Received a notice to appear in court... contacted attorney listed on the summons to settle asap and avoid court date. Debt is valid and within SoL. The original debt was 3258.29 and with interest is now up to 6013.40. Paralegal I spoke to contacted creditor who said it could be settled for 4511.00. My question is, do you accept the first offer or is there some way to bargain it down further? I will be putting the full amount on a credit card. Is there any room to bargain with a paralegal? Also, as part of the settlement can I ask that it be deleted from the history? Or does it have to show up as 'paid' until the SoL for reporting passes? Thanks for any help.
Everything is negotiable. If you settle for less than full balance, as part of the settlement you need to be sure that part of the WRITTEN agreement is that no part of any remaining balance can every be transferred or sold. Secondly, show up for all court dates until this matter is completed and dismissed with the courts.
I second what Jlynn previously stated. While everything is negotiable, be certain you don't wait so long bargaining that the time for filing a timely Answer expires. If this would happen, you would likely face a default judgment wherein the entire balance would be granted. If you do settle, make sure in consideration thereof you obtain a Dismissal with Prejudice from the Plaintiff's counsel.
Thanks for the help. The court date is Dec 14th and I intend to settle next week. Once that is done, is it my responsibility to let the court know it was taken care of or the Plantiff's? If agreed upon amount is paid in full next week.. do I still need to show up in court or does settling the amount ahead of time avoid the need for court? If it is their responsibility, how do I verify they let the court know a settlement was paid? thanks
