Sued by Creditor

[ironhead]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I'm being sued by a creditor that's included in my debt management program. I've been paying on the account for about 2 years. I've fallen off the program for about 3 months when my fiance I live with lost her job. She since found a new job and I restarted making my payments for about 4 months now.

I received a summons from an attorney a week ago and on the complaint it states that the debt remains unpaid despite plaintiff's demands. This is not true. The account has been paid for the last four months which I have statements to prove. Secondly, the complaint states that the creditor sent letters to inform me of legal action. I received no such letters and there are no letters attached to the complaint. I did not receive any form of communication that there was a problem with this account until I got the summons.

I called the attorney handling the creditors account and I got a debt collector instead. He wanted me to settle by paying in full and he would drop the suit. He did acknowledge I was making payments, but it wasn't the minimum as agreed on the original contract. I asked then why wasn't the proposal I sent out through my debt management program denied. He didn't have an answer and suggested I pay in full or in 3 installments which is way out of my budget. I said I'll get back to him.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[TigerD]

Pay the bill or suffer a judgment.

DC

 

[Dougthegreat]

I did not receive any form of communication that there was a problem with this account until I got the summons.

I find this a bit hard to believe. Do you honestly think a company is going to just forget about you if you fail to pay for 90 days? My guess is that there was SOME sort of attempt to send you correspondence.

 

[ironhead]

Pay the bill or suffer a judgment.

DC

I am not a deadbeat. So don't try to make me feel like one! If you don't have anything useful to say, don't say anything. I am trying to pay the bill. The debt collector acknowledged I "AM" making payments. If I show the judge that I have been making payments for the last four months, what do you think the judge will say?
I am trying to get my finances in order and uphold my obligation to the best of my ability.

I find this a bit hard to believe. Do you honestly think a company is going to just forget about you if you fail to pay for 90 days? My guess is that there was SOME sort of attempt to send you correspondence.

To the best of my knowledge, there was no form of communication. I was very surprised to have received a summons to appear in court for failure to pay when I honestly thought things were going well with my creditors. O.K. fine, I fell off for three months, everybody gets into financial difficulty especially in this day and age. I was one of the unfortunates and my fiance losing her job was devastating to her and our household as would be the case with anyone. Now we're trying to recover and this creditor/debt collector is making it very difficult to do so.

 

[TigerD]

I am not a deadbeat. So don't try to make me feel like one! If you don't have anything useful to say, don't say anything. I am trying to pay the bill. The debt collector acknowledged I "AM" making payments. If I show the judge that I have been making payments for the last four months, what do you think the judge will say?

The judge will say: You admit you owe the plaintiff. Judgment for plaintiff.

You have only two options: Pay the debt or suffer the judgment. Would it help if I called you and whispered soft words of encouragement in your ear? I really don't care if your feelings are hurt. I gave you the correct answer to the question you asked.

Now, if you'll simply tell us what you want the answer to say, I'll repeat it and you can go on blissfully ignorant.

DC

 

[ironhead]

The judge will say: You admit you owe the plaintiff. Judgment for plaintiff.

You have only two options: Pay the debt or suffer the judgment. Would it help if I called you and whispered soft words of encouragement in your ear? I really don't care if your feelings are hurt. I gave you the correct answer to the question you asked.

Now, if you'll simply tell us what you want the answer to say, I'll repeat it and you can go on blissfully ignorant.

DC

My feelings aren't hurt and my fiance gives me all the words of encouragement I need. But thanks anyways.

Now back to the subject. I've been paying the debt so why should I suffer a judgment?

 

[Zigner]

My feelings aren't hurt and my fiance gives me all the words of encouragement I need. But thanks anyways.

Now back to the subject. I've been paying the debt so why should I suffer a judgment?

Have you paid IN FULL per the terms of the original agreement?

THAT'S why!

 

[ironhead]

Have you paid IN FULL per the terms of the original agreement?

THAT'S why!

This whole thing is confusing. I have $4,000 left on the debt that I've been paying consistently for the past 4 months for a total of 2 1/2 years. I'm suddenly being sued for non-payment with no prior warning from the creditor.

DC says "pay the bill". I thought I was.

If the judge rules to continue making my monthly payments, no problem. Anything else would be a problem.

 

[Zigner]

This whole thing is confusing. I have $4,000 left on the debt that I've been paying consistently for the past 4 months for a total of 2 1/2 years. I'm suddenly being sued for non-payment with no prior warning from the creditor.

DC says "pay the bill". I thought I was.

If the judge rules to continue making my monthly payments, no problem. Anything else would be a problem.

You have NOT paid the bill. You are making payments towards the bill. Big difference.

The judge won't order a payment plan. The judge will merely find that you owe the money.

 

[ironhead]

You have NOT paid the bill. You are making payments towards the bill. Big difference.

The judge won't order a payment plan. The judge will merely find that you owe the money.

Thank you Zigner. That's all I was looking for. Have a great day and weekend.

 

[Chien]

If the judge rules to continue making my monthly payments, no problem.

In your state, the Court can but won’t because:
a) If an attorney is involved, yours is a limited jurisdiction case. You’re not in Small Claims.
b) Nowhere in your thread does it say that you intend to respond to the Complaint. If you don’t, it will go by default and there will be no reason for the Court to consider the issue.

DC was right to begin with. Instead of arguing, the question that you should have asked is “what do I do about it?” The answer to that one is that you show them the maximum that you can pay, you make them believe it and you enter into a Stipulation for Payments and Judgment.

The case goes on hold while you pay and, when you have paid, the case is dismissed without going to judgment. It’s a $4,000 case!! By the time this “no, they won’t”, “yes, they will” is over, they’ll have a $6,000 judgment, spend a couple $100 more to try to enforce it, add that on too, whether they’re successful or not, screw-up what credit rating you may have and, if you plan to get married soon, probably go after your wife’s wages, if she works.

Ironhead – work on a way out instead of swearing that it can’t happen. If you don’t, it will.

 

[ironhead]

If the judge rules to continue making my monthly payments, no problem.

In your state, the Court can but won’t because:
a) If an attorney is involved, yours is a limited jurisdiction case. You’re not in Small Claims.
b) Nowhere in your thread does it say that you intend to respond to the Complaint. If you don’t, it will go by default and there will be no reason for the Court to consider the issue.

DC was right to begin with. Instead of arguing, the question that you should have asked is “what do I do about it?” The answer to that one is that you show them the maximum that you can pay, you make them believe it and you enter into a Stipulation for Payments and Judgment.

The case goes on hold while you pay and, when you have paid, the case is dismissed without going to judgment. It’s a $4,000 case!! By the time this “no, they won’t”, “yes, they will” is over, they’ll have a $6,000 judgment, spend a couple $100 more to try to enforce it, add that on too, whether they’re successful or not, screw-up what credit rating you may have and, if you plan to get married soon, probably go after your wife’s wages, if she works.

Ironhead – work on a way out instead of swearing that it can’t happen. If you don’t, it will.

Thank you for responding. Yes, I have every intention of responding to the complaint and am doing so next week. I understand it will cost me a few hundred dollars and is much better than a default judgment. I plan on representing myself and I have no problem doing so. I will go to court armed to the teeth with bank statements, income statements, my creditor's monthly statements to date that show I've made payments, and anything I need to prove that what I'm paying monthly to the creditor is the maximum I can pay which is not too far off from the original minimum. Any little savings I get helps tremendously.

I "AM" working on a way out and doing what I can to do it the right way.

Thanks

 

[Chien]

And you believe that this will enable you to avoid a judgment and result in a Court disposing of the case with a ruling that you are to continue monthly payments on the true remaining balance of the original debt in the amount that you can afford rather than the amount originally agreed?

Ok. We gave it a shot. Post back with the outcome. It may help others, even if this thread didn’t help you.

 

[ironhead]

And you believe that this will enable you to avoid a judgment and result in a Court disposing of the case with a ruling that you are to continue monthly payments on the true remaining balance of the original debt in the amount that you can afford rather than the amount originally agreed?

Ok. We gave it a shot. Post back with the outcome. It may help others, even if this thread didn’t help you.

I set up a payment plan with the creditor through my debt management program and they accepted. I've been paying that amount for 2 1/2 years and that's the amount I can afford.