RI District Court Summons

[kingston73]

What is the name of your state? Rhode Island

I was just served a summons to give an answer to an attorney's office about a debt I owed CapitalOne credit card. The constable who served me made sure to tell me it was NOT a summons to court, it states "the plaintiff demands judgment against the defendant in the sum of ....." and also states the i must "answer within 20 days after service of this summuns, exlusive of the date of service." What does this all mean? What does it mean that "judgment by default" will taken against me? The account was opened in feb 2000, and my credit report says deliquency began Jan 2004. I don't know when the last time I made a payment on this account was, probably sometime in 2002, or 2003 at the latest. Does the statute of limitations for RI require me to pay this still? Please, any help at all will be very much appreciated.

[Debt Guy]

SOL in RI is 10 years. So, yes, you are good and truly stuck.

You have several choices.

1. Do nothing. The court will grant a default judgment. Then the creditor can garnish wages, wipe out your bank account, perhaps put a lien on your home and take away your toys.

2. Fight back. You must file a general denial response with the court. This response must be in all the proper legal gobbleygook as required by the court. Go down to the courthouse and ask to speak to court clerk. Ask for a copy of the local rules of civil procedure. They will tell you what you have to do. You may wish to hire an attorney. Or you might try to go it alone. You can buy some books on representing yourself at [url]www.nolo.com[/url]. I understand they are pretty good. Since you admit in your post that you owe this debt, to file a general denial is (in my mind) a fraud since it requires you to lie to the court. You decide.

3. Make a deal to make it go away. Call the attorney for the creditor and try to work something out.

4. File bankruptcy.

Personally, I think #3 is the best choice.

[kingston73]

Can somebody explain why I find 2 different results for SOL in RI? Some sites I've researched say the same 10 year time as above, but this site claims it is only 4 years.
[url]http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml[/url]
Where can I find a diffinitive answer to this? Also, I'm still unsure of what type of "answer" the debt collector wants from me. I'm going to send them a debt verification letter, if nothing else this will grant me a little more time, right? I've also read in different sources that it is a bad thing to contact the collection agency directly, which obviously conflicts with what the person above recommends.

[Debt Guy]

Can somebody explain why I find 2 different results for SOL in RI? Some sites I've researched say the same 10 year time as above, but this site claims it is only 4 years.
[url]http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml[/url]
Where can I find a diffinitive answer to this?

That site is infamously wrong on SOL for credit card debt. My resource for SOL (which I learned is accurate) is: [url]http://www.1-collection-attorney.com/laws/Rhode-Island-collection-laws.html[/url]

Also, I'm still unsure of what type of "answer" the debt collector wants from me.

Simple. They want you to pay what you owe.

I'm going to send them a debt verification letter, if nothing else this will grant me a little more time, right?

No. You are already in court. The time for a DV is long past.

I've also read in different sources that it is a bad thing to contact the collection agency directly, which obviously conflicts with what the person above recommends.

There are people who say that. Personally I think they are ostriches. Since you do not trust my advice, I do hope someone knowledgeable will chime in. Beware of an post from daprez -- they are a moron.

[kingston73]

So basically the only real option I have is to contact the debt collector and try to negotiate something with them? It's not that I don't trust you, I just have many conflicting sources of information.

[Debt Guy]

So basically the only real option I have is to contact the debt collector and try to negotiate something with them?

Just curious, what were you expecting? There is no painless answer for unpaid debts.

[kingston73]

Like I said, I've read several conflicting sources of info, so it's incredibly difficult to weed out what's truth from fiction. I guess my biggest concern was dealing with the debt collectors directly and getting taken for more money than I am legally liable for.

[Debt Guy]

Sundays are slow in the board.

Hopefully, others will chime in tomorrow.

If not, send a PM to chien, moburkes, dcatz, debtcollector'. I think you can get some more opinions.

Otherwise, you should hire a local attorney to advise you. As you have already seen, you can find just about any answer you want somewhere on the internet.

[lwpat]

The main thing is sneding the answer to the attorney is not sufficient. The Constable was wrong. You have to reply to the court within the time limit or they will obtain a default judgment. You have received the advice you requested, sorry you don't like it.

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by Debt Guy

SOL in RI is 10 years. So, yes, you are good and truly stuck.

You have several choices.

1. Do nothing. The court will grant a default judgment. Then the creditor can garnish wages, wipe out your bank account, perhaps put a lien on your home and take away your toys.

2. Fight back. You must file a general denial response with the court. This response must be in all the proper legal gobbleygook as required by the court. Go down to the courthouse and ask to speak to court clerk. Ask for a copy of the local rules of civil procedure. They will tell you what you have to do. You may wish to hire an attorney. Or you might try to go it alone. You can buy some books on representing yourself at [url]www.nolo.com[/url]. I understand they are pretty good. Since you admit in your post that you owe this debt, to file a general denial is (in my mind) a fraud since it requires you to lie to the court. You decide.

3. Make a deal to make it go away. Call the attorney for the creditor and try to work something out.

4. File bankruptcy.

From the legal perspective, this is entirely correct.

Originally Posted by Debt Guy

Personally, I think #3 is the best choice.

From a moral perspective, this is entirely correct. (Although #4 could be a possibility, depending on your specific financial situation).

[kingston73]

What can I expect as far as the payments decision. Would getting a lawyer be worth it for me in negotiating with the collectors, or would that not make a difference? I can probably pay the collector a full 1/2 of what I owe right up front, but at this stage do you think they will listen to any type of negotiation, or has this gone too far? I have a first consultation with a lawyer scheduled for thursday this week, and even though you said it won't help, I'm going to send a letter to the original credit company as well as the debt collector asking for a debt validation. Even if it's too late for that, it can't hurt anything, can it? As for hiring a lawyer, what can I expect as far as fees and total cost? I really have no idea about any of this, so thank you all for your advice and suggestions. For lwpat, all I can say is I never once said anything negative to anybody here so I don't know why you said what you did at the end of your post. I'm just the type of person who likes to have information verified, from several sources. When I find conflicting info, I like clarification.

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by kingston73

What can I expect as far as the payments decision. Would getting a lawyer be worth it for me in negotiating with the collectors, or would that not make a difference?

If you want to negotiate with the collectors -- it will hurt you. We will not negotiate with attorneys. We won't even talk to them. We'll provide a copy of the documentation and hand the file off to our attorney to proceed with suit.

Originally Posted by kingston73

I can probably pay the collector a full 1/2 of what I owe right up front, but at this stage do you think they will listen to any type of negotiation, or has this gone too far?

You can negotiate throughout the whole process. However, at every step of the way, the odds of getting your desired result change and we can't say how they will change.

Originally Posted by kingston73

I have a first consultation with a lawyer scheduled for thursday this week, and even though you said it won't help, I'm going to send a letter to the original credit company as well as the debt collector asking for a debt validation.

Actually, if it has already gone to a lawyer and they filed suit -- it will hurt you chance to negotiate anything in your favor. That action says to the other side that you are trying to suck them into a violation. It completely destroys good faith.

Originally Posted by kingston73

As for hiring a lawyer, what can I expect as far as fees and total cost? I really have no idea about any of this, so thank you all for your advice and suggestions.

Make a settlement offer. Tell them you have 75% of the money you actually have and you would rather settle this for that amount rather than spend it hiring an attorney to fight them in court. Be ready to negotiate and be realistic and flexable.

DC