I know this is a long statement but please someone read it I need some help quickly. I live in Texas and have become unemployed. I could not pay my unsecured credit card bills and I am still struggling just to pay rent, vehicle payment, utilities and food. I had an AT&T Universal Card account that went to a collection Agency, Client Services, Inc. This collection agency sent me a 30- day letter on 05-20-03 with a reason of CITICARDS-UNIVERSAL MC PLATINUM, balance $2,665.10. I replied by sending them a letter asking for verification on 06-02-2003. On August 23, 2003 I received another 30-day letter from the Law Offices of Regent & Associates, P.C. for the same account but with reason, Universal Bank N.A., balance $2,778.93. I responded on September 17, 2003 with a letter asking for verification. On September 22, 2003, I received a package from the law office stating they have verified my debt from Universal Bank, N.A. for the creditor of Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. Enclosed were just copies of my statements from my AT&T account. Thinking this is not valid verification I ignored them and actually moved to a cheaper residence because I could not pay rent. On March 8, 2004, I received paperwork for a lawsuit from a courier from the aforementioned law office which was filed in my county and authorized by the Deputy Clerk on 01-16-2004. I can not pay my basic shelter bills much less attorneyâ??s fees so I am very scared. I do not know exactly what I have or how to interrupt it much less what to do. I am hoping someone on this board can give me some advice. The letter is as follows: You are commanded to appear by filing a written answer to the PLAINTIFFâ??S ORIGINAL PETITION at or before 10:00 oâ??clock a.m. of the Monday next after the expiration of 20 days from the date of service of this citation in the County Court at Law No. Three of Tarrant County, Texas, at the Courthouse located at â?¦â?¦. The ORIGINAL PETITION WAS FILED on 01-13-04, and is numbered â?¦â?¦â?¦ The case style is: CITIBANK (SOUTH DAKOTA) N.A. VS. ME A true copy of the above-described ORIGINAL PETITION accompanies and is made a part of this citation. What follows are pages with definitions 1-7. Then 8. Request for admissionsâ?¦â?¦Admit that. ( a list of facts; such asâ?? the name is me and the account was mine, etc.) However one of the statements on the list is: 15. At no time prior to the filing of this suit did Defendant or Defendantâ??s representative request verification of the debt from Citibank or its agents. But I did, once 06-02-2003 with the first CA and once on September 17, 2003 with the second CA which are the attorneys for the suit. Also enclosed with the letter are the copies of the monthly statements of my account which they have already sent me as verification; but, now is attached a sign Affidavit signed September 10, 2003 from Citibank (South Dakota). I can not afford a lawyer and I am very scared. Any advice is welcomed. I also have $25,000 in student loans going delinquent and I am thinking about filing bankruptcy instead of going to court but I am under the impression that Chapter 7 will not cover the student loans so it does really make much since to file bankruptcy and ruin my credit for 10 years for a few thousand dollars on credit cards. Since I live in Texas what is the worst that can happen to me in court? Do I answer the letter without a lawyer? Right now I can not pay rent much less a lawyer is there anything I can do? If I go to court or at least to the Deputy Clerkâ??s office to answer this request by myself, what could I do or say. Please help, Steve
if you sent validation letters to them and they responed incorrectly be sure to tell the judge that, hopefully you sent them crrr so you have proof that they recieved them. Read over the FDCPA and a copy of spears vs brennan. you can pull up alot of good threads just by searching the word "spears"on this forum. fortinitaly all the info you need is on this board and others just like it so read read read and learn learn learn. Do this everyday and you will be much better off. checkout the forums of creditinfocenter.com and creditboards.com for more answers. This is something you should able to take on yourself without having to get a lawyer but your going to really need to do your homework. goodluck JD
Sorry,more to the above post of mine. Have you tried to put your Student Loans in deferment. You can do that especially if you have lost your job or are having hardship. Also have you tried to call legal aide. I believe legal aide is on a sliding scale, but I don't know about in your state what there stipulations would be. You would have to check this out. I think you call the county office in which you live. I know in Pennsylvania we have a program like this. I'm not sure what your state would offer, but it would be worth checking into.
Thanks for all the advice. I did send the request for validation CRR but I can not find the green signature card. I do have a letter from the attorney with a date stating that they did receive my request and that they validated the debt. However all the sent was a copy of monthly statements from the OC. Steve
I just wanted to say thank you for the links lbrown59; and thanks to jjd913 and kathy for taking the time to read my post and give me some advice. I will be doing my homework before I go to the court house with a response. I am not as scared as before knowing that there is the information on this board that can arm me and that I can handle this myself. Once again thank you. Steve
To Kathy, I am currently on deferment with my student loans but I have been on deferment for about 17 months now and I believe that I only get 18 months of deferment so I do not know how I will pay the monthly bill. I am currently looking for a steady job aggressively so hopefully something will come through. I will look into legal aid and thanks. Steve
I just can't believe that Citibank is going to get an attorney involved with this over a $2500 debt. I'm sure some of us here have or have had much more debt than that and never had legal problems. It makes me a little suspicious, of what I don't know, but it is strange to say the least. Please don't infer that I'm being mean or spiteful, like your debt doesn't mean anything...I'm sure it does to you, but a billion-dollar corporation? Sounds very odd. Best of luck to you!
Stevedls: Texas and Florida seem to be the best states in which to be a debtor so you may not have quite as much to worry about as you thought. FYI, judgements are very hard to collect in Texas so even if you are unsuccessful in your defense the creditor will have a difficult time collecting anything from you. Do all you can to win and/or force a settlement in your case but if you are unsuccessful remember the following: Before a judgement can be collected you are allowed to keep $30,000 of exempt property unmarried and $60,000 of exempt property married. Of course a judgement can be abstracted and filed at the courthouse and will stay on your record for 10 years, drawing interest. At the end of the 10 year period it can be renewed for another 10 year period...and another (I think?). If you someday inherit any real property, in Tarrant County, the judgement will probably be noticed and must be paid. If you buy any real property it may or may not be noticed. But, if you sell any real property in Tarrant County the judgement must be paid in order to pass title to the property. With a judgement in force if a sheriff or constable comes to your door to collect you: 1. Do not have to open the door to any law enforcement officer who is attempting to collect a judgement. If you do open the door the officer will serve you a copy of the order he carries, tell you he is there to levy on any nonexempt property you may own, and ask you if you have any nonexempt property. He cannot enter your home without your permission and cannot trespass on your property without your permission. Always BE POLITE to officers. They have guns; 2. A judgement creditor can obtain an order of sequestration to seize moneys due him from your bank account if he can locate it. Your bank, when notified of the order, will retain enough money from your account (usually $300 to $400) to pay for the bank's attorneys to protect the bank on the sequestration process so if there is not very much money in the account it probably will ot be worth the creditor's efforts to try to seize any small account. Best advice, however, is to close any account that may be known to the creditor and maybe bank at least 2 counties away from your place of residence and work; 3. A judgement creditor can subpoena you to a "Post-Judgement Deposition to Discover Assets". You will have to attend at some point and answer all questions under oath. Of course, there are ways to answer questions the answers to which you do not remember...perhaps you have been ill recently and a high fever caused some short term memory loss?; 4. There is always the possibility that a judgement may be purchased at some future time for less that the face amount, especially if it appears to be uncollectible; 5. A judgement may also be vacated if it is found to be voidable for a number of reasons. This would be best to be done AFTER the 4 year statute of limitaions on collections in Texas. Anyway, it is great if you can win your case but not actually the end of the world if you cannot win. southland2
fingrrl, now that I think about it, it does sound odd that Citibank would go to so much trouble over a small debt. However, they are and I have to arm myself with as much knowledge as I possiblly can to fight this. Thanks for the eye opener though. southland, thanks for the information. I do not own anything right now but the information is helpful because I would like to own a house some day. It is good to know that a judgement with interest can follow me for 10 or 20 years and that it is best to try and nip this in the bud as soon as possible. From the sound of the banks bark it does not look as though they are just going to go away though.
you are correct about this, the student loans will not be discharged in BK7. Also you are right not to use such a drastic resort as BK over a few thousand dollars...
Steve, Is there any way that you can check to see if you can get an extension on the deferment. or if you can re-apply because of hardship. I was working with my niece on her student loans for awhile, actually I still am. She had two SL's one that defaulted and the other that is still in deferment. The one that is in deferment has been in deferment for a really long time. And I know when it comes out of deferment she has to re-apply. If they could give you an extension that may be able to help you for just a little bit longer. Something you would not have to worry about right now. Kathy
Steve, Is there any way that you can check to see if you can get an extension on the deferment. or if you can re-apply because of hardship. I was working with my niece on her student loans for awhile, actually I still am. She had two SL's one that defaulted and the other that is still in deferment. The one that is in deferment has been in deferment for a really long time. And I know when it comes out of deferment she has to re-apply. If they could give you an extension that may be able to help you for just a little bit longer. Something you would not have to worry about right now. Kathy
You may receive economic hardship deferments for up to three years. Call whoever holds your loan and ask about this. It's called recertifying your deferment, but you must prove with documents that your hardship exists.
pd11604, Kathy, and milkface, thanks for all the advice. I will check into getting an extension on those student loans. It will definitely help, because you never know what tomorrow might bring. Thanks again everyone, Steve
