Just received summons...what now!?!? Please help!!!

[Anonymous]

My husband and I each received a summons in the mail today that we are being sued by a lawyer on behalf of our hospital for some bills.  The lawyer works for the CA that the OC uses.  These bills are from about 2 years ago, and the CA was previously reporting on DH's CR.  However, I was using the HIPAA process, and they took everything off the CR.  We didn't see or hear from them again until about 6 weeks ago when we received a letter from the attorney saying that if we didn't respond to him within 30 days we would be taken to court.  In the meantime, DH has called several times and left messages asking for him to call back so we can discuss this.  There has never been an answer when he calls, and he has never returned our messages.

What are we supposed to do now?  We absolutely need to avoid a judgment.  We're willing to PIF, but would need to make payments over about 3 months to do so.  Is there any way to stop this court date from happening, or are we doomed?  Any help that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My husband and I each received a summons in the mail today that we are being sued by a lawyer on behalf of our hospital for some bills.  The lawyer works for the CA that the OC uses.  These bills are from about 2 years ago, and the CA was previously reporting on DH's CR.  However, I was using the HIPAA process, and they took everything off the CR.  We didn't see or hear from them again until about 6 weeks ago when we received a letter from the attorney saying that if we didn't respond to him within 30 days we would be taken to court.  In the meantime, DH has called several times and left messages asking for him to call back so we can discuss this.  There has never been an answer when he calls, and he has never returned our messages.

What are we supposed to do now?  We absolutely need to avoid a judgment.  We're willing to PIF, but would need to make payments over about 3 months to do so.  Is there any way to stop this court date from happening, or are we doomed?  Any help that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!

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Are you sure that what you received is an actual summons to appear or just a collection letter designed to look like they are about to sue you?  A summons is usually handed to you by a deputy sheriff or a process server.  If you received it only in the mail, then they have usually also tacked one to your front door.

If, in fact, you received an actual summons, you must appear / respond within the given time frame or they will get a default judgment against you.  I would attempt to reach the creditor or creditor's attorney to work out a settlement.  It would be unusual if they weren't open to one.   If you cannot contact the creditor by phone, send them a letter by EMS if time is of the essence.  If there is still no response, when you appear in court point out to the judge that you have made repeated, documented attempts to contact the creditor to make payment arrangements and save the court's precious time, yet the creditor has refused contact.  Most judges I know would not take this lightly and would admonish the creditor's attorney to immediately get this matter settled.  Worst comes to worst, ask the court for a stipulated judgment that allows for payment arrangements with the judgment only being rendered upon failure to make payments. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your response!  I do believe it is an actual summons.  I thought you had to be served in person as well, but I'm pretty sure it's legit.  I think we'll try calling them again periodically tomorrow.  In the meantime, I plan on drafting a letter to send CMRRR to the attorney to propose a payment plan.  I'm also working on getting phone records together so that if (God forbid) we do end up in court, we'll have plenty of evidence to show that we've been trying to contact him.

It's a very frustrating situarion, because the OC still owns the account, so I've sent payments to them (as suggested by the HIPAA process), but they take MONTHS to cash them.  The CA was reporting on DH's CR, but the CRAs have since deleted any trace of them.  Anyway, sorry for the rambling.  Thanks again for your response!

[Anonymous]

This is the letter I've drafted.  Please let me know your thoughts.
 
Dear Mr. Attorney

,

We are in receipt of your letter regarding a debt to Luther Middleport - Mayo Health Systems.  We have tried to contact you via telephone several times and left messages, but have not been called back.

We would like to settle this debt outside of court if possible.  We are willing to pay the debt ($2,389.20) over a period of four months, with a payment of $300.00 every two weeks.

If this is an arrangement that is acceptable to your client, please contact us so we might begin making the arranged payments.

Sincerely,

thenewgirl

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This is the letter I've drafted.  Please let me know your thoughts.
 
Dear Mr. Attorney

,

We are in receipt of your letter regarding a debt to Luther Middleport - Mayo Health Systems.  We have tried to contact you via telephone several times and left messages, but have not been called back.

We would like to settle this debt outside of court if possible.  We are willing to pay the debt ($2,389.20) over a period of four months, with a payment of $300.00 every two weeks.

If this is an arrangement that is acceptable to your client, please contact us so we might begin making the arranged payments.

Sincerely,

thenewgirl

---

Looks good.

I would not put specific numbers in the letter, though, as you are closing any opportunity there may be for the creditor to accept less.  You never know, but the creditor may have been contemplating an offer for less.

Might not the following be better:

To save all concerned the time, expense and uncertainty involved with legal action, we would, for a limited time, be willing to discuss a negotiated settlement.  You may contact us at (111) 111-1111.   

By the way, what does the actual summons you received say?  Can you copy & paste it here after removing identifying data?

[Anonymous]

This is what the summons says:

Plaintiff

vs

Defendant

To the Defendant(s):

You are being sued as described below.  If you wish to dispute this matter:

You must appear at the time and place stated.

<Then, the address, date and time of the hearing is listed, and it is signed by the Clerk of Courts.>

Plaintiff's Demand:

The plaintiff demads judgment for:

Claim for Money $2,389.20 + $98.50

<Attorney's phone number, address, and state bar number are listed, and includes a notarized signature from the attorney.>

The second page lists the attorney's name, says that he is the plaintiff's/petitioner's attorney in this case.

Also says that defendants are not on active duty status in the military.

This page is also signed and notarized.

Both pages are stamped and dated by the Clerk of Courts for our county.

Also, if it is of any relevance, we are in Wisconsin.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This is what the summons says:

Plaintiff

vs

Defendant

To the Defendant(s):

You are being sued as described below.  If you wish to dispute this matter:

You must appear at the time and place stated.

<Then, the address, date and time of the hearing is listed, and it is signed by the Clerk of Courts.>

Plaintiff's Demand:

The plaintiff demads judgment for:

Claim for Money $2,389.20 + $98.50

<Attorney's phone number, address, and state bar number are listed, and includes a notarized signature from the attorney.>

The second page lists the attorney's name, says that he is the plaintiff's/petitioner's attorney in this case.

Also says that defendants are not on active duty status in the military.

This page is also signed and notarized.

Both pages are stamped and dated by the Clerk of Courts for our county.

Also, if it is of any relevance, we are in Wisconsin.

Thanks!

---

Sounds like a summons, but Wisconsin sure has strange rules for service.  Was the letter addressed to the address at which it was delivered or was it forwarded?

Anyhow, I'd try to contact the attorney and suggest payment alternatives.  If they never respond, document this and make the court aware when you appear that this matter could have been resolved without wasting the court's time had the attorney been more professional and competent about returning your calls.  Any decent judge would immediately order the creditor to sit down and discuss the matter with you before going any further.

[Anonymous]

The letters were addressed to us.  We each got separate ones.

I've started documenting everything that's going on, and I'm getting phone records so that it's clear we've been trying to contact him.  Is it ok to send my letter in an e-mail?  I'd just like to get this resolved as quickly as possible, as it's been driving me crazy ever since we received our summons.  I was thinking about sending an e-mail and basically saying 'I've just mailed you this letter CMRRR, but I wanted to e-mail it to you as well in the hopes that we can resolve this matter quickly.'  Just a thought.  Plus, it's another form of communication I can show the courts if we don't get a response.

Thanks for all of your help, I REALLY appreciate it!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My husband and I each received a summons in the mail today that we are being sued by a lawyer on behalf of our hospital for some bills.  The lawyer works for the CA that the OC uses.  These bills are from about 2 years ago, and the CA was previously reporting on DH's CR.  However, I was using the HIPAA process, and they took everything off the CR.  We didn't see or hear from them again until about 6 weeks ago when we received a letter from the attorney saying that if we didn't respond to him within 30 days we would be taken to court.  In the meantime, DH has called several times and left messages asking for him to call back so we can discuss this.  There has never been an answer when he calls, and he has never returned our messages.

What are we supposed to do now?  We absolutely need to avoid a judgment.  We're willing to PIF, but would need to make payments over about 3 months to do so.  Is there any way to stop this court date from happening, or are we doomed?  Any help that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!

---

I confess to being unfamiliar with the HIPAA process, but my understanding is that it applies to paid accounts only.

Was your account paid?  Or was it still unpaid and yet deleted?

I just thought I 'd ask to avoid any confusion others might have if they're reading this post.

[Anonymous]

Sure thing.  It was not paid, but deleted, leading me to believe that the debt was not valid.  Like I said previously, we haven't heard anything about this for a loooong time until about a month ago when we received the initial letter from the attorney.