Law firm sent "Stipulation of Payment" ? Can I still fight this?
Date: Thu, 10/08/2009 - 13:22
I've been behind on a Best Buy (HSBC) debt for a few months now. It went into collections, I moved and stopped receiving any kind of collection letters, etc.
Fast forward I moved back home. Received a letter from a Court Summons from a law firm handling the collection of said account. The 30 days passed, never received any other "court" papers..its been close to 2.5 months since initially receiving said "court" papers.
For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to track down who is handling the account. I started by calling Best Buy who then gave me the number of a CA, called them, who they then gave me a number to another CA. That number turned out to be the law firm that sent me that Court Summons.
I call them to inquire about the letter, etc. Right off the bat they tried collecting payment. The original balance (1,428.07) was "cut down" to 1,400 including fees, etc. ::rolleyes::
The lady on the phone was trying to get me to come up with $900 in 5 days which I flat out told her several times I could not come up with. She was a little pushy but I tried to keep cool and control of the conversation by standing by ground. I did not give any bank information over the phone. She ended up giving in a little by reducing the down payment and extending the due date by 2 months.....
So fast forward after reading a few threads on this forum....
I get a "Stipulation of payment" letter today that has a "Civil Court of The City of New York" at the top of it. No official logo, looks like a typed up "document"..followed by a section where the law firm signed as Attorney for Plaintiff on the left, and a section for me to sign on the right.
Can I stall any of this?
Can I still try to make things difficult for them by sending in a letter of DV ?
My concern is that, after I got off the phone with them i said to myself "I could have handled this so differently" but i did..I was a little nervous and concerned.
In reality, id like to lower the entire balance as a WHOLE. I dont really think i got a "break" on anything. I asked the lady on the phone if lowering the balance was possible but she said that the creditor wanted their money and the balance im paying off included their "services", etc....
What can I do at this point?
Forgot to mention: They never provided me with any documentatio
Forgot to mention:
They never provided me with any documentation that the debt was mine. All I ever got was a letter saying I owed "X", "X" amount of money.
The other, more imporant reason as to why I want to stall this...I REALLY want a "pay to delete". If i'm going to pay these a$sholes, I'd like to benefit from it a little so my credit report is wiped of this at least...Is that too much to ask for ?
check with your court clerk to see if there was anything filed.t
check with your court clerk to see if there was anything filed.there might have been.
And if there was..what is the best way to go about this ?
And if there was..what is the best way to go about this ?
It sounds to me like nothing more than an agreement to make paym
It sounds to me like nothing more than an agreement to make payments disguised as something to appear like a real court document. Stipulation means a condition, requirement, or item specified in a legal instrument. This document probably says something like you agree to pay X amount of dollars by Y date. I really don???t think it is a court created document. I think a court would not get involved in making you sign a settlement agreement without appearing in court prior and then it would be recorded as a judgment. I think the only documentation you would get from a court would be a summons to appear. I would probably check with your court to see if they have filed suit against you which you can do with a simple phone call. After that I would send a debt validation letter and demand a better settlement offer.
you think you think you think.. too much speculation in this
you think you think you think.. too much speculation in this threat and in this forum in general. speculation can lead to people making mistakes when they take what you say as fact.
a stipulation of settlement is a standard agreement in the state of new york which states that you must uphold the payment plan - and in doing so the Plaintiff agrees to withhold civil action (i,e no judgment unless you should default). read the terms of the agreement carefully and only sign if you can live up to it. that document will be filed with the courts and if you default on your agreement they will use that document to enter a judgment against you.
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/civil/stipulationsandsettlements.shtml
I agree with the person's previous post. Please read the docume
I agree with the person's previous post. Please read the document thoroughy, do not sign it until your are 100% positive you what you are signing. If you sign it and do not follow the terms, the creditor then can get a judgement against you and then all bets are off. As always, contact the clerkof courts office and consult an attorney if you have questions. I don't know where you live but in my area there attorneys that review a document and explan it to you for a small fee.
I live in NY. So the "Stipulation of Payment" is a legitimate c
I live in NY.
So the "Stipulation of Payment" is a legitimate court document ?
Oh, and to stir things up even more. I did a search on the Lawyer/Firm that is handling this and it appears they are pretty popular amongst people who have dealt with him:
Mel S. Harris.