HELP HELP HELP!!! Judgement

[Tink]

Thanks so much. All of this info is very helpful. I am not letting them get a default judgement against me. I am going to court and stand up for my rights. They never sent me the validation I asked for and decided to take me to court because I disputed my credit report. They should have just validated it. Why should I pay for court costs and fees when I simply disputed the amount they are trying to bleed out of me. Anyways, wish me luck. I guess I'll be in court sometime in September.

[Anonymous]

Do NOT trust them to give you appropriate date in Court or anything like that - call the court house yourself if there is a Case # anywhere on the documents.

I've been helping a friend out and when I went for my hearing, I brought his "bogus" court case with me, turns out there is NOTHING on file for him.

This CA/Law Firm sent him what appeared to be an authentic Judgment against him, yet monthly since then he receives offers to "settle" for half...anyone with a pea brain would know that a judgment for a specific amount gives that CA the full entitlement to THAT amount so even if you paid a settlement, so what - they can still zap your bank account or garnish your wages for the balance.

[Anonymous]

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Tink wrote:

I received a notice from this collector in April. I wrote back to them well within the 30 days and asked to send me validation of the debt. I did this at the advise of a friend. I never received a response and then proceeded to dispute my credit report. I sent the original DV letter before coming to this forum where I have since read it should be sent via certified mail. After not getting a reponse I though I was in the clear and that's why I disputed it on my CR. TU said it was validated but I never received anything. I feel like I am going back and forth. What's really being disputed is the amount. Thanks for all of your input.

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Like Boswd said, whatever else you do, ANSWER THE SUMMONS! Contact the courthouse and ask them whether they have any information, guidebooks, etc. on how to answer a summons for a layperson.

Check the notice. How soon must you respond? When were you served?

Since you sent a timely DV letter, and they never responded, yet now are suing, they are in violation. Period. $1000 plus your legal fees. I presume the CA suing is the CA you DVed in April.

A consumer lawyer would probably be interested in taking your case. Perhaps on contingency. Perhaps pro bono.

Did you save a copy of the notice from April? Did you save a copy of your letter? Did you save the CM receipt and the RRR green card?

Here's a couple of sources. Find one near you. Don't wait.

http://www.naca.net/find-consumer-protection-attorneys/

http://www.myfaircredit.com/s/national-coverage-map/pennsylvania

Call. Do it Saturday. You might luck out and get someone in the office. If not, first thing Monday, call and talk with someone. Don't just leave messages. Talk with a human. Might get a lawyer, perhaps a para-legal, possibly a legal secretary.

Tell them you received a letter from a debt collector, you sent a letter requesting validation, they never responded, but now they are suing. Tell them you thought that was a violation of §809(b) FDCPA, and you'd like to talk with a lawyer about this. Tell them you sent the letter CMRRR.

If the lawyer says, so what do you wanna do about this? Ask the lawyer whether they think there's an FDCPA violation, and if so is it enough to force the CA to settle this and agree, in writing, to never report and never attempt to collect. Tell the lawyer obviously you wanna ensure they get paid for representing you, and ask whether payment of damages for the FDCPA violation would be enough to cover their fee? Ask would the lawyer also receive a portion of the damages paid? Don't be surprised if they want a third of the damages as a fee. That's standard. 40% if they have to go to court. Also standard.

If they don't foresee the CA paying damages, ask about the lawyers fee. Be honest with them about money. If can't afford to pay them the fee they want all at once, ask whether you can set up a payment plan to pay the lawyer? Tell 'em what you make, where you work, how long you've been there, and how frequently you get paid.

Read the pertinent section of the law. Re-read it. If you don't understand, feel free to ask questions.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#809

Look at the original notice from the CA. Did it comply with §809(a)? Are items 1 thru 5 in their notice?

[MercyMe]

I haven't read all of the posts, so if I repeat something previously said, forgive me; but, you could attempt to work out an arrangement, even for a pay for delete, with the creditor prior to the court date.  Before I knew about PFD I paid a collection that we received a summons to appear on, and the case was dismissed, but thereafter I had to fight like heck to get it removed from the credit reports.  It would have been best done prior to the pay off.  O, well!  Good luck, and keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm not an attorney but I am in the legal field. It's best that you prepare yourself. If you are appearing pro se, from my experience, judges tend to lean towards pro ses and tend to grant them more leeway in the courtroom. First of all, (1) prepare your answer to the court, attach a copy of your letter as an exhibit and tell the court that you want to do a settlement, and that you don't have the judgment appear on your credit report if you pay or pay on a settlement (provided this is accurate that you don't owe the bill), (2) have the agreement written up while in court so that the judge can sign off on it. As a whole, no one likes debt collectors and I'm sure that it will go in your favor with the terms you want. Courts will generally work with you. The most important thing is that you show up in court. Of course, it's always good to have an attorney and it's recommended. Good luck,

[Anonymous]

I used the site Noah recommened and we have sent the attorney everything regarding the collection ~ copies of the DV's, CR's and have updated him as the phone calls have continued.  In fact we are now on an automated system from the CA  that calls our house; as of this morning...Saturday at 10am.  The intial contact with the attorney is free.  Ours is reviewing all our information and hopefully will be back  in touch with us soon.  I guess at that point he'll explain our options and what we can do from here.  I've been very clear, in my initial letter to him and the followups, that I feel they are in violation.  I guess we'll see what he thinks.  Hopefully the fees associated with the services won't be through the roof.

I just hope somehow someway we can stick to this CA ~

Good luck fighting the judgement..and I agree DO appear.  I had a default judgement a few years ago but apparently someone upstairs is looking out for me because it never appeared on my credit as such and now that it is paid it shows to be a good account on my credit!  This stuff is plain crazy and it has no rhyme or reason to it.

[Anonymous]

workingit wrote:
from my experience, judges tend to lean towards pro ses and tend to grant them more leeway in the courtroom

...

(1) prepare your answer to the court, attach a copy of your letter as an exhibit and tell the court that you want to do a settlement

...

(2) have the agreement written up while in court so that the judge can sign off on it.

It's going to vary from one judge and jurisdiction to the next. I've talked to folks who experienced very debt collector friendly judges.

I think bringing this to a lawyer right away is important for several reasons.

1. Time is short.
2. The CA is in clear violation of FDCPA, and $1000 plus legal fees is likely going to be much more expensive (for the CA) than the $2300 or $3400 the CA is claiming owed. As such, the OP likely will emerge owing nothing--assuming the debt is theirs and the CA can substantiate the full $3400. If the CA cannot validate the debt, then the OP is gonna get paid.
3. A lot of judges aren't clued in that a CA caught with their britches 'round their ankles in violation of FDCPA can delete a TL to avoid a costly lawsuit--as such, the judge might not allow the agreement.
4. A lawyer threatening to sue the CA in District Court for an FDCPA violation is a much bigger stick. As such, the CA is more likely to relent and agree to make the whole thing just go away.

[Tink]

Hi Noah and everyone who contributed. This is great info. I don't have a pc at home so I am just getting to read all of this today. I am going to check out the websites you posted. I have already responded to the court who sent the hearing notice. One of my main concerns is that my original DV was sent regular mail. I did not know then that I should have sent it certified. If I only knew. Anyway, I think this CA is doing this because I asked for the DV and when they didn't respond, I proceeded to dispute the amount owned on my CR. TU said that it meets all requirements and regulations and didn't delete it or change the amount. Perhaps they are mad that I contacted TU, learned that I am cleaning up my credit, and now want to sue. Should I take a PFD to court with me just in case the judge says pay up or else? I have someone who can loan the money to me, I just don't want to pay what I think is an inflated amount. I want to pay what I feel I owed. I checked all of my cancelled checks and check registers and it looks like the last payment went to Aspire in 08/03. Fell on hard times around then and that's when I stopped paying most of the credit card accounts. I read somewhere that the SOL in PA is 4 yrs. Looks like these vultures sued me just in time. Thank agasin for the info!

[Anonymous]

Keep your chin up you have great advice here and think of this as in my case..

Even if ( god forbid ) you lose as I did on a judgement you can still settle after

with hopefully nothing showing up on your reports, I so far have no reports to my CR'S

and my lawsuit went as far as a garnishment, I was able to come up with

the cash 2 days before the garnishment kicked in and they agreed verbaly to take it

and keep it from going on my reports, they told me they will report to the courthouse that the dispute was settled in full between parties, the garnishment started and stopped shortly after and they owe me a check...

Now I am still waiting for the bombshell too hit my reports as I had not known better than

to get it in writing until just after the fact and finding this site and my luck is just that my luck but so far so good..

so kick the stuffing outta them for me will ya...

[Anonymous]

I think you'll be better served talking to a lawyer. Most CAs seek to get a default judgment. It's easy money. If someone fights, files an answer to the summons, challenges it, subpoenas records, etc. that costs money. If the CA is facing a lawyer retained by the debtor, that gets even more expensive. I think a lawyer responding on your behalf to the summons might be the bestest, fastest, cheapest way to threaten 'em with FDCPA violations, then settle it up out of court.