How do I settle a debt if the lawyers have it and have served me papers to appear in court?
In November of 2006 my 00 debt with chase bank went into collections. A year later I called a lawyer who told me that if I haven’t been taken to court yet I probably would not. Well almost 3 years later and after the debt has been sold several times, I am being sued by lawyers representing North American Recovery Corp. I was told by Forward Properties (findaccount@gmail.com) that the current owner of my debt was the lawyers and gave me their phone number. I was served papers by the local sheriffs office and am supposed to appear in court on Sept. 24th. The first set of papers said that both parties had to appear on court and then i got a letter from the attorneys today stating they requested from the judge if they could be absent and do a phone conference while I still had to go to court. Is there any way to settle this if the lawyers have it and avoid going to court? The initial balance I owed on the account was just shy of 00.00 and the rest is all late charges and interest. I’m not sure how to attack this, who I should call etc etc, without incurring lawyer expenses of my own. I don’t have a number to contact North American Recovery Corp and cannot find one anywhere on the web. The one search that came up for that name was for another North American Recovery and they said there is another one out there. The debt is orig. from ohio and I now live in florida. Please help me with this headache.
We may assume that you have a right to submit a legal answer to your summons and complaint. I would submit a legal response that "denies all allegations for lack of information."
Then, file a discovery request with the court. This will do several things:
1. It will delay the case by several months
2. It will increase the cost of the lawsuit (to the plaintiffs) by several thousand dollars.
3. It will force them to show up in person
Then, you can negotiate a settlement that makes sense to you.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 pmSurely you have the lawyer’s phone number? Cal him and work out a settlement. Of course by now he probably will not settle so he can go on and get a judgment just in case you default. I hope others are reading this so they can make arrangements before it costs them an extra $1000.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 pmIf you don’t have a phone number then call the court and ask how you can settle out of court. The court should have contact information to share with you.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 pmIANAL, but collectors want money and they would rather have a big chunk now than bits and pieces for a long time. They are suing you, and they are willing to get whatever they can get over time depending on how much the garnishment is in your state… I assume they’re going after your paycheck. Because what they’d be going after are your property, garnishment, and bank levies. If the only thing they can get from you is your garnishment. You’re best approach would be to let them know you’re willing to work out a settlement of say 20% of what they claim you owe them, and settle, however you can. More than likely, they are going to want 85% or even 70%. With a summons on you there’s not much room for negotiation. You can talk to the county clerk and ask for their number. You are going to go anyways to file a response, more than likely. But before you do all this seek professional help. There are free legal advise services in some states. Normally, attorneys have to work a number of hours for community service every year. You want to look up those resources ASAP so they can point you in the right direction… and one way or another, see if you can find enough money to settle. Don’t be scared of the trial, sometimes the judges will be nice enough to forgive you the whole debt without bankruptcy if the collectors messed up somewhere along the line. Check on the statue of limitations in your state. It’s 3 years in some states.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 pmIf you have the money, try to settle before the matter goes to court. Be advised that attempting a settlement prior to court with the other side’s attorney is a VERY tricky thing to do, so be careful. Your best chance of settling is when you have a lump sum to pay the settlement all at once. Be sure to get a written settlement agreement from the PRIOR to making any payments. NEVER accept settlement terms over the phone without a written agreement.
IMPORTANT: Don’t make the mistake of cutting a "good faith" payment to their attorneys without any sort of written agreement that they’ll cease legal action…If you do this they’ll simply take your money and sue you anyway.
If you can only pay them a settlement in installments per month then it gets more complicated. The problem is that they will invariably want you to sign away your legal rights for any settlement agreement by signing a document that authorizes an instant judgement. DO NOT sign such an agreement or any agreement that waives your legal rights. NEVER, EVER trust any “advise” they give you, regardless of how “nice” they might seem on the phone. Remember, the are 100% against you best interests. Accepting advise from them on what to do is like Tweety Bird accepting advise from Sylvester the Cat. Also, do not fill out any questionnaires or paperwork requesting personal information for you to sign and mail back to them…They will use these documents against you if you do. Do not admit to owing the debt in writing…even if you do owe it.
If you cannot reach a settlement prior to court, then do this:
Send this debt collector and the court a letter via Certified Mail with Return Receipt (NOT regular mail) stating:
Notice of Intent to Defend
I cannot officially respond to your claim until validation is made for the alleged debt. I am officially requesting validation of your claim, to include (this info will be requested at the court hearing):
- A copy of the original application with my signature for this alleged debt
- How much was this debt purchased for?
- Provide a fully itemized statement for the amount you are asking which clearly details how this amount over the amount that was paid for this debt was calculated, including the interest rate being charged. Confirm that this rate falls within state usury limits
This letter has been mailed via Certified Mail with Return Receipt. Receipt of this letter is being officially time stamped.
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Fill out the response to the court the best that you can. If you are asked if you Affirm or Deny the claim, mark "Deny" and mail that along with the above letter stating that you cannot affirm or deny the claim until the claim has been validated. Also mail this via Certified Mail with Return Receipt
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On the court date: DO NOT be a no-show under any circumstances whatsoever. Not showing up is the worst thing you can possibly do. Even if you are frightened….or you’re sick with a 102 degree fever…or if you think that you’d loose, show up anyway! If you don’t, the other side will get a default judgement and they will get this on THEIR terms. They will tack on all sorts of add-on fees and the amount of the judgment could end up being two or three times the actual amount of the debt.
IMPORTANT: bring complete documentation of your income and living expenses: Pay stubs and copies of bills. Even if you loose, you can use this to negotiate much more favorable repayment terms. Request the following info from the other side on the court date:
- a copy of the original application with your signature
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 pm- a fully itemized statement for the amount they are asking which clearly details how this amount was calculated, including the interest rate being charged – How much was this debt purchased for?
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Lastly….if they take you to court and win a judgement, this will authorize them to freeze your checking accounts….To be safe, this might be a good time to start pulling out any money you have in check/savings accounts and putting the cash in a safe deposit box to keep them from getting your money.