Like several people I've fallen on hard times the past few years. About three years ago, I had to stop paying Capital One. I've had nothing but periods of unemployment and short term temp jobs. Right now I have a part time job, which earns me about $650 net a month plus food stamps. That's enough to pay my rent and that's about it. Oddly enough today I got served with papers saying I'm being sued by Cap One for $15,000. Now I know I didn't owe them that much, but I'm assuming it's three years of interest, since I haven't paid them since. After all if it's rent or them, it's better to have a roof over my head. I thought the timign was a bit weird since, I made my last payment to them in June of 2008, when I lost my "real" job. The job I have now is only likely to go on till January, they told me, and it's only part time. I hope to pick up an additional Christmas job. But here's my question, the court date would mean taking a day off work and missing that pay. I know I can reschedule, but should I even bother? I mean what am I gonna tell the judge anyway, yeah I've been working here and there for the last three years, with temp jobs lasting a few weeks or months and been on and off food stamps, depending on the temp job? I'll still lose right? And if I don't show up I'll lose by default? So is there any benefit to going to court? If I miss the days pay, it's gonna hurt a quite a bit. And I guess I am right now judgment proof, right? I live in Illinois, so I don't think they could do anything with the $100 a month food stamps, or the $150 net a week or could they attach that if they win the judgment. I do have a checking account? I try to keep no money in that. I deposit any paycheck, when it clears, I move the money out and then put it back once a month to write my landlady a rent check. Could they get that? Any info would be appreciated.
You need to at least ANSWER the complaint. You don't have to take a day off work for that. Search for how to answer complaints. If the answer is not here try debtorboards.com or creditboards.com Typically, Cap One uses their own Virginia Statute of Limitations of 3 years so they may not be able to collect on this IF YOU FIGHT IT. It's worth a try. Even though you are judgement proof now, I hope that you expect to get a better paying job in the future and if you let them get a default they will have 10 years (and that is renewable) to sit around and wait for you to get more money and they are very patient, believe me. Hopefully someone will chime in but if it were me I'd ANSWER the complaint, and file a MOTION TO DISMISS on basis of Statute of Limitations. Check out other boards and good luck.
Don't let them get a default judgment. That's the worst thing you could do. You don't want a big judgment hanging over your head for many years to come. As was mentioned, the first step is to answer the summons and complaint. You may want to call the court to find out what paperwork you'll need to fill out to do that. It's not as daunting as it may sound though. You basically just need to respond to each allegation in the complaint. There are probably some instructions on how to respond in the summons you received as well. If you've got specific questions, ask us and others will chime in to help. As debtfight suggested, the SOL might have run here so I would look more into that too.
Thanks, I'll look into that. Part of it is also on the summons it says I need to file and appearance for $176.00. I don't have that much money.
If you are poor enough that you do receive (or could qualify for) ANY type of public assistance, then you should be able to get the court fees waived. I know that here (in Arizona) there is a form called "Affidavit of Indigency/Fee Waiver" that can be filed in order to have the fees reduced or waived. I utilized that form and had the fees waived when I got sued as a co-defendant in a lawsuit against my former employer. I ended up getting fired from the job, and the company fought my unemployment, so I ended up going to the DES and filing for public assistance. As I was (at the time) receiving food stamps and Medicaid, I was able to get the court fees waived and file my reponse to the complaint without having to pony up close to $200!
What state are you in? I can try to help however I can but I'm semi new at this too and I'm in California so I can try to help with your state rules and try to point you in the right direction. This is near and dear to me because last year capital one got a default judgment on me last year because i was never served. I found out about the lawsuit 2 years later from my employer who got a wage garnishment order. So I freaked out and paid the debt and time ran out on me before I could vacate the judgment. Then, as soon as I finished paying that debt I was sued AGAIN by a JDB who will not get a dime of my money! We are in the fight right now. SO, PM me you email if you like or I'll check out this forum (I may not come on often).
I know it looks bleak and you feel bad about being in the situation you're in, but that's what CapOne is counting on so they can roll over you like a fast moving train. They're hoping you'll feel bad and feel like there's nothing you can do so they can pile fees on top of fees, etc. (they'll add in their lawyer's fees on top of whatever they claim the balance due is). My feeling is, if they're going to do that, make 'em work for it. You definitely need to answer their complaint. Hold them accountable to EVERY claim they make in the complaint. The agreements you signed, the amounts they claim, the interest they charge, the venue in which they filed the complaint, the statute of limitations that applies, the list is long and they hope that you don't realize that. In many cases the so-called affidavits are invalid as evidence, but you have to call them on it. If you don't complain, they are assumed by the court to be valid. You'll want to see all the documents they have that support their case, but you can only do that if you answer the complaint and move to the discovery phase of the trial. Find a legal aid group, go online for help, but don't take this lying down. Worst case scenario, you'll be no worse off than if you did nothing. Best case, they drop the case or even the amount. That won't come easy, but it's worth a try because once you get a judgment (for a large balance) that will keep growing and follow you around for at least 10 years (growing each year) and possibly longer if it's never paid. Then collection agents will call you, and on and on. Hang in there and don't let them bully you into paying anything.
They do charge interest. This is business, they want to be paid, which is fair; you want to live somewhere other than under a bridge, which is also more than fair. Default means you didn't show up, you will lose. Here's the rule, you borrow money, you have to pay it back, barring something like the lender screws up, you lose. You have no money anywhere, how can they get a judgment against you? But what does NOW matter? What about in your latter life? They will still have the judgment and the INTEREST. Yes, BANG, they have your twenty bucks! This is really a big yawn to Dumb Bob because we don't care about that, we care about your life. Your life isn't that twenty bucks, it's how they will continue to go after you for the next twenty years. What do you think? If they happen to hit you at your bank when you have funds there, GONE. Do you want tricks, like looking at state websites to see if they are after you? Dumb Bob suggests you suss out that information in your own state.
@AntiCoyte - did you ever show up to court? If so, how did things play out. Let us know if we can help in any way.
