I was just served with a lawsuit for a credit card that was charged off and sold to a collection agency. I settled with the agency for about 60% of the debt. They sent me a fax stating that when that check cleared your account is "SETTLED IN FULL. You will then be under no further obligation on this account." I was told by the attorney that they were told to go ahead with the suit on about the day that agreement was faxed to me. The suit is for the difference plus attorney fees of a couple of hundred dollars. The suit was filed on about the day the check cleared. Now, clearly I am going to win this, since they said the account was settled. I called the collection agency, and they said that they told the law firm that everything was settled, and they would clear it up. Furthermore, the law firm said they would call to see what was going on. Now, the question is, what should I do? My suspicion is that I should file a major lawsuit against the collection agency for something like defamation of character, fraud, and perhaps some other things. Suggestions?
In the summons, you have been told how many days you have to respond. If they do not drop it before then, you must respond or they will get a default. You cannot raise your defense (payment) unless you get to court, and you will not get to court if you default. Once they get the default, it is too late to raise your defense. You may already know this, but I wanted to make sure. These guys are obviously very sleezy to do this to you.
Yes, I know that, but thanks. I will file a response withing the 20 days, unless they dismiss the case with prejudice. My real concern, now, is who I should contact to get these guys punished for their behavior, and also whether I should file suit against them, and on what grounds and for how much. I wonder if I should be in touch with the state attorney general or other state or federal agency to assist in this, obviously, highly abusive behavior.
