Court Summons

[steven72]

What is the name of your state? Ohio.

Hello, I recieved a summons for court a few weeks ago, in it it stated I had 28 days to answer the compaint, of which I did. I sent that out this past monday. there is no court date set. I'm thinking of sending them a letter of validation.

this complaint is on a cedit card debt that bis over ten years old, and I havent paid on it for over 6 years. the bank 'discharged' it back in 2002.

unfortunately, I was layed off from work about 3 weeks before the summons arrived. I own no personal property besides my vehicle. and have npo available cash. I wouldnt mind making a settlement and making payment arraingments, but not for the full amount. on top of a $6k debt, they want $2k in interest charges. but I was told by someone to never call them directly. also, they hit my credit report recently about this, can they do that this many years later?

I'm thinking of calling an attorney. the summons was issued on Nov. 12th. anyone know how much time I have to deal with this before I get dragged into court?

[IrishNodak]

When my sister got a summons like this a couple years ago she had to go down and file an answer in person and was required to pay a $30.00 fee to file her answer. We are in Colorado so I don't know if it's different there. Your answer may not be properly filed if you just "mailed it in". You might want to check because they could still proceed without you knowing and get a default judgement.

Your best bet would be to go to court and plead SOL defense. If they get a judgement you will have to pay it. Even the interest.

[steven72]

yes. youre right. maybe I'll call them in the morning. I'd like to avoid court though. it may be in my best interest. thinking of offering them half of the original(without interest) debt. and see if they bite. I'd like to do this without acknowleding them that I owe them anything.

[debtcollector`]

You have a couple of problems.

1. SOL in Ohio is 15 years. You are not even close.
2. You no longer have a right to validation. This is a court case now. You have to do discovery.
3. You are already being hauled into court. You have to answer the summons you they will get a default judgment for everything they ask.
4. You can try to negotiate a settlement, but I can tell you that I don't think it is going to happen. They have you appearing in court. A settlement now is pay the balance in full (including attorney's fees and cost) and we'll drop the lawsuit.
5. The debt can and will be credit reportable for 7 years plus 180 days after charge-off.
6. The judgment will be on your credit report for around 10 years after you pay it off.
7. You have 10 day to file your answer with the court and the opposing attorney.

You need to start taking this seriously.

DC

[steven72]

well this is intersting. I dont believe I've ever heard of them before I recived this summons. I dont mind paying some of it, I will not pay the interest though. but I need to make some sort of plan with them, or my attorney does. I simpy do not have the money to pay them. they can get any judgment they want, I do not have the cash.

[steven72]

so I went down to the courthouse, and they did file the paperwork I sent in. so no problem there. I see my attorney monday, and I did some research on asset acceptance in my town. going through the court records online over the last 6 years, seems AA winnings in court arent too great, and they appear to like to settle out of court. so thats what I am expecting to happen. I suspect AA uses the courts as a means of intimidation as much as anything. or hopefully get a default decision. This weekend I'll continue to do my homework on AA and their MO.

[steven72]

so after talking with the attoerny today, hes going to do a discovery thing. after looking things over, he expects us to settle out of court for about half of whats owed to them. thank god. not out of the woods yet, but its a relief. it pays to talk to an attorney. all those hours scouring the internet seems to have been waisted.

[cha0sman]

hey listen, make sure in the discovery they have the original signed contract....with YOUR signature on it.....otherwise the chances are they will lose in court....no evidence of the contract being yours...