Threatening letter to collect from lawyer

[southernbelle]

Things have started getting scary. A bill was turned over to a local lawyer and I paid one payment in August 07, but ran out of money, so I stopped paying. All was quiet until I received a VERY forceful letter today from the lawyer strongly suggesting I contact him to make a payment.

This might be a "no brainer", but do I ignore the letter and hold him off until Jan. when I plan to file, or write a letter to let him know I definately plan to file but don't tell him when. I'm afraid if I tell him about filing, he might try to do something beforehand and the longer I wait the better and with the holidays, the local court calendar might be too full to push something through before January.

Any thoughts?

[BassBoy]

Debt collectors probably here about filing BK all of the time, but for that moment, you're all talk until you actually file. Having said that, you may be able to hold off the collection efforts, but since you've missed the Sept. and Oct. payment, the collector could begin taking action.

I'm not trying to scare you, but with the recent problems today and with the potential of BK filings being on the rise, creditor's and collector's may have become more aggressive.

[newimges]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I wouldn't tell him that you are planning on filing bankruptcy either because it could be used against you later on down the road.

The worst thing he can do is file a civil suit against you. That will cost him money so he may not even do that but if he does he will probably wait a few weeks to see if you respond this latest letter. He will have to file the civil suit in your district. Then serve you with the papers. You will have 3 - 4 weeks to respond depending on the state and district you live in. After you respond to the suit, it will most likely take another few weeks to get a court date.

I had a similar thing happen to me. The lawyer started sending me letters in May, filed the civil suit on August 3rd, I got served on August 5th by certified mail. I had 3 weeks to respond which I did on August 24th (you just fill out a form and file it with the court and send a certified copy to the lawyer and creditor if applicable) and got a court date on October 8th. I filed bankruptcy on October 3rd so I didn't even have to go to court.

I received letters from other attorneys with other credit card debts I owed that were pretty forceful but they never did anything. I sent them a letter to validate the debt and never heard from them again except for that one and it took him 3 months from the first letter he sent until he actually filed a civil suit.

Hope this helps.

[Minnymouth]

Let's see................ this is November and you got your first threatenting letter.........

Okay, you should be more than safe till after the holidays.....

They will send you a couple of more letters and one of them will be certified...........that's the one that tells you when to appear in court about the case.

By then you will probably have filed and everything is included in your filing.

If they do summons you, then file, have your attorney (or you) file a "intent to file bankrutpcy" with the court and it will stop the proceedings.

If I'm wrong in my way of thinking, others jump in here a correct me, please.....

[jp2861]

I wouldn't ignore the letter. Send them a letter requesting the debt be validated. That will buy you some time. If they continue to file suit that will take a few months as well.

If you plan on filing after the holidays I would use the next two months to get your petition ready to file. The best situation for you to be in is to have your petition complete and ready to file in an instant. If you get served, file immediately.

[technoreid1]

The same thing that happened to you is now happening to me.

I got a summons and then filed an "answer" to the civil suit - Now I am just about to file a BK before the court date.

Once I file my BK- how will the attorney/creditor who is suing me know that I filed the BK? I will be filing just before my court date like you did...


thanks, techno

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I wouldn't tell him that you are planning on filing bankruptcy either because it could be used against you later on down the road.

The worst thing he can do is file a civil suit against you. That will cost him money so he may not even do that but if he does he will probably wait a few weeks to see if you respond this latest letter. He will have to file the civil suit in your district. Then serve you with the papers. You will have 3 - 4 weeks to respond depending on the state and district you live in. After you respond to the suit, it will most likely take another few weeks to get a court date.

I had a similar thing happen to me. The lawyer started sending me letters in May, filed the civil suit on August 3rd, I got served on August 5th by certified mail. I had 3 weeks to respond which I did on August 24th (you just fill out a form and file it with the court and send a certified copy to the lawyer and creditor if applicable) and got a court date on October 8th. I filed bankruptcy on October 3rd so I didn't even have to go to court.

I received letters from other attorneys with other credit card debts I owed that were pretty forceful but they never did anything. I sent them a letter to validate the debt and never heard from them again except for that one and it took him 3 months from the first letter he sent until he actually filed a civil suit.

Hope this helps.

[newimges]

I added the creditor and the creditor's lawyer to my bankruptcy creditor list and mailing matrix so they would get an official notice from the bankruptcy court.

I called the court clerk and the lawyer for the creditor the day after I filed and let them know that I had filed and gave them the case number and information.

The court clerk said that was fine but you might have to show up at your hearing if the court clerk won't handle it over the phone. If that's the case - just bring your bankruptcy papers with you. The case can't go forward once you file bankruptcy.

I hope this helps.

[junker]

certified letters

speaking of certified letters, if you refuse to accept one does it stilll mean you have been served or do they then have to get a process server to serve you, one state i lived in Calfornia, if you didnt accept certified then you werent officially served according to the court and they had to get sherriff or server to get you.

[seraph79]

speaking of certified letters, if you refuse to accept one does it stilll mean you have been served or do they then have to get a process server to serve you, one state i lived in Calfornia, if you didnt accept certified then you werent officially served according to the court and they had to get sherriff or server to get you.

It's sorta funny...I live in Oregon and I was supposedly "served" and all they did is tape the notice to my front door. I guess it doesn't matter to them if it's raining and the wind blows the envelope away, as long as they physically get it to your address, you're properly notified. Whereas, we have to wait through this 60 days crap because we have to properly notify the creditors of the bankruptcy and allow them adequate time to respond. I can't wait until my discharge so I can march down to the court and file motions to vacate the 2 default judgments that were entered against me...and you can bet that I'm going to hound those two creditors until they correctly report the accounts on all of my credit reports. It's kinda funny how empowered one can feel after filing for bankruptcy.

[jp2861]

speaking of certified letters, if you refuse to accept one does it stilll mean you have been served or do they then have to get a process server to serve you, one state i lived in Calfornia, if you didnt accept certified then you werent officially served according to the court and they had to get sherriff or server to get you.

And if they're still not successful, some states can petition the courts to have you served via the local newspaper for all to see. Ain't life grand.....