prothanotary office that the case has been filed in. Make sure you put your signature block, just like they did. You are more or less, reversing the document on them and filing your answer. You must do it with in 20 days or loose by default. Most people blow it off and lose that way and they get a default judgement.

I am waiting on a response from them now. This suing started back in December and I have yet to get a court date, I have all my ammo and am ready to go, wish they would hurry up already, getting bored with the whole mess.

UGHHHHHH... forgot to sign in again! That was me up there!

Hi Jamie--

there will not be an entry on your credit report until and unless there is a judgment entered against you. If you go to court, and the judge sees things your way, it will not state on your report that you had to go to court, so it will not affect your credit. If you lose in court, then it can be put on your file, but not before then. hope that clears up that part for you.

As the others said, make sure to answer. By doing so, you are forcing the CA to go into court and prove that the debt is really yours, that you owe the amount they are claiming you owe, and that they have the legal right to take action against you in order to collect it. If they cannot prove all of that, then they should lose the case. Some others here will know more about this than I do, but if I can help answer anything else, I will sure give it a shot.

EDIT--a couple questions come to mind...

First, when you say "years ago", how far back are we talking? Do you know when the last payment was made?

Second, what state do you live in? Each state has its own statute of limitations law, which sets the amount of time after the account went delinquent the CA's have to take legal action against you. If this debt is out of the SOL, then the CA is also SOL. They cannot sue you on a debt that is past the statute of limitatons. If it is, that should be all the defense you need. Your best bet is to send that validation letter immediately, and be sure to send it ceritfied mail, RRR. If they cannot validate the debt according to federal law or if they refuse to validate, then they are not allowed to take any further collection actions against you.

Yes please research the sol for this debt.Please review the rules of civil procedure for your state and any local rules for the court where the file is located.If you are uncomfortable with legal documents & proceedings,hire yourself an attorney to defend you for the suit.Keep good documentation as this agency is known for its rcord of violating the law.Make sure you claim sol defense in your answer,it is a use it or lose it defense for a suit.

You can send a debt validation letter