I have another thread going, but recieved little response, so I'll try again... with focus! Sorry, for reposting and no offence to Myndi and Keepmine, but I need more of a strategy on what to do next. I recieved a summons on an AMEX account. I am required to file a response by the 26th of February. There is a hearing date scheduled for July 27th. I need to avoid a judgement as we will be trying to buy a new home in August, so I need to file a response to hold this off until our house sells in June/July. Will pay off debt then! What to do next? From a negotiating standpint do I suggest that I am near BK and they might just send me over the top. Then that we will be selling the house in a few months with a promise to pay when house sells. Advice on Filing a response... I don't even know what one looks like? Suggestions for negotiating a settlement? Please help! Jim
Which court is it in? Small claims, district, federal, etc? How much is it? And have you put your house on the market yet?
Sorry, forgot to include! $5,500 Superior Court of California No, house will go on the market in the next two months... we need to time the sale with end of school as we are relocating.
Ok, well you need to file an answer, usually its a general denial of anything but your name LOL. I can't help you write one, but here is a suggestion from someone that has never done that! Do you have an attorney friend? Maybe he can compose one for you for a small fee, just to cover yourself? Then, since court is not until July, I would wait until I had a contract on the house. Once I got the contract, then offer to settle with Amex. Make arrangments for them to place a claim with the closing company to be paid out of closing proceeds. I have done this before for clients. Don't forget to shoot for deletion! Maybe others can offer different suggestions, or even tell you how to respond to the summons. These are just a couple of ideas.
TY Jlynn! A response would hold them off until July, or atleast until they file something else that I need to respond to... and I'm sure they will! I have no attorney friends that I would want to include in this mess! Would appreciate any help anybody might be able to give on response!
Yau may try looking in the yellow pages of your phone book for legal services. Some paralegals will advertise here and will help with forms and letters for a small fee. The one in my local yellow pages charges $25 per form or letter.
I think I'm going to attempt to negotiate today. Offer $1,000 now and $300/month. In exchange, I will ask to have all Derogs removed from CRs. I'll tell them that I am trying to stave off BK, which may be innevitable anyway, which is not true, but maybe it will make them negotiate seriously! I really would like to avoid court on this!
You still need to answer the summons so they don't sneak in and get a default judgment! Consider it self-protection while you negotiate.
This is sound advise for sure. And no offence taken. I simply don't wish to offer more than an opinion as Im not qualified to tell you what to do about a potential court appearance. All anyone who isnt experienced as an attorney can offer an opinion. Since I have only second hand experience concerning these I tend to keep my distance. But I will say that I think it will be harder to get them to stick to any removal of the trade or derogs if you pay them over time. If you have one lump payment they are much more likely to honor any agreement. there are folks getting the shaft when it comes to these type of agreements every day. And many of them are still getting it stuck to them after paying it in one lump. This usually results in a vague interpretation of the settlement contract and they feel they can get away with not deleting or they simply ignore the contract anyway just for kicks realizing that the only way you May get it enforced is to spend some cash yourself to drag them to court. Many creditors are banking this won't occur and the former customer will simply give up, as many eventually do when facing such a large and intimidating thing as a major credit card company. best of luck
Agreed! Per Kgrant64's suggestion, I will try and contact a paralegal today to get a response written up and send it in next week. Is there really nobody on this board who has a sample response that I can use as a template? At the risk of my Credit Rating, I would be forever indebted!
You have to remember that from court to court and state to state, the structure of these can vary. That is probably why no one is offering! I think the paralegal is an excellent idea.
I understand... TY One more thought on the issue of settelments - If it included language that the suit would be dropped, wouldn't that nullify the need on my part to file a response? If they went and got a judgement anyway, the breach of contract would probably put me in a strong position to get the whole thing thrown out! Finally, if they accepted the $1,000 now, would the suit become null, as the balance would be reduced to below the $5,000 level and they would have to refile in small claims... just a thought?
Be very careful!!! They will have you signing a consent judgment, and then you will be dead in the water.
The suit probably wouldn't be null, but rather need to be amended. I don't believe they have to file in a "lesser" court because the amount has gone down. In TX, the opposite is true. (there is a max for small claims) Look, you have 5 days from today to get an answer filed. If it were me, I would be protecting my buns with the court THEN worry about the settlement. What if they drag their feet, and on the 26th you are scrambling to get an answer prepared and filed by the close of business? Even if your answer is filed they can still dismiss the case, but if you don't answer, then their case is stronger (IMHO), and you might lose the ability to settle with payment arrangements that you can handle.
I am not a lawyer but here is what I have used before as a general admit no guilt answer...... The Plaintiff is without knowledge or information sufficent to form a belief as to the truth of the all allegations contained in the Defendant's complaint. On that basis the Plaintiff denies generally and specifically each and every allegation contained in the Defendant's complaint. That should get the ball rolling for you! Good Luck! Tac
HOW TO DELAY A COURT DATE IN CIVIL COURT: STEP 1: File a timely GENERAL DENIAL on all allegations of the plaintiff. Interpose a Counterclaim if you can, even if it's tenuous. The rest may vary a little by State but the principles are good except in Louisiana STEP 2: Sixty days after filing your General Denial and Notice of Counterclaim, file a Demand for a Bill of Particulars. This is a demand that the plaintiff produce certain documents. You will have to specify which documents, so let the Allegations in the original Summons and Complaint be your guide. Here's an example: In the first several allegations the Plaintiff will usually assert theoir legal right to sue - that they area corporation organized in XYZ State (demand a certified copy of the Articles of Incorporation), that they are legally licensed to do business in yor State (Produce documentary proof of acceptance and rgistration as a Foreign Corporation), etc... The next allegations will assert hat you owe them money. Demand production of Contracts, Charge Slips, Ledgers, Invoices to prove same. The next allegations will assert that demand for payment was made and refused. Demand proof of the demand. You should get the idea. STEP 3: After they produce the documents, schedule a Pre-Trial Discovery examination (with a Court Reporter) to examine the President or other officer of the plaintiff corporation under oath as to the meaning and interpretation of all the documents produced. Cancel it once and reschedule it two months later. If your court dockets are as crowded as they are here in Arizona Amex may get their judgement some time in 2008.
I'd suggest filing a general denial with the court. Then, negoiate. Breeze is right. They'll likely ask you to sign a consent judgment. See if you can talk them into an agreement where it won't be filed unless you fail to pay them in the agreed manner and it expires the date of the last payment. $1000 now and $300 is a darn good offer. They should take it and try and work with you a little.
Thanks all! Thanks for the text Tac! I'll use it! I am already talking to the attorneys. They are coming around to seeing it my way, i.e. if they don't work with me, they can have their judgement and all it's worth. They were throwing out the one that AMEX is so difficult, all they want is the judgement... I threw it back that they can have it... if that's all they want! They are saying that they will use a stiphold, I believe short for stipulated hold, as opposed to a concent judgement. I assume what the stiphold will stipulate is that I owe the money, and that I am paying XXX/month and that if I fail to pay... the case begins again! I'll file a response with the text from Tac before they can even get the settlement out. Then see what the settlement looks like. At a minimum this buys me until July.
Oh man this strategy is great. I might be getting sued by Midland and Discover and this is a strategy that I would use. Im in NYC and here the courts are packed. Flyingifr do you have an email? I would love to get more details about this.
