Ok, I will try to keep this short and to the point. I was laid off from my job in the mortgage industry last Aug. 07 still can't find full-time emp. I'm receving unemployment but it's not enough to buy groceries let alone pay my mtg, gas, electric etc let alone my credit cards. I had stopped making payments to Cap One in approx March of 07 due to reduced income (due to market decline which eventually lead to being laid off). I have 2 Cap One credit cards and several other credit card accounts. I live in Northern VA. Prior to being laid off I tried to set up a payment plan with Cap One which not surprisingly they didn't hold up their end of the deal. While I made agreed payments they continued to raise my interest rate, charge late pymnt & overlimit fees (which was not going to happen per the agreement) and then even though I was making agreed payments kept telling me I was still due for the regular pymts. Needless to say, it was probably the biggest reason I have chosen not to deal with them. Since I haven't found a job yet I am not comfortable nor do I have the $$ to agree to a payment plan I can't uphold. I am currently past due on my mortgage so I have been dealing with bigger issues than Cap One. Well, they sued me. I went to court in Jan of 2008 and asked for a Bill of Particulars which I received last week. I have to file my Grounds for Defense by/on Friday the 29th. I've been trying to find/figure out if it's worth me filing the Grounds for Defense or if it just delays the inevitable. My court date is in April of 2008 but I have to file the GFD by this Friday. I don't know that I have a legitimate defense that the judge won't reject anyway--- I used the Cap One card, I owe them the money (which I would pay if I had any $$ to do that with). I think it's a joke that they offered me another Cap One card after I was already past due on the first one but I don't think that is going to be relevent to this case (if at all). If I'm understanding all the legal stuff correctly then the Grounds for Defense is to state why I don't owe Cap One the money. The court isn't going to care why I can't pay them because the judgement will be based solely on the fact that I do owe them. Is that correct? If it is what are my options? Do I have any? I would like to delay the judgement from being entered for as long as possible in the hopes that I will find a job (I'll take all the prayers I can get) and then would be able to make some sort of payment arrangement with Cap One. Does it cost to file the Grounds of Defense? Where do I even go to do that? Will the court read it prior to the court date and throw it out? Will they penalize on the court date if they see that my grounds of defense isn't viable? I would appreciate any insight or suggestions. I can't afford an attorney so I'm doing this on my own. Some other helpful background: I own my home but am late on payments and may end up in foreclosure. I had a chapter 7 BK discharge in 2001 so I can't file again until 2009. The only savings I have is my 401k which I've all but drained to make the mtg payments. I'm saving the remainder to use if I have to try to rent an apt. Can anybody help me out?...
....Is anyone out there with any help or ideas for me?.... I read some really great stuff on these forums so I was hoping for at least some basic ideas....
You woulnd't happen to have this agreement in writing? You owe the complete amount, even those charges and whatnot that you said were to be waived under the agreement you were claiming you had? Yes. You seem to have already asked them to prove their claim and they did, you say. With an original creditor, there isn't the obvious question that seems to exist with many assigns, that they might not really have a valid assignment. What you might consider looking into is what assets you have that you can LEGALLY protect. If everything you have is exempt, perhaps they'll be more likely to do a deal with you. If they can just start grabbing cash from accounts, what is in it for them to deal? You need to read your court rules. Every state is different. I found this PDF file that claims to hint at what to do for some VA court, maybe yours, maybe not: http://www.courts.state.va.us/forms/district/dc442.pdf . Certainly the site itself has a lot of answers you seek. Maybe they are in such a big rush because they think you are going to BK again in 2009.
Thanks for the response. I don't have the payment agreement in writing b/c I worked it out with them over the phone then made those payments plus extra to be current. Then after being able to make a couple monthly payments on time just couldn't keep up again. So the agreement isn't in place right now- it's just part of the reason I wasn't willing to try to work anything out with them this time. I definitely don't have any assets that can take- my car is paid in full and worth like $1000 but I'm assuming they would have to fight for that with the other creditors plus I am pretty sure I can protect that since it's my only means of transporation to get employment. They can put a judgement against my house but again I am already well past due on that so in the end if I get foreclosed on they aren't going to get anything. I wasn't looking/thinking about BK again until they sued me. I Never thought I would be back in this situation again and I absolutely would pay them if I had the $$. Thanks for the website. I appreciate any help I can get....
