Paying off vs court

[simavision]

Missouri
We have recently recieved a loan in July, to pay off outstanding debts. Around that time we recieved a notice from a lawyer representing one of the collection agencies we were attempting to pay off asking us to contact with in 30 days, which we did. They said we were to send a self address stamped envelope to recieve a detailed account of the bills. We did. No response. Called again, they told us to send another one. We did.
Shortly after we were served with a summons for the two outstanding bills and the court date is September 8th, 2005. The lawsuit was filed Aug 8th, 2005, well after we had continuing contact with them. We want to pay the bills but are not going to send the money blind without knowing exactly what it is for. Should we just go to court? If I were to record a conversation getting them to admit to continued contact and their faultiness for not sending the itemized statement, would that help our case?
And, the collection agency that has hired the lawyer said we have another debt that has not gone to the lawyer, but no details on it are available, is that right?
Thanks

[RachelTN]

First, they have to tell you what you are being sued for (dollar amount, when debt was taken out, etc). Second, in most states, you cannot record a converation without consent from all parties on the call. Even if you were to record the call with them, if they are not aware of the recording, you cannot use it in court. Last, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, send things certified mail. You will know when they received something. I would contact the attorney who has the case in writing VIA CERTIFIED MAIL, and give him a run down of the information and that you are attempting to resolve the debt out of court, what will it take to resolve, etc. You don't have much time at all, I would highly suggest sending the letter today OVERNIGHT UPS or FedEx....and then calling the attorney tomorrow afternoon after you see the letter is received. I would then call daily on this. When you go to court, if it gets that far, please remember to bring a copy of phone records incase they attempt to say you did not contact them, etc. The bottom line will be (a) you owe the debt, and (b) you will have to pay something. The question will be how much...if you go to court, it will be a lot more than a settlement out of court. Remember, even though there is a court date, you can still settle with the attorney up until the start time of the case hearing....you need to make sure you continue contact with them until that point.

[LSCAP]

I found this at, [url]http://www.rcfp.org/taping/[/url] and this.[url]http://www.rcfp.org/taping/[/url]

To me it seems to say that in MO you can wiretap your own phone, with out telling anyone.