court summons

[ksm973]

NY - I need help

[ksm973]

I owe money on a credit card it has been turned over to a law firm called rubin & rothman. they sent 2 summons to my parents house which i dont even live at by the way. The first one was on the door & the stamp from the court was dated 5/20/08 &it was also unsigned BUT the 2nd summons i got in the mail was NOT stamped but had a written date in the top corner that said 5/5/08. it says i have 20 days to respond if it was personally delivered to me or 30 days if it wasnt. I am not sure which date i should even be going by the one stamped or the one written. and i have no idea what to do i have NO money i dont even have anything to offer them. I am right now out of state &will be until sunday &i have no idea how to go about this process. If it goes by the date they wrote on the copy of the summons i only have until wed. but i cant be in court because i will be out of state what happens then? but if it goes by the one stamped which is an actual stamp from the court i have more time. Will someone please help me.

[seniorjudge]

Answer it immediately.

Show up for every court appearance.

Assume the earlier date as the date of service.

[ksm973]

yes but the first one is actually stamped from the court with a later date and the other one was hand written on it from the lawyer. and my major problem is that i am out of state until sunday and the date that is hand written means i would have to be in court by tomorrow which is not possible. but aside from that it says you have 30 days after it is filed with the court so wouldnt i go with the date that the actual court stamped on the summons and not the one that is hand written from the lawyers?

[Zigner]

This is a perfect example of how NOT to handle any information you receive from the court.

[Skapare]

Originally Posted by Zigner

This is a perfect example of how NOT to handle any information you receive from the court.

How would YOU handle it if you had a summons to answer and were out of state at a distance that made it impossible to be there in time for the earlier date that was based on in-person service that never happened, but could be there for the latter date?

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by Skapare

How would YOU handle it if you had a summons to answer and were out of state at a distance that made it impossible to be there in time for the earlier date that was based on in-person service that never happened, but could be there for the latter date?

I would NOT ignore it, as this OP (original poster) apparently did.

[ksm973]

it was brought to a house that i dont even live in &im out of state so i didnt ignore the summons as soon as i knew about it i started to try and figure out the best way to go about it which is why im asking because i have no idea what im supposed to do.

[Skapare]

Originally Posted by Zigner

I would NOT ignore it, as this OP (original poster) apparently did.

Do you think that everyone has to show up at some out of state court just because they get a summons from that court, even when they do not have the money to make such a trip? How would you make such a trip?

I do agree that a summons is not something to be ignored. But it is more tricky to deal with when it is not the proper jurisdiction. A local (to where you live) lawyer is the place to start with. If that lawyer determines a lawyer in the other jurisdiction needs to be part of the process, the local lawyer can tell you that (or maybe arrange it). Or maybe an appropriate written answer is sufficient to challenge the jurisdiction.

In cases other than what the OP has described, it can also be a case of mistaken identity (e.g. someone else in the far away state with the same name, but a faulty skip-trace came up with your past location or your relative).

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by Skapare

Do you think that everyone has to show up at some out of state court just because they get a summons from that court, even when they do not have the money to make such a trip? How would you make such a trip?

I do agree that a summons is not something to be ignored. But it is more tricky to deal with when it is not the proper jurisdiction. A local (to where you live) lawyer is the place to start with. If that lawyer determines a lawyer in the other jurisdiction needs to be part of the process, the local lawyer can tell you that (or maybe arrange it). Or maybe an appropriate written answer is sufficient to challenge the jurisdiction.

In cases other than what the OP has described, it can also be a case of mistaken identity (e.g. someone else in the far away state with the same name, but a faulty skip-trace came up with your past location or your relative).

You are in need of remedial reading classes. The OP did not state that she lived out of state. The OP just said she out of state -- vacation or business or fleeing the jurisdiction - it doesn't matter.
You have many problems with your postings:
1. You fail to read the facts of the situation.
2. You assume facts that are not provided.
3. You give advice that is either wrong due to your assumptions or wrong due to your ignorance or advice that is bland, general and not really related to the question.
4. You attempt to steer every thread into an endowment contest with senior members.

The OP has plenty of time to respond to her summons --if you stop your attempts to steer the thread to your own misunderstood views on the world.

FOR THE OP:
You must answer the suit. If you continue to waste time quibbling over which date you should use, you lose. If you are not able to answer the suit yourself due to being out of state, lack of knowledge or both, you need to hire an attorney or lose.

Every day you waste makes your situation more difficult.

DC

[Debt Guy]

KSM

To focus on your problem. As DC said, you need to answer the suit. An answer is a legal filing with the court. You can file with the court clerk in person or by mail. You might be able to file by fax or by emailed document -- you would need to call the court clerk and ask.

But, before you jump to an answer, do you have a defense? A defense is a legal reason why the creditor should not be allowed to have a judgment against you. A sample of a defense would be "it ain't me -- wrong person" or the debt is time-barred because of a statute of limitation. Unfortunately, an inability to pay is not a defense -- the court will have sympathy but that is all.

If you don't have a defense, you may as well just let them take their judgment unless it is in your heart and within your skills to fight to the bitter end. If that is your goal, say so.

You say this is your debt. right?

OK, when was the last time you made a payment on this account? In NY the statute of limitation for a credit card is 6 years. Have you made a payment within the past 6 years?