Greetings, I was served a summons today by a local atty representing CACV. I have 20 days to respond. The SOL has not run out. The orignal debt is roughly 8K and the amount being sought is roughly 12K. I can't afford an attorney. I don't want to go to court if possible and I definitely don't want a judgement. So, I would like to settle. Is that even possible at this point If so, what is my best course and what would a reasonable offer be? I could probably borrow some money from my parents for this purpose. Thanks!
Whoaaaaaaaaaa SLOW down! First what state are you in? Obviously they bought your debt from the OC. Before you got served, what did you get in the form of paper or phone calls on this? If you can afford to settle I would FIRST recommend a lawyer to see things thru as not sure how well you would do in court or dealing with these snakes. Of course you should not been thinking of settling without validation, and you do need to answer,to make sure no default judgement is issued. Then several months in the future will be the court date, so you have time to figure out what you want to do. Who is the CA that served you? They probably are in cahoots with CACV and work for them exclusively. So again,SLOW DOWN as this JDB cannot do anything right now and from experience if they do validate, which I sincerely doubt,their case will be so weak that they will settle before they have to go to court. Think 25 percent . : ) BUT YOU DO NOT WANT TO SETTLE NOW AS YOU JUST MAY WIN THIS CASE!!! : ) Give us more facts so we can help you.
I live in a very small state. For this reason, I am hesitant to disclose that here...is that an invalid fear? The CA does not work exclusively for CACV, I have already verified that. They have a small practice and do an array of work-think very small rural area. I don't even know if I've gotten anything from them yet. I know that I requested validation from a company about a year and a half to two years ago and didn't receive anything. It could have been them, I don't remember and did not save the letter unfortunately. I really would not be able to afford an attorney. When you said "think 25%" I was wondering if that is typically off the inflated new balance or the original balance? I know I need to answer the summons and I am not entirely sure how. But I know I can't afford both an attorney and a settlement. I CANNOT risk having a judgment against me. So what should I do? I am sorry if I am rambling . I got zero sleep last night due to googling.
Here is the text from the summons Now Comes, CACV of Colorado, LLC, by and through its attorney, XXXX and hereby complaine and allege against the defendant, XXXX Complaint 1. Plaintiff, CACV of Colorado, LLC is a business organized and existing under the laws of the state of Colorado with its principal place of business in Denver, CO. 2. The defendant, XXX, is a resident of the state of XXX, with a principal place of residence in XXX, county of xxx. Count 1 3. The defendant entered into and account with BOA and said account has been assigned to the plaintiff. Said account is now past due in the amount of 11,900 which includes interest on the original about of $7900 at the rate of XX% from January 16, 2005 to the the date of judgement pursuant to Title X, Section XX, of the XX Statutes annotated. 4. That the defendant has breached the terms of said account by failure to pay the amounts due. 5. That despite demand, there remains due and owing the plaintiff the sum of $11,900 as of 6/5/2008. Count II 6. Plaintiff repeats paragraph 1 through 5 as set forth at length. 7. That the defendant has been unjustly enriched in the amount of $11,900, plus continuing interst at XX% (pursuant to XX Statute, until day of jundgment at which point interest will accrue at the rate of XX% pursuant to XX Statue), by virtue of non-payment of can account to plaintiff. Wherefore, the plaintiff requests this honorable court grant the following: 1. Judgement against the defendant in the amount of $11,900, together with costs, and interest at the continuing rate of xx% as of the day of judgment, thereafter interest will accrue at the rate of xx% pursuant to XX Statutes; 2. Such other and further relief as this honorable court deems just and proper.
The way I see it, YOU CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO GET AN ATTORNEY! You do not have any paperwork and are not organized with this and you say you cannot risk having a judgement issued. Some people cannot go pro se as they screw up big time. I think you maybe this type of personality. Do you get nervous speaking? Are you disorganized? DO you not have the time or the inkling and get ready to REALLY study and RESEARCH so you can attempt a good defense? Bottom line, I think you should get a lawyer, as you are nut cut out for pro se in my opinion as you are a nervous one ; ) A lawyer to answer this and take the case will probably be 1K or less. I think you can afford to have one as unless you want to spend hours and hours and week and months on this,you are not going to be ready for court, and will lose. : ( Another thing is say they have their ducks in a row, and will be willing to settle ( I think so) YOU NEED A LAWYER to make sure that the paperwork is correct. Of course others may chime in and say you can do it yourself. Maybe you can. I have and can BUT I have spent over 4 years now on all of this, and it can make ones head spin especially if you are not organized and a clear thinker. YMMV Good Luck! Woofer
Thanks woofer. I know I seem scattered but I just received this yesterday. I don't get nervous speaking. But, again, my entire goal is NOT to go to court. I can probably raise about 3k and potentially make some monthly payments. I feel very strongly about not paying a lawyer and figuring out a way to settle this out of court ASAP. I've got a toddler with some pretty serious medical things going on and I just need this to be over for as little as possible. Can anyone give me some direction as to how I might achieve this without an attorney? Again, I don't want to prolong this and I don't want to go to court.
OK but you have no paper trail, so to someone just hearing you you are not organized. WHY is that? You ARE going to be paying a lawyer anyway. A COLLECTION ATTORNEY and or a JDB as well. So then roll over and let them stick it to you. I'm done. Good luck! Woofer
Woofer, I'm sorry if I offended you in some way. I do appreciate the feedback you've given me. Hopefully, you've never had a sick child. I do and I am nearly at capacity with what i can handle emotionally and financially right now. Maybe you can't understand my reluctance to spend $1,000 on an attorney to represent me when I could put that towards my debt and I certainly appreciate your position. I am simply trying to get advice on how I can settle out of court asap because frankly, I have bigger fish to fry at the moment with my child and can't emotionally have this hanging over my head. Again, I'm sorry if I offended you.
I think what Woofer is saying is that if you spend the money for a lawyer you are likely not going to pay them ANYTHING. Even doing it yourself, you may end up not paying. People are often very quick to want to settle. But in many cases once you request validation (if you hadn't been served) or answer the summons and request information in discovery, you'll find that they really don't have the proof they need. Don't think just because you go to court you'll lose. I doubt if you live in a state so small that you're the only person this company is suing. I bet if you check the records you'll find that they have hundreds of suits filed in your state. So telling the state you're in shouldn't be a problem. Don't get as specific as the city or county, though.
You have my thoughts correct Hedwig, and the other thing I meant was that time is money and the fact this person does have a child in need, her time caring for the child is valuable and going pro se is stressful and time consuming and I felt she would be better served paying a lawyer to do it for her, as IME sometimes it is better just to get a lawyer when push comes to shove. Woofer
Not offended, just don't want you to get @#$%^YU! AND this is why I suggested you getting a lawyer. Going pro se is stressful and time consuming and unless you do things right you are not going to win. Hiring a lawyer releases up your time, and you may even get money back in counterclaims!!! I think your money would be well spent in emotional toil and also financially,as the plaintiffs attorney is gong to sense fear and an easy mark and go for the throat. It seems to me like you have blinders on. You don't want to pay a lawyer to help you and get the job done and also off your hands so you can spend time taking care of your child, and would rather deal with it and wind up paying MORE than you would have with a lawyer working for you? Again you have not offended me, I just am trying to show you what you are up against and your options and sometimes the road less traveled is the one that is best and will give you peace... What you say and what you are going to have to do to win this case or even settle before court is going to be more than you are going to be able to deal with IMO to get the job a done deal. I hope I am wrong. I wish you the best . Woofer
Thank you Hedwig and Woofer. I do see the validity of your points. I guess I figured that I could settle faster than if I were to go to court. But I suppose it stands to reason that an attorney would be able to work out a better settlement agreement than I could. I attempted to locate an attorney in my state (VT) using the naca.net site. I see that there are no attorneys listed in my state. I do want to at least chat with one so can anyone tell me what type of attorney I should look for? Would it be a bk attorney even though I don't intend to file a bk?
I was not thinking that a lawyer is going to settle for you better, but more that I feel that you do not have the where with all doing this pro se. The fact that you cannot find a lawyer in your state (I just did a search for a consumer lawyer and found three the first attempt...ie Burlington) shows to me that pro se, well this is not your calling. There are also NACA lawyers that can work a case in Vermont even though they are in say MA, or ME. I would not go to a bankruptcy lawyer, but again you have to decide what you want to do AND what you CAN DO. Woofer
Weird. I just looked on NACA.Net again and used the pulldown state menu to for locating an attorney here and it again came up with no results. Maybe I am not looking in the right place. My question probably wasn't worded correctly. I realize that I need to find an attorney and was asking what kind of attorney handles cases like these? From your reply, i am assuming that would be a general "consumer" attorney?
Yes, either a NACA lawyer, or you can put in as a search consumer lawyers Vermont, and then check the lawyers interests,and what area you want to see a lawyer in. Another thing there are many consumer lawyers on line that you can talk with on the phone and they can do everything via mail, BUT again this takes up a lot more time then seeing one in person. You want a lawyer though that has experience or interest in FDCP and consumer law. Just getting a regular lawyer is not going to cut it. If you can't find one to your liking in VErmont, call up a few on the NACA list in Maine or NH or other near by states and hear what they have to say. AS an example here is a Vermont lawyer whose interest is in consumer protection among others and who even has an email and an office in Burlington.. Consumer Protection Email: R. Jeffrey Behm Woofer
