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ignored summons i received

Date: Sat, 08/23/2008 - 18:58
Submitted by on Sat, 08/23/2008 - 18:58
Posts: 202330
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Hi - My husband and I have been having financial problems for over a year now. Last year I signed up with a credit counseling Service and had them lower my interest rates and I paid them one lump sum each month that they sent to all of my creditors (Oh and by the way, my main reason for signing up for a company like that was all the advertisements I saw stated "Reduce your monthly payments and interst rates". Well they did reduce my interest rates, but my monthly payment was only $50 less than what I was paying. When I told them I couldnt afford the monthly payment they said that was the best that the credit card companies could do.) So I paid the monthly payment for three months until I could no longer afford it. I also called each Company after I stopped dealing with the Credit Counseling Service and explained our financial situation and how much I could afford to pay, but none of them wanted to work with me. So as of August of last year I stopped paying all of our credit cards, since we could barely afford our house payment and grocery bill each month. Last week I sent a letter to each of my creditors asking to settle the account and pay 30% of what is owed, since a family member lent me some money. Three of my creditors have already sent me a summons. I never answered any of the summons. (I didnt know how to handle the summons and every time I got one I through it in a folder, with the intent of taking care of it. One week turned into two weeks turned into 1 month. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.) So now that I am trying to clear all of these debts what do I do about the summons? Do I send the attorneys the same debt settlement letter I sent the others? Have I ruined my chances to work with them? I live in NY State and really need some help.

Thanks, Kim


I am sorry to hear about the financial trouble you've been having--but you NEED to pay attention to these summonses. If you don't and they have their court dates with you not there, your creditors win judgements by default, which will be much worse for you.
What I want you to do is pull out these summonses and see when the court dates are. Then we need to research laws for your state to see what rights you do have here.


Submitted by kscornell on Sat, 08/23/2008 - 19:22

kscornell

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One of the summons from Discover Bank does not have a date to appear. It does state that I do not physically have to go to court to serve an answer. Also, I dont see a date it was served on it. They have put a lein on my Checking Account.

The second one is from GE Money. The judgement date is June 9, 2008. They too have placed a lein on my checking account.

Thanks for helping!


Submitted by on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 06:40

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If they have already put liens on your checking accounts, then they must have won some sort of a judgement against you. I would call the courts and see if there is any record of this and if so, you are entitled to copies of all proceedings filed against you. Also, the courts must have served you in order to make these liens stick, if they are coming from a judgement. If there is no proof that you were served, you could possibly have these judgements thrown out, because of that. Again, you need to get copies of all documents in your cases before you can proceed.


Submitted by kscornell on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 06:48

kscornell

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Guest, DON'T EVER IGNORE A SUMMONS! you need to check with the clerk of the court to see if a judgement was indeed entered against you. You also need to find out when, who and how were you served. If you weren't served properly you can have the judgements overturned. Close your current bank accounts to prevent them from having access to your funds.


Submitted by on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 07:43

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