how to respond to a summons

You really need to respond to that summons, otherwise they will get a default judgment against you. You should get an Attorney if you can afford one. I'll let someone else who understands and knows more about this answer your question. Good luck!

thank you for your reply. I guess nobody else responded. I don't have a court date - I just need to respond to the summons within 30 days (which will be 5-17-08, however I don't even no how to respond.
Thanks.

Go to your local county law library and ask the law librarian for the forms. Bring a floppy disk and you can copy the forms onto that. Then type in your name, case number, etc, and file it with the county court clerk. Send a copy to the opposing attorney.

You do not give enough information for a proper response. What State are you in? Did you ever ask for validation? etc...

ok, this is not that hard, really. Here's the thing--they sent you a summons, and often it comes with a complaint. The complaint states what the plaintiff alleges about you and this case. For example, the complaint might say something like this:

1) Defendant is a resident of ABC County, thereby making this court the appropriate venue.

--your response, if this is correct, would be

1) Defendant affirms the statement in paragraph 1.

You would do this for each statement on their complaint. If you do not know about the account, or you dont have enough information to know for certain that they are telling the truth, then you do NOT answer that youre affirming what they said. Example--

3) Plaintiff entered into a credit card agreement with defendant in January, 2003.

If you did not do that, you would say:

3) Defendant denies the statements made in paragraph 3.

If you dont have enough information to know either way, you could say:

3) Defendant does not have sufficient knowledge of plaintiff's claim, and therefore cannot affirm or deny the statement in paragraph 3 without more information.

The goal is to answer each point that they listed against you. A lot of people deny everything about the account, and then, when it gets to the courtroom, file for discovery and make the plaintiff prove their claims. This is a good way to go, in my opinion, when dealing with a scummy company like LVNV--that is, unless you know for certain that the debt is yours, and that the amount they claim you owe is legitimately owed by you. I dont recommend to anyone that they skip out on legitimate debts.

Now, more info from you could help us to help you better. Have you had any communication with them at any point? Did you ever send them a validation request on this debt?

Its is foolish to give advice when you do not even know the state the complaint was filed in. You do not even know the RCP where the complaint was made.

I filed my validation (response)letter asking for the specific documents (such as original creditor, original signed agreement, proof that they purchased the debt, etc.) to their summons on May 1, 2008. I sent a copy to the attorney (certified) and on May 8, I received a letter from the attorney offering me a settlement ($1245 versus the 1500/plus interest they wanted to begin with) lump sum or month payments. What should I do now - I live in Georgia and the statue of limit. is 3 years. I did not believe I owe this much on a credit card, but credit report says 500. How should I deal with this - I donot want to pay them $1200. Why did they not send me back the information I requested? Thanks for all help.

SH**!!! Where were you a few months ago when I needed you skydivr. Thanks to you and others I have become much more knowledgeable and more well aware.

I called a local consumer group for help and after about a week they mailed me a letter with an answer on how to deal with debt collectors. They said to deny everything, tell them nothing and give them nothing. Of course in my situation it's not my debt. I got the company to dismiss the case yesterday by the way.

I received a Summons letter regarding an American Express credit card account, can you please let me know how to respond in writing and what to say on this letter. I live in Florida and am currently in a debt settlement program

Is your American Express cc account included in your DMP??

So I've recently received a summons and thank goodness for this community forum. I've read through this thread and understand that I have to either deny or affirm everything the law firm has listed against me.

I've also read online somewhere that there is a another part of the response where you list your defenses. What is that? And does your summons response have to include that? I guess I am unsure of how formal this document needs to be.

Here is a great site with a lot of info on defending creditor lawsuits. It is for New York and so may vary in some details with your state.
"http://www.nedap.org/hotline/court.html"

Great info from that website! Thanks!!

No problem, I'm glad I found it. While I have discovered other sites to help you with a pro se case, this one is the best, most thorough, and user friendly of all of them!

Another great website is the one for the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), "www.naca.net" where you can find a consumer attorney in your area to help you with this kind of case.

I have recently received a summons for my discover credit card sent to me thru a law firm that they hired to obtain their fees. I need to respond to their summons but do not know where to start.. For the state of Florida..

Go to your county court website....look up the rules of civil procedure.

You should also be aware of what the statute of limitations is regarding debt collections for your state. In most states it is six years for written contracts (a credit card is considered a written contract because you signed an application to get it). The statute of limitations starts from the date of last activity associated with the account. The activity is something initiated by you, a payment, a puchase, etc.... I am going through a similar situation. It is best to call the card issuer and simply ask them what is the date of last activity associated with the account. Be sure to ask them all dates so you get the latest one. They may just tell you the date you last purchased something with the card but maybe you have a payment date later than that, so ask about all activity dates. The "clock" starts from that point. If you are being sued and you still have time to respond to the summons and the statute of limitations has expired than put that in your response letter to the courts. This will prevent the debt collector from being able to use the courts to collect the debts. They can still call you and try to get you to pay but they would no longer be able to sue you over it, garnish your wages, or seize any assetts in bank accounts, all of which require a court order to be done. It effectively neuters them. After that you simply tell them to stop contacting you, in accordance with the FDCRA, and they legally have to stop.

Do your research, it doesn't take much time and there is a lot of information available to you. Also, check and be sure if the debt collector is registered in your state to even conduct debt collection business, or the law firm representing them, if any. Most cases they aren't and that is illegal. LVNV Funding is sued all the time for doing that.

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