Just been served

[floridian]

i think i would call the clerk of court and make sure its real..

[Dayhob]

Yes it was a processor, they came to my door and there is a case number. I know that when you file a chapter 7 if you want to keep house and vehicles they have to be current. Does that mean by the due date, or within 30 days? Does anyone know. I am going to have to file soon and am running 3-4 weeks behind.

[Dayhob]

And can they garnish my wages without giving me a chance to go to court? Sorry for all the questions, but I am really scared.

[Cheeseater]

That was fast I've been hoping for about a year. Could you share the account balance?

[albacore44]

And can they garnish my wages without giving me a chance to go to court? Sorry for all the questions, but I am really scared.

No. you can find good information by reading in the collections forum. It works like this. if you want to stall it a bit you will have to answer the summons. it will cost you, not sure how much at your court. once you file your answer, then the court will set a date for trial. Then you can go and ask the judge for a continuance.....just say you need more time to speak to an attorney, they should give you the extra time. this whole process should take several months. I just reviewed cases on my courts docket, for chase and saw some recent cases. seems like after after service it's taking 4 months to
get into court for the 1st hearing, but you will have to check with your court.

[liz417]

Was this with debt Chase under 5k?

I would do what "albacore" say and delay the date, ask for proof on the debt, etc. Stall. Let us know the outcome...good luck!

[Dayhob]

Debt was just over 11k

[catleg]

I would say that the courts in Indiana must be fairly creditor friendly for them to move this fast, plus they must think you have income or assets worth going after. I define creditor friendly as low filing fees, automated (electronic) filing of cases, and a judicial system where the wheels are greased in favor of creditors (like here in NJ).

The way the game is played, they first try to win by default judgment when you don't respond. This is probably 75% of cases. If you file an answer, then they will try a motion for summary judgment. This wins probably another 75%. The ones who are together enough to make it this far go to trial.

After that they have to collect on the judgment, they have various means and depending on the court system it may go faster or slower.

So depending on your time frame it may or may not be worth filing the answer and then objecting to the motion for summary judgment, or just stonewalling the collection on the judgment. If BB reads this forum he'll respond with the benefits of letting it go to default.

[music12]

dayhob, they filed a lawsuit not a judgment. if they win the lawsuit, that's when judgment enters.

respond to the lawsuit on day 19 of the 20 days. then delay, delay, delay... also, any bank account you ever used to pay chase will be in danger, because chase has a record of it. open a new account and move all your money now.

[Dayhob]

This may sound dumb, but how do I respond? What do I say. I can't dispute that it is mine.

[music12]

find a form online from the court website or the court clerk will tell you where to find it. the court name will be on the summons you received, and maybe even the clerk's phone number.

there will probably be a line you could check that says you deny the allegations in the complaint. there may be another line you could check that says you are requiring the plaintiff to verify the alleged debt.

remember, this is a lawsuit where the burden of proof is on the plaintiff. they have to prove you owe it. think about it: suppose you went to court to sue someone; wouldn't you expect to have to prove they owe you something?

here's an example (which you could just copy if your court doesn't have one):

http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/wfdata/frame3105-1591/File3.pdf

also, if this company ever used unfair debt collection practices, you could file a counterclaim. find a form for that too somewhere.

good luck

[catleg]

remember, this is a lawsuit where the burden of proof is on the plaintiff. they have to prove you owe it. think about it: suppose you went to court to sue someone; wouldn't you expect to have to prove they owe you something?

No, no, no! The burden of proof in a civil case is a lot lower than you might think. Most of the time unless you have a real solid defense then the plaintiff attorney, if representing an OC, is going to make mincemeat out of you. JDB, different story. But for OC's in court, it is very much stacked in their favor.

[music12]

No, no, no! The burden of proof in a civil case is a lot lower than you might think. Most of the time unless you have a real solid defense then the plaintiff attorney, if representing an OC, is going to make mincemeat out of you. JDB, different story. But for OC's in court, it is very much stacked in their favor.

that may be true, but the principle still is that the burden of proof is on them. Even if eventually it will be easy for them to prove, they still have to prove it. so procedurally, the OP can use this principle to delay. maybe the OP is unlikely to win the case, but that's not what he needs to do anyway.

[MidFlorida]

Answering a summons

I received the first summons in my life the same way recently and was just as confused by the lack of a court date. Here's what I've learned.

The summons just means that a civil (not criminal!) case has been filed in court against you and that you, by law, must be told and have xx days to respond (defend yourself) in writing to the court. You don't go in person, you go 'in writing'.

This sounds overwhelming, at least it did to me. I scoured the internet for anything and everything.

If you don't file something, they get a default judgement. They move to garnish pretty darned quick.. all around, very bad. I called an attorney and he gave me good advice.

File an answer the best you can for the sole purposes of delaying the whole affair. Here in Florida it takes about 2 months to get a hearing date. So you answer by asking for a hearing. In the 2 months you've bought, you have some chance of getting your ducks in a row or at least figuring out what you might do.
I am going to try to paste here what I filed. Each sentence they filed on the "Complaint" page is called a paragraph in legalese. You have to make yours just like theirs.

And remember some important stuff!

If they didn't offer a copy of the original agreement with your signature, you don't know if you've 'performed to the terms and conditions" since what you've been sent might not be the agreement you signed.

If you don't know how much for sure you owed (and who does) you don't know if the damages exeeds or does not exceed any certain amount.

You have NOT agreed to pay any attorney's fees as 'stated in the agreement" since you haven't seen the actual agreement that you signed.

In fact, all but the part where you agree that "you had business transactions with the creditor before" are probably unknown.

You must not agree to any sentence if any part of it is unknown or disputed.

You're only allowed three sentence types. One is for disagree, one is for unknown and one is for agree.

This is what I filed (by myself) and where you see 'pro se', it's important and required. It means you have no attorney and are representing yourself.

This answer wouldn't work if you disagree with every single line. You have to agree to one line at least.

In the County Court for the ________ Judicial Circuit in and for _____ County, State

Case Number: xx xxxxx

Name on Summons (whoever is shown as suing you)
their address
their city, state, zip
Plaintiff,
vs.

Your Name
Your address
Your city, state and zip
Defendant.


ANSWER

Now comes the Defendant, Pro Se, (Your full name), and for his/her answer to the Plaintiff’s Complaint filed herein against him/her states as follows:

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the amount of the debt in Paragraph 1.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the credit card agreement submitted as it has no signature or other means of verification.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the credit card agreement submitted so cannot determine if the plaintiff has performed in the manner stated in paragraph 3.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the credit card agreement submitted so cannot determine defendant’s failure stated in paragraph 4.

Defendant specifically admits the allegations contained in paragraph 5 of the Complaint filed here against him/her.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the amount of the debt in Paragraph 6.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the credit card agreement submitted which is referred to in paragraph 7.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the amount of the debt in Paragraph 8.

Defendant specifically admits the allegations contained in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the Complaint filed here against him/her.

Defendant lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form an opinion as to the truth and accuracy of the amount of the debt in Paragraph 11.

Defendant reserves the right to later object to jurisdiction, venue, sufficiency of process, sufficiency of service, failure to state facts upon which relief can be granted or failure to join a party, if any after filing this answer.

Wherefore, defendant demands a hearing to account for the defendant’s total debt, how the total debt amount was calculated, all fees, charges and interest accounted for, as well as the original agreement actually entered into. If the debt is determined to be valid, defendant requests a mediation hearing to work out a payment plan.

DATED this ___day of Month, Year
____________________________, Pro Se
Full Name
Street
City, State, zip
phonexxx) xxx-xxxx (In my area, phone is required)


CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I have this _____ day of (Month), 2009, served (Name),(address) [who ever is listed on page 2 of the summons itself as contact for them] with the foregoing Answer by placing same in the U. S. Mail with sufficient postage attached.

_____________________________
Your Full Name


I took this document to the clerk of the court who stamped it "filed" and date stamped it too. It was free. Then I made a copy of it with the filed stamp on it and sent this via certified mail to the collection attorney. You have to have a 'certificate of service' at the end. It's not optional.

The whole purpose was to stall,to buy time... not to win in court. I'm NOT a lawyer.

[eddiep]

I was recently served and filed an answer. I have just recieved a hearing date and it is less than 30 days from the respond by date. This is not going to give us enough time to file. So my bk attorney told me to go to the hearing and ask the judge to delay the judgement for 60 days and explain that we are preparing to file for bk and that we have hired an attorney, recieved the prebk certification, and we are just waiting to finalize a loan modification. They attached a document (cant remember what it is called right now) that stated their intention was to place a lien on my property. My lawyer said that he can undo this after bk but will cost us $400 if the judge will not allow an extention. But he did say that this was a common request and frequently is allowed. scarey though.