We were served today! Anticipate filing in next two weeks. Should I be worried???

[Anonymous]

Of course it's sunday so I couldn't call our attorney.... My husband and I were both served papers that we are being sued for a cc balance from our credit union (no longer have an acct there). We have our final interview with our attorney on wednesday and we anticipate that they will have us filed in the next two weeks (from what I understand they are telling us about the way they process files and get things filed). Anyway, I'm freaking out. My dh doesn't seem to think it's a big deal. Can someone tell me if this is something I should be worried about or if this is just another bump on our way to getting filed? TIA!!

[tallin32]

From my own personal experience, and take it for precisely what it is, if you're in the process of filing, this shouldn't be a problem.  Specifically, my wife and I were served with papers on a $34K medical bill for our son in September of 2014.  They actually got a judgment in November.  We filed in December.  Ultimately, the creditor wasn't able to take any adverse action beyond getting the judgment (i.e. once the papers were filed, the automatic stay kicked in).

Is your attorney filing an emergency petition, just to stop the lawsuit process?  Do you know what the amount of time is that you have to respond to the summons?

[Anonymous]

I believe that it said that we have 21 days from being served to respond in writing. I will call our attorney tomorrow and ask them what we can/should do. I know that our attorney already had some correspondence with the attorney representing the cc and told them we would be filing soon. 

[ezdriver]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Of course it's sunday so I couldn't call our attorney.... My husband and I were both served papers that we are being sued for a cc balance from our credit union (no longer have an acct there). We have our final interview with our attorney on wednesday and we anticipate that they will have us filed in the next two weeks (from what I understand they are telling us about the way they process files and get things filed). Anyway, I'm freaking out. My dh doesn't seem to think it's a big deal. Can someone tell me if this is something I should be worried about or if this is just another bump on our way to getting filed? TIA!!

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Being sued for an unpaid debt is always a big deal. Just my opinion of course.

You did not state if you are considering a ch7 or ch13. It makes a huge difference. Either way, get on with the filing and the unpaid debt will be included ... and eventually discharged. Once you have filed, notify the suing party that you have filed fro bankruptcy and give them proof of it.

[bstone]

Here is how we handled being sued before we filed.  Being served is what actually prompted us to file, I had no intentions of filing since our debt was five+ years old.

We took our time retaining an attorney, but when our court date came I just faxed a letter to the courts asking for an extension on the grounds we were "consulting with an attorney".  No mention of BK.  Extension approved.  We live in a small area, faxing a letter may not work for you, I just didn't have time to mess with it for a five minute hearing and the court clerk said fax would be OK.

Before the next hearing we had retained an attorney.  The filing paperwork was sent to the court, the court cancelled the hearing and that was the end of it.

If you file before the judgment is awarded it won't even show up on your credit as a judgment, and no risk of wage garnishment.  If the judgment is awarded it may hit your credit and you'll take a larger score hit.

[Anonymous]

It was probably poor wording for me to say that dh thinks it's not a big deal. Rather he doesn't think it changes anything and nothing will really come of it. We plan to file ch 7. We have our final meeting with our attorney wednesday and then we should know exactly when we will be filed and she will talk to us about what we (or she) will do about being sued. 

[aussiesareforever]

Being served was what prompted me to file BK too. My lawyer took care of it and didn't have to show up to court.