Rec'd Summons...

[Anonymous]

I rec'd a summons from Chase for 8k owed on CC.  Verified that summons is in fact legit.  My question is should I negotiate a settlement amount or pay the whole thing in full.  At this point does it matter?  I simply want to make sure that no judgement is issued.  I understand that  I have a limited time to respond but I don't want to do something without thinking it through.  Debt has been validated.

I had initial discussion with CC attorney and they offered to settle for $7700.  If I accept this is there anything I should get in writing from them to help minimize the damage to my credit.  As of yesterday, this has not even appeared as a collection account on any of the three bureaus.  Simply showing as 120 days late on OC tradeline.

Any advice is much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I would march right over to the meanest, most aggressive junk-yard-dog-like attorney and hire his/her help. Do not go one step further without legal assistance, no matter the cost. And I suspect the cost for battling something like this won't be very much in comparison to what they will save you in the long run.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

[Anonymous]

The Hawk is right....

At this point your best avenue is to seek REAL legal advice.

Message Edited by Brammy on 08-16-2007 09:25 AM

[Anonymous]

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phillyphan96 wrote:

I rec'd a summons from Chase for 8k owed on CC.  Verified that summons is in fact legit.  My question is should I negotiate a settlement amount or pay the whole thing in full.  At this point does it matter?  I simply want to make sure that no judgement is issued.  I understand that  I have a limited time to respond but I don't want to do something without thinking it through.  Debt has been validated.

I had initial discussion with CC attorney and they offered to settle for $7700.  If I accept this is there anything I should get in writing from them to help minimize the damage to my credit.  As of yesterday, this has not even appeared as a collection account on any of the three bureaus.  Simply showing as 120 days late on OC tradeline.

Any advice is much appreciated.

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get legal advice. This happened to a friend of mine.BEFORE I found this forum.

She went to court & settled with attorney just before court for 50% of the bill. 3 weeks late she was served with another summons from another lawyer (for the same account) for the other 50%.She had nothing in writting that said PIF or PFD.

EVERYTHING no matter how small must be in writting & must read the way that you want it to!

[Anonymous]

As everyone else has said, get an attorney ASAP - particularly an attorney that deals with credit and collections.   The attorney can advise you on which action to take depending on your situation (for example: is this still within your state's SOL?) and represent you in case you do go to court.   In situations like this, it's money well spent.

The NACA (http://www.naca.net/) has an attorney locator that will list attorneys within your area. 

HTH.

[Tink]

I have a court date in Sept for an Aspire Visa card ($2300). I tried the NACA. Contacted 3 attorneys, Only one replied and said he could not help me. He said they deal mostly with unfair practices. They do not provide legal assistance for debts people actually owe. I am willing to pay an attorney but can't find one to represent me so I am going alone unless I get a response from the attorney I contacted and quick.

[Anonymous]

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Tink wrote:

I have a court date in Sept for an Aspire Visa card ($2300). I tried the NACA. Contacted 3 attorneys, Only one replied and said he could not help me. He said they deal mostly with unfair practices. They do not provide legal assistance for debts people actually owe. I am willing to pay an attorney but can't find one to represent me so I am going alone unless I get a response from the attorney I contacted and quick.

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Hi Tink,

I'm sorry to hear that.  Some of the lawyers on NACA are interested in unfair practices only, while others also specialize in consumer law (those who will represent you in court if you owe the debt). 

While you're waiting for the attorney to get back to you, here are some other suggestions:

• Look for a consumer law attorney in your area.  Another site to try is the NACBA (http://www.nacba.org/).  Click on "Attorney Finder".   
• If the NACBA is not of help, find the web site or the phone number of your local Bar association and see if they have a lawyer referral service.  The lawyer referral service will talk to you a little bit about your situation and refer you to an attorney that could possibly help you.  If you are not having luck with that, here is the search lawyer site from the national site for the American Bar Association (http://www.abanet.org/lawyerlocator/searchlawyer.html)
• If you're not having luck finding a consumer law attorney, talk to a bankruptcy attorney about your situation.   I can't guarantee that any of them will represent you, but some may give you some help for your situation, such as assist you with filing papers or advise you.

Good luck.....

[Anonymous]

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=generalcredit&message.id=12167