First Big CC suit in the works

[treehugger1]

I, along with others just posted infor related to time-to-suit, waiting-to-file, etc. I just returned from the county courthouse and noticed that a suit has been initiated against me from Chiti. The amount is $10K+. The legal firm is in B-Boy's backyard. So, I first defaulted on this about 30 months ago. I made a meager attempt at paying, but have made no payments on the program in the past 12 - 14 months. The attorney firm did send me an answer for my DV request. I even received information from an account specialist authorizing that Chiti proceed with suit. So, all the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed. I have not yet been served, but I am interested in what the complaint states. If they are smart, they will serve me via CMRR US mail, since I do not have any living address on file anywhere.

I did notice that on the county court site, it states the complaint is eligible for arbitration under state laws. I can't believe how calm I am about all of this. I have a few friends here who have just answered suits by discover and others. They think that if I can afford the $180+ to file an answer after service, it might be well worth my while to do so. I'm skeptical.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I, along with others just posted infor related to time-to-suit, waiting-to-file, etc. I just returned from the county courthouse and noticed that a suit has been initiated against me from Chiti. The amount is $10K+. The legal firm is in B-Boy's backyard. So, I first defaulted on this about 30 months ago. I made a meager attempt at paying, but have made no payments on the program in the past 12 - 14 months. The attorney firm did send me an answer for my DV request. I even received information from an account specialist authorizing that Chiti proceed with suit. So, all the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed. I have not yet been served, but I am interested in what the complaint states. If they are smart, they will serve me via CMRR US mail, since I do not have any living address on file anywhere.

I did notice that on the county court site, it states the complaint is eligible for arbitration under state laws. I can't believe how calm I am about all of this. I have a few friends here who have just answered suits by discover and others. They think that if I can afford the $180+ to file an answer after service, it might be well worth my while to do so. I'm skeptical.

I'm fairly convinced you need not to pay money to respond to a suit. It is their suit. If you cross file, that is different. I don't know what your states small claims court honors. Ours FL went from 5K to 10K in small claims. If they cannot find you they can post a notice in the paper. That would not be good if you do not respond. Your really don't want a Judgment. BELIEVE ME, it is too much trouble. How did you find out? Search your name on the Index? It would behoove you to call the Sheriff (if they perform service) and pick up your summons, and then you will know all. You can put them off with a motion to prove the debt. I thought, you, Treehugger, and old timer here, filed already? 'Hub

[catleg]

Since you've previously made payments it's pretty hard to contest the debt's validity. Chances are your answer will be met with a summary judgment motion. So you would need to raise a claim that constitutes a genuine dispute of a material fact that requires the court to try that fact. So, violating the terms of the contract, interest, late fees, whatever.

Alternatively, string them along until they can get a garnishment order. Do they know where you work? Is your state one of those that requires a new order every paycheck?

[frogger]

You 'ole deadbeat, just write them a check and clear this matter up immediately.

Or... just do like everyone else that gets sued....

Deny, deny, deny.

Get a court date.

Loose in court.

Appeal and loose again.

You can make this last for a while if you wish.....

[treehugger1]

Hub, Nope, I have not filed, and I see no filing int he near future.

Cat, I agree with you. I would probably wind up adding expenses to the debt. My state issues wage garnishment writs for 90 days. These can be renwed. It appears it could become a race as to who gets the garnishment first; student loans or unsecured creditor. It really makes no difference to me as teh total amount of garnishment is limited to 25% of take-home.

[CompTweaker]

but I am interested in what the complaint states.

Not sure how your RCP's work, but in one case that I wasnt served, I just wrote down the case number, went to the court house and asked for them to pull the file so that I could look at it and make copies. They never asked my name, just charged for the copies I made. I guess when they say it is a matter of public records, then it means just that......anyone can pull info for any reason. Hope this helps and good luck.

[treehugger1]

Frogger, Thanks. Deny, deny, deny is one option. The problem here is that it can get spendy to answer complaints, and it gets even more costly to file motions, etc. I'm not exactly poverty stricken, so the local courts won't give me some low-income reduction. Then again, if it appears that one could go into a 25% garnishment of $1000 - $1500 per month, answering a summons could put money in one's pocket for months as the court process unfolds and no garnishment takes effect. Yet, at some point, if this appears to indeed be my debt, the returns diminish.

I have much to think about in the next 45 - 60 days. I say 45 - 60 days because once I'm served, I have 30 days to answer, if I choose. I also noted in another post that it is not uncommon in these civil contract matters for the defendant here to motion for an extension to file an answer. The request appears to generally be granted for an additional 15 - 30 days.

I like the idea of taking the case number to the clerk and requesting documents filed by the plaintiff. At least I would then know what the complaint actually states. It could very well be some form letter/style complaint that does nto work with the RCP's here. I'll look into this tomorrow and get back to you.

The legal firm that appears to be suing me is 400 miles away in Washington, and after I researched them, they appear to have had plenty of run-ins with various state circuit courts.

[Martha31]

10k in florida

I'm fairly convinced you need not to pay money to respond to a suit. It is their suit. If you cross file, that is different. I don't know what your states small claims court honors. 10 If they cannot find you they can post a notice in the paper. That would not be good if you do not respond. Your really don't want a Judgment. BELIEVE ME, it is too much trouble. How did you find out? Search your name on the Index? It would behoove you to call the Sheriff (if they perform service) and pick up your summons, and then you will know all. You can put them off with a motion to prove the debt. I thought, you, Treehugger, and old timer here, filed already? 'Hub

Ours FL went from 5K to 10K in small claims. When did this occur? Where is it documented?

Thanks,

martha31

[treehugger1]

Oregon small claims stops at $7500. In addition, no attorney can represent either side in small claims. As a result, anything over $7.5K has to be filed in circuit court here. This is the real deal as far as I can see.

And, the clincher is that anything under $50,000 can go to state arbitration. I don't even know if my local court has arbitrators available! If I choose, I'll know a great deal in a month or so. LOL.

[hereforinfo]

Hub, Nope, I have not filed, and I see no filing int he near future.

Cat, I agree with you. I would probably wind up adding expenses to the debt. My state issues wage garnishment writs for 90 days. These can be renwed. It appears it could become a race as to who gets the garnishment first; student loans or unsecured creditor. It really makes no difference to me as teh total amount of garnishment is limited to 25% of take-home.

I would try and get the student loan in there first since that will eventually have to be paid in full and will never go away. The other stuff eventually expires, right?

[treehugger1]

The other debt does not expire. Yet, a permanent 15% wage garnishment from the Dept. of Education leaves only 10% of disposable wages available to other judgment creditors/CA's.

[treehugger1]

Well, I did go down to the courthouse and paid under a dollar for a copy of the complaint. I then called the legal firm. The attorney was quite professional and totally in tune with my situation, and the knowledge that with a potential 15% dept of education wage garnishment, definitinitely had an impact on how we might deal with this suit. He said they would send service via US return-receipt mail, and I told him after service, I'd get back to him and make a decision as to whether I felt there were grounds for me to provide an answer. It was pretty clear that the atorney would prefer not to deal with a suit 400+ miles away.

Keep in mind that I am BK 13 material at 100% payback plan, so if I can get a 5 year plan under a stipulated judgment, then I'll make an attempt. The attorney understood that others could sue me and screw everything up, but I think he was smart enough to realize if we can get a stipulated judgment agreed upon by Chitibank, then its worth the risk to everyone involved. Chiti has to buy in, but sense is that they will have no choice. As it turns out, it seemed the attorney was also clued in to the fact that the payments would need to be reasonable such that a potential future BK 13 trustee would not impose "preferred creditor" ruling.

As BB has pointed out, not everyone is in the same position as I am. But, there may be others on this forum who could use this experience.

[jam]

HI ALL, 11 MONTHES NOW TILL FILLING OF 2ND CHAPTER 7. WILL BE FORCED TO STOP PAYING CC,s SOON. HOPE I CAN GET AWAY WITH 9 MONTHES WITHOUT ANY JUDGMENTS ,IF NOT 25% of takehome a lot less than im paying now jim

[GoingDown]

This is the problem of working at a steady job.

I work mainly temp jobs, so even if they wanted to garnish, it wouldn't do them any good. They would just be spinning their wheels and spending more money trying to garnish a job that quickly comes to an end.




But anyways, I thought you already had your wages garnished, so if they did try to garnish, they would just have to wait in line to get any money, right?

They still can't get more than 25% total for all creditors combined.

If it costs money to file a response, I wouldn't bother with it. But if it is free, then it might be a fun hobby.


Hey, the Oregon mushroom festival is coming up next month! Yum! I drove up there last time, but this time, I'm flying up there. It's actually cheaper to fly than to drive up there.

[treehugger1]

Goingdown, yes, I have been through 25% wage garnishment in the past. The attorney firm is now well aware of the 15% student loan garnishment and what it means for them. I now have no intention of answering the summons/complaint, but I also have no fear of speaking with the attorney. Ch*ist they are 400+ miles away. I'm in charge here, not the law firm. That is such a good feeling!