Just served a civil summons

This is a good site with very comprehensive info on civil court processes. Keep in mind that it is for New York and may differ slightly from your state:
"http://www.nedap.org/hotline/settle.html"

I received a civil summons from Bernhardt and Strawser from the credit company FIA Card Services and would like some advice as to what i need to do.....
Please advise

I receive a civil summon from Durham County for Sessoms & Rogers on behalf of Main Street Acquisition Corp. There is no court date on the summons. How do I respond,do I call Main Street to set up a payment plan,because I do owe this debt but got into a financial trouble.

reply to thread:

I receive summon from sessom & rogers for main street acquisition corp what do i do next

I was served a civil summons in NC . What Happens if I do not answer it ? I have bee n out of work hence not being able to pay . What do I need to do ? any help would be great .
Confused
Nc

first go to your court clerk and answer the summons.unless it is a student loan,taxes,or child support.they can't garnish so you could get a judgement,but it might be more favorable than a default judgement.go to your court clerk and answer the summons.

it is for cc . What does a default judgement mean and what does it mean towards me ? SHould I show up for a court date that has not been set up or do I even know when a court date is set up . What can they legal do with a default judgement againinst me .. I do not want to say I can arrange payments when I do know as of right now I do not have the money to pay . Could they come after my husband ?

My Husband has recieved a Summons from Sessoms and Rogers in NC also, I did check and they are a legit Law Firm I called them and spoke to a very nasty guy and then a nicer one, we are thinking about taking out some 401K cash to pay off the debt, after I have validated it, BUT I do not want to pay these guys a wad of cash when they probably purchased the debt for next to nothing, (Main St Acquisition Corp) I don't know what to do next???? any advice?

A default judgement, at least in Ohio, basically says that you do not dispute the debt and the court will award the creditor the amount they are asking for. I got served two weeks ago and will file my answer on Friday. My settlement company has worked with the lawfirm and creditor named in the summons. My suggestion is to get an attorney's and or your settlement company's advise. If you file an answer to validate the debt, it buys you some time to get the funds to ask for a settlement. In the event your get a court date, you can ask for a continuance. Please check with you clerk of court as to how you file for a continuance. Please be advised though, that you must be very aware of the deadlines that are given to you in order to file your paperwork with the courts. By missing a filing deadline by one day and your screwed. Now that being said, some judges are understaning if you are "Pro Se" (representing yourself) and may give you some leeway versus if your represented by an attorney. Please, if you have any questions or concerns, call an attorney and/or the clerks office. And do not wait to the last minute. Read the all court documents carefully and thoroughly.

regarding NC Class Action Lawsuit: how do I contact you? I have dealt with Unifund/Sessoms&Rogers for over 2 years. Resulting in voluntary dismissal. Several of their actions are illegal (and immoral). I do not trust them.

I am interested in Class Action Lawsuit in NC---Unifund/Sessoms &Rogers. How do I contact you?

Hi i to received a summons from unifund and sessoms and rogers. filed exemptions. and the sheriff came out. told him i could not pay due to working part time not full time now. he then called back two days later stating unifund will accept 150.00 per month for 12 months then they will review it. i did not ask the sheriff or agree to that. what do i do now? what happens if i ignore the message from the sheriff dept? the dept is valid 3 yrs til sol.

my lawyers said wait it out because i had previously tried to make arrangements and they were nasty on the phone or would trsfr me to a voice mail that never answered. i hate to pay them and then they review in a year and still want the amount they are asking now. If i do not settle or pay and the SOL Runs out, how does it look on my credit report. the original date of the debt is 98 . first usa bank, 01 unifund bought it and now sessoms and rogers are after it.

I to would like to know about the class actions suite how do i contact you?

thanks ahead of time.

Sessoms and Rogers is horrible. They took me to court and got a judgment because I could not find paperwork to prove statute of limitations was up. Now they won't settle with a very reasonable offer I made for more than the original debt, which has been handed off twice to shady companies that purchased the debt. They say they will get an execution against me, now. Luckily, I don't own anything that is worth any real money. I think they are after my whole tax return, but most of that money is already owed to some very important/necessary matters. I don't want these people to have any of my money. At 8% anuum. They just tacked another $600 or so dollars on. A debt that was originally about $2,000 is over $3,000 at this point. I wish a law could be passed to prevent this kind of preying on people that don't have money and don't know what kind of mess they are in for. Yes, I learned the hard way, but this should not have to drag on for so long.

Is anyone interested in a class action lawsuit against Sessoms and Rogers, NC?

Please contact me reference this group of bottom feeders. They have served me a summons on a debt from 1996. They reaged the account by saying I renewed the account a year ago.

Please contact me at No email for your safety -- Goldenbast

I was mailed a summons from sessom & rogers for a cc debt that i was told would be written off as a bad debt about 2 or 3 years ago by the actual credit card company who then sold it to FIA Card Services. I am at such a loss over this i have no clue what to do or where to start to handle this & this is a really large debt for me & i definately can't pay it. can i make arrangments with the lawyer or can i contact FIA directly & make pmt arrangments. also they sent the summons to an address that i haven't lived at in 7 years & it is not the address that the company ever had on file for me, can i do something about that, because this lawyer sent it to that address i haven't lived at in 7 years because they knew i wouldn't be there so they could just get a judgment against me is what i believe!!

Today I recived a copy of a "court judgment by defult" against me since 30/04/2009 from Wake County district court, NC. It is filed by UNIFUND CCR PARTNERS and represeted by Sessoms & Rogers P.A .

I never lived in Wake county, never recived anything from court. I dont know what this judment mean? Will I ever be arrested if I go through the county.

I have been outside of the USA since Dec. 2004.

Please avise.

It means someone sued you, and you weren't served, so they got a default judgment. They can now garnish wages or seize bank accounts. But you should try to vacate the judgment for improper service and lack of jurisdiction (wrong county).

You should contact the courthouse there.

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
Re: Sub. no. 70
Thank you for the reply. I will try to contact the county, but I need to know if I will be arrested if I ever go back to the state since I do live outside USA.

Please advice.

Regards

[QUOTE=Anonymous;695044][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
Re: Sub. no. 70
Thank you for the reply. I will try to contact the county, but I need to know if I will be arrested if I ever go back to the state since I do live outside USA.

Please advice.

Regards[/QUOTE]

You will not be arrested. You can not be arrested for bad debt or having a judgment.

I am trying to find out how to beat Sessoms and Rogers. Like everyone else they are serving on behalf of Unifund LLC. in the state of North Carolina. Like others my debt is a credit card debt that I fell behind on and ended up not being able to pay, now seven years later Sessoms and Rogers has put a lein on my house, until they are paid. I found this out by when I went to refinance my house this year. I have called S&R, my wife has called, and my loan officer for the refinance has called and they keep giving us the run around saying that their client makes the decission on how much they will settle for. I am trying to put the payoff in my refinance, but would realy prefer not to pay them at all, because everyone we delt with at S&R have been total jerks, to put it nicely.
Any suggestions? Need to know something soon, because we are trying to get the closing before the end of May, and S&R seems like they have the last hand on our refinance, because if they deny the HUD settlement, we can't refinance and they dont get their money for their client (Unifund) and we are screwed.
Thanks for all your help You can email me at no email for your safety and per TOS -- Goldenbast
Scott

I am sued by unifund also. I find two lawyers to fight unifund . Unifund is an abuser . Do not let them get your money to abuse others . They can not prove the debt so far . One of my lawyer do not charge a dollar to beat unifund . The max claim amount for harressment is $20,000 . If we all fight back unifund will stop harress us and abuse us .

i just found out that back in 2008 when i was out of state a lawyer hired by unifund attempted to have me summons but the records show it was returned unserved. The court is having a "lack of prosecution, notice of hearing" next month...i am unsure what to do

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a judgement withdrawn after it is issued in nc?

I have worked in the collection business for over 15 years and know the ends and outs of debt collection first hand. If you want or need help fighting them let me know.

I found out by receiving letterson Friday in the mail from lawyers wanting to help me with the civil suit filed against me by Midland Funding De LLC . that I actually had a civil suit filed on 2/27/11 in my county court. I knew/know nothing of this company. It states I owe $2,900 I'm assuming it's a CC I didn't pay but doesn't say who the original owner of the contract was. I have no contract written or verbal with Midland. I pulled up my COC web site and when I put in my na me there is a Civil suit filed on 2/28/11 by an attorney rep. Midland out of Ca (I am in OH). It also says that a certified letter was processed on 3/9/11 but I haven't received summons yet. I am worried first if there really was a summons served but it hasn't been mailed if the date for me to answer starts when it was filed (2/28) I might miss my 20 days to answer. I am also wondering if I can answer that I have no information regarding any contract written or verbal with Midland LLC? I guess I don't know if I should contact the COC office tomorrow or wait for the summons to arrive. The COC website does have a # for my file but the certified mail tracking # the USPS says it has no record of it being mailed. Any suggestions/ help would be appreciated.

#74: did you ever get a summons to goto court? They can't put a lien on your house before going to court first. You need to look up the court info.

#76: Is the case in your correct county? You can file a motion to dismiss based on lack of service..they served the wrong address, or just get a copy of the summons quickly and file an answer. If the case is in a different county court then you need to file a motion to dismiss due to improper venue.

#78: Your help can be invaluable. You should register.

#79: Go to your court and get a copy of the case file so you can see the summons and any evidence they have attached (if any). Then you can write up an answer, you want to address each numbered statement with a agree/deny/without sufficient information to agree or deny. If they have an affidavit of debt, you would then object to that as hearsay. If nothing else is included then you can demand that stuff during discovery, you would ask to see a signed agreement/contract, a final statement, and something that proves they are the legal entity to be collecting this debt.

more on #79

I received my summons by certified mail today. I just don't know how to answer it correctly and am very worried. I spent the morning looking up cases in my county regarding Midland and most were given default judgments so I want to answer and at least attempt but obviously can't affor an attorney or I would just pay them. Several were given default judments due to the "answer to the summons not being correct"

the complaint says :

Plaintiff vs my name and address

Defendant
1. The Plaintiff is the owner of the within credit card account through purchase.

2. By use of the account, the Defendant became bound by the terms in the agreement. A copy of the STATEMENT is attached as exhibit A.

3. The Plaintiff has exercised its rights pursuant to the terms of the said agreement to accelerate the time for payment of the entire balance due and owing by the Defendant to the Plaintiff.

4. The amount now due and owing is $2,9--.--

5. Although demand has been made upon the Defendant to liquidate the balance due and owing, the Defendant faild to do so.

Wherefore, the Plaintiff prays for judgement against the Defendant for the balance due of $2,9--.-- together with accrued interest of $68.-- through date of judgment plus interest thereafteron the balance due at the rate of 4.000% per annum and costs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The attached STATEMENT is a photo copy of a box that has my name and address at the top then the box with
statement as the first line
MCM account # (Midland)
Original Account#............
Statment date 10/27/10 due date 12/11/10

current owner Midland Funding LLC/ original Creditor: Citibank.

The above-referenced acount was purchased by midland funding and is serviced by Midland Credit Management Inc. Balance of $3,035 due by 12-11-10 please direct all correspondance to ...and it has Midland credit managemnt.

I have never seen this "statement" or heard of Midland before Friday. Under Original Creditor it list Citibank. I never had an "original" creaditor as Citibank. I think about 15 years ago I opened an account through Sears that then became Citibank, but that wouldn't make Citibank the original owner would it????

I'm so afraid of messing up my response and losing any chance I have.

As for the plaintiff being owner through purchase....the piece of paper attached as exhibit A isn't proof is it? It could have been typed by anyone and isn't signed, notorized or authenticated. Should I reply that I deny this or do I put without sufficient information to agree or deny?

I know I am asking lots here, but am just trying to prevent making a huge error that would automatically give them the default judgment.

thanks again in advance for any help you can give me.

Ok we can help you out with your answer. basically a good rule of thumb is to compose your answer exactly like the summons. What state/county are you in and I will do a search and see if I can come up with sample answers.

So you have never gotten anything prior to this from Midland? We can object to Exhibit A because that is just a statement from Midland and it proves absolutely nothing about the original account. I am betting that either they HAVE no original documentation OR they have something that only proves SOL was up long ago and so they wouldn't want to show that.

The fact you never had a citibank card makes this whole thing very suspicious. It looks like the original debt may have been bought out and then further sold down the line..who knows who actually owns this debt and what the correct amount should be...from what I can see they have proven nothing and are even trying to pass their own statement off as evidence.

So let me know the state/county and I will see what I can come up with, plus others here should be able to help you. You know...it would likely give you more exposure if you reposted your situation as a separate topic...just an idea.

I received my summons by certified mail today. Attached as exhibit A is a piece of paper that appears to be copied and pasted. they call it the STATEMENT. The very top says MCM with an address than you can see where a paper was placed and copied. it then has my name and address then below is a box that says a the top "statement" it then goes on to have the MCM account #, original Account # previous balance, interest rate, stattement date of 10-27-10 due date 12-22-10 accured interest
next is current owner: Midland munding llc/ original owner CITIBANK and then current balance.
below is "the above referenced account was purchased by Midland Funding and serviced by Midland Credit Management (MCM) The balance of $3,000 is due by 12/11/10 please direct all correspondence to midland credit management inc (and it has an address.)

I have never seen this paper before, it wasn't sent to me. It looks like it could have been typed up by anyone. Is this considered an affidavit? There are no signatures on it from anyone including from Citibank, or Midland or myself. Also, this credit card was opened in 1990 through Sears and my signature and agreement was with them then obviously changed to Citibank and then bought by Midland.

I am so lost as how to answer correctly the summons.
it states
1 The Plaintiff is the owner of the within credit card account through purchase.
2. by use of the account, the defendant became bound by the terms in the agreement. A copy of the STATEMENT is attached as exhibit A.
3. The plaintiff has exercised its rights pursuant to the terms of said agreement to accelerate the time for payment of the entire balance due and owing by the defendant to the plaintiff
4. The amount now due and owing is $2,958.00
5. Although demand has been made upon the Defendant to liquidate the balance due and owing, the Defendant failed to do so.

Again, I am lost as how to answer each. I deny the Plaintiff is the owner of the within credit card because I don't see any signatures/agreements/ specific to the original cc.

#2 the statement appears to be made up by Midland therefore I again deny it since it doesn't have any signatures isn't notorized by anyone from the original credit.

3. Unable to agree/deny idue to lack of information
4. can't agree or deny due to unsure how Plaintiff has come to this number since I have no contract written or verbal with them.
5. Deny since I have never heard of this Plaintiff therefore how could I have failed to pay.

I would appreciate any help you can give me and I am sorry this is so long. I can't sleep until this is taken care of.

sorry goldenbast I don't know why my post are showing up sometimes and not others. I live in Franklin County Ohio. Thanks again in advance for your help.

Here are some samples:

1: Without sufficient information to agree or deny
2: Deny
3: Without sufficient information to agree or deny
4: Deny
5: Deny


OBJECTIONS:

Object to Exhibit A as not being a statement from the original creditor and is considered hearsay.


AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES:

1: Statute of Frauds: The Plaintiff has produced no agreement/contracts from the original creditor.
2: Failure to State a Claim: The plaintiff has produced no documents to sustain a claim.
3: Unclean hands: The plaintiff has violated numerous debt collection laws.
4: Lack of Standing: Plaintiff has provided no evidence.
5: Defendant reserves the right to amend these affirmative defenses.

Type it up like the summons looks. During discovery you can send them production of documents and interrogatories, asking for proof.

Melissa, whatever you do, document document document, and never ever believe anything UNIFRAUD and their lawyers tell you unless you see and hear it is true with your own ears and eyes. Keep your records up to date, and watch those guys like a hawk. Follow up on any promises they make, and don't relax your guard on them for three seconds.

We made a payment plan for UNIFRAUD to pay them by the month, and are into our second round with UNIFRAUD; they claim we defaulted on the payments. We did NOT default. When we went through our bank statements, we discovered that they had not cashed 5 checks, and are now trying to make us pay the for the whole debt whereas we had agreed to a certain amount (which we have already paid).

Don't be afraid of them They thrive on consumer fear. Just keep honest by not trusting them. If you have the proof, you are all good if they take you to court.

We got a new hearing in SC.

I got a civil summons today to answer in 30 days for a cc. it was filed by sessoms & Rogers , of durham nc and I live in bessemer city nc (Gaston county) and that it where it was filed. I would appreciate any help on how to answer this so I do not have to pay it ... I admit I owed the cc company 1000.00 but then someone scamed my card for 1600 and they did nothing so i didn't pay and now they say I owe 5, 105 they sent no copies of the bill from the cc company or anything what do i do Plz help if this company is just trying to bully me by scaring me i am in on a lawsuit with you !!!

Quote:

I got a civil summons today to answer in 30 days for a cc. it was filed by sessoms & Rogers , of durham nc and I live in bessemer city nc (Gaston county) and that it where it was filed. I would appreciate any help on how to answer this so I do not have to pay it ... I admit I owed the cc company 1000.00 but then someone scamed my card for 1600 and they did nothing so i didn't pay and now they say I owe 5, 105 they sent no copies of the original bill from the cc company or anything what do i do Plz help

I don't know what to answer

1.plaintiff is a state banking assoc. organizend under laws of deleware, with principal office and place of bus. in wilimington de.
2.the defendant is a resident of gaston county nc
3plaintiff opened a cc account for def. at the request of def. andextended credit to def through account.
4.def. accepted and used the cc provide andincurred balances due on the account that the def agreed to pay.
5def. is in default of the agreement to repay to the plaintiff the credit provided
6.pursuatn to agreement def. is lawfully indebted to the plaintff in the amount of 5105

then it says wherefore, the plaintiff prays the court as follows

1. plaintiff have and recover from def. the sum of 5105
2.the plaintiff recover no interest whatsoever
3. the plaintiff further recover from said def. all costs of this action.
4. for such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper

I know how you feel got a civil summons today to answer in 30 days for a cc. it was filed by sessoms & Rogers , of durham nc and I live in bessemer city nc (Gaston county) and that it where it was filed. I would appreciate any help on how to answer this so I do not have to pay it ... I admit I owed the cc company 1000.00 but then someone scamed my card for 1600 and they did nothing so i didn't pay and now they say I owe 5, 105 they sent no copies of the original bill from the cc company or anything what do i do Plz help

I don't know what to answer

1.plaintiff is a state banking assoc. organizend under laws of deleware, with principal office and place of bus. in wilimington de.
2.the defendant is a resident of gaston county nc
3plaintiff opened a cc account for def. at the request of def. andextended credit to def through account.
4.def. accepted and used the cc provide andincurred balances due on the account that the def agreed to pay.
5def. is in default of the agreement to repay to the plaintiff the credit provided
6.pursuatn to agreement def. is lawfully indebted to the plaintff in the amount of 5105

then it says wherefore, the plaintiff prays the court as follows

1. plaintiff have and recover from def. the sum of 5105
2.the plaintiff recover no interest whatsoever
3. the plaintiff further recover from said def. all costs of this action.
4. for such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper