Settling out of Court...?

do you have the diff amounts in writing?if so save them and go to court with them.you might get a ruling even more in your
favor than the settlement. also,if they try to sneak a judgement before the court date.you can have that vacated.because if you have a court date in place,unless you
agree to settle they can't get any judgement prior to that.it sounds like you are better off going to court.you might be pleasantly suprised.

3300 on a 3700 debt isn????????t that great of an offer especially if the debt is over 1 year old. You would be settling at 90% but I would offer them 30% and try to negotiate to 50% or less. I would try to settle that debt at 1850 or less which is 50%. They probably will only accept that if it is one lump sum payment so you will need to save up the money. I would call them back when you have it and tell them it is impossible for you to come up with the 3300 but you have 1500 cash today that you will offer as ???????Settled in Full??????? and then let them bargain their way to the 1850 at most. Tell them if they do not accept it then you will call the next creditor you owe and make an offer to them and it will take another year before you save up a settlement offer again.

the debt is from 2003 originally. i've been paying to the original creditor small amounts over the years.. but they sold it off, and then they sold it off... now this junk guy has it. I have the 3709 from the court document, and the 4250 request on email from the attorney, so perhaps that will help. I didn't realize that it worked that way- now I feel like an idiot for coming in so high. This law firm is based in VA beach- would it be better to pull in the court date or ride it out til Sept?

They probably added additional fees to the 3709 which if the sue they can not collect on if you dispute them I believe. All they can sue for is the charged off amount. Once they get a judgment they can then start charging interest and some fees again. I would probably try to settle it before it went to court if you can though just to avoid getting a judgment against you. This is assuming they can validate the debt. If they can't validate then you should win in court since they can't prove it is your debt. If they can prove it and once they get a judgment they will use it to garnish and go after your assets if they can. You can still settle it after they get a judgment for whatever they will agree too but I just think it is better to avoid those if you can.

do you still think I should come in lower at them or just stick with the 3300? I checked what they provided the court as validation. It's just a piece of paper with my info- stating that the closing balance is 3709.53- no break down of charges/interest. I mean, my credit limit was only 2500 dollars. The rest of it has been fees.

First you need to make sure you have a lump sum amount of money available. Don't try to settle for a dollar amount you don't have. After you have sufficient funds then I would renegotiate that 3300. I would tell them that you don't have 3300 even if you really do have it. I would tell them you do have 1500 that you will offer as settled in full and see what they do. They might counter offer or they might just yell at you. It will probably take a few phone calls. I would not spend much time discussing anything with them. Get on the phone, make the offer and get off the phone as quick as possible otherwise they will just mess with you.

If they file suit then you need to request full documentation on the loan through the court before you ever go to court. This would be during the discovery phase prior to your court date. I would ask for the same documentation that is asked for in the DV letter. If they can not provide any of those documents then they will probably lose the suit but you need to make sure you show up.

can I not request full documentation from the lawyers now or does that have to be through the court? I already have a court date set up... Thanks for all the help.

sorry, another question... but isn't settled as agreed also considered a negative statment on my credit. I'd like to try and improve it as best I can...?

Then you will need to negotiate a Paid As Agreed or Paid In Full notation.

Even better is to negotiate a pay to delete from your CR.

Usually these options require payment in full. Maybe they will take payments. Ask them.

You can request from the lawyers but be sure to also request it through the court if you have been served and sent a summons. You need to keep the court in the loop or you may miss your chance to require those documents and then they may not be able to be used as evidence. What you need them to provide is the original signed contract and the statment were your last payment was made and the charge off statment. Those documents would show you actually owed the money and how much you really owe. If the CAs number doesn't match the charge off statment then they would also need to provide documentation showing how they came up with their number.

Most CAs won't give a paid for delete or a paid as agreed if you end up settling for less than what is owed. Don't worry about it to much though because it is more of a grey mark then a red mark. After you settle you can also periodically dispute the item and if they don't confirm it will be deleted anyway.

sorry i'm such a pain... how would I go about requesting a validation in discovery? is there a formal form or should it be a written request? Also should it be sent to the law firm or the court to be addressed?

I am not sure how to officialy request those documents since I have never had to do it but I believe you do it when you answer your summons. If you have passed that point then what I would do is call the court house and ask how to submit for these documents. I am sure it needs to be a written request and you need to stiuplate that you need at least 10 days to review the documents. Maybe someone else can chim in with the official way to do it though.

ok. The court date isn't until the mid September so I should have plenty of time.

I would contact the court ASAP about the documentation you want and the deadlines on filing the appropriate paper work. I am certain there is a time period in which you can request for information which is the discovery period and after that point you would not be able to request additional information as evidence. It is important to determine when that deadline is to insure that you submit in a timely manner. I am sure that the deadline to file for this information will not be just 10 days before your hearing. It might be more like 30 days which could possibly make the deadline August 15th. That is pure speculation on my part though so you would need to contact the court to find out for sure.

My lawyer settled my case out of court without my consent.
A jury trial was set, I appeared in court and was told that my case was dismissed. I called the court and was told my case had been settled. I called the attorney's office and talked with a staff member and was told that I would receive a letter in the mail. What do I do now, when will I receive the settlement. Why would the lawyer settle my case without my consent? I need a lot of questions answered. Where do I start. I have not heard from the attorney.

I have a lawsuit against me for breaking a lease. I want to settle out of court but I do not have money to pay a lump sum. What can I do?