Answering a Summons

Credit card companies may press charges against delinquent debtors whose accounts are left unpaid for a specific period of time. If you are facing a credit card lawsuit, you will be notified via a summons and complaint sent to your last known address. A summons is a request that you have to appear in court, served by the sheriff or an appointed person who has no involvement to the case. The summons may also be sent via certified mail return receipt requested.

When the summons and complaint is received, you are given a specific period of time to file your response. In most state, defendants are given 20 days to file their answer to the summons. If you don’t file the answer to the summons in time, the judge has no choice but to rule a judgment against you. This is why it is critical to send an answer on time. Being sued by a credit card company may seem daunting but if you know the process, you can get away with a favorable decision without hiring an attorney. 

If you received a summons and complaint for unpaid credit card balance and you have no idea how to draft an appropriate response to a summons, here’s a quick, step by step guide on how to respond to a summons the right way:

Step 1: Read The Summons Thoroughly

When being sued, you will receive two types of documents, the summons and complaint. From the summons, you will know pertinent information relating to the lawsuit while the complaint will list down the allegations made against you. The best place to start is to check the case caption which is listed at the top of the complaint.

Step 2: Know How Much Time You Need To File an Answer

Filing an answer to the summons is important. Civil lawsuits require the defendant (that’s you) to file an answer within a specified period. The specified period to file the answer will depend on the nature of the case and the jurisdiction. Check the summons how much time you have to file an answer or contact your local court clerk and ask for the specified period to do so. In most state, respondents are given 20 days to file an answer. Approach the court clerk to ask for the Notice of Appearance document. Fill out the form, sign it and return the document to the court clerk. This has to be done whether or not you really owe the debt.

Step 3: Determine The Debt’s Age

If you know you owe the debt, check its age. Each state has an imposed period where creditors may pursue delinquent debtors legally, known as the Statute of Limitations (SoL). To check your state’s SoL, you may either call your Attorney General’s office or check online.

Step 4: How To Respond To a Summons for Credit Card Lawsuit

Once you find out the nature of the lawsuit filed against you, you should start drafting an answer to the summons and complaint. From the Notice of Intention to Defend, fill this section with a response. Your response should include a detailed explanation as to why you are not responsible for the debt. The reasons for not being legally responsible for a debt may range from simple mistaken identity or the debt is out of statutes. Filling up this section confirms that you will appear in court and are expected to present your defenses for the allegations.

After completing the response, cut the Notice of Intention to Defend and file it to court. In turn, the court will notify the opposing party of your intention to defend the claim. Usually, the opposing party will think twice about going further with the case at this point.

Most creditors or debt collection companies assume that debtors don’t know a thing about defending themselves in court so they expect an easy victory. By answering the summons and showing your willingness to defend yourself in court, most creditors would rather drop the case instead of spending more money on legal costs. If they see that they will have to wrestle a judgment from you, they will stop pursuing the case altogether. So make sure you know the basics of drafting a response to a summons and check local court rules for more information.

Making Debt Collectors Play Nice

It used to be that debt collectors had the upper hand when it comes to dealing with debtors. These days, the table has turned, giving thousands of debtors a fighting chance against abusive debt collectors. If you are dealing with a debt collector and you have little clue on how to make them play nice, we compiled helpful tips below:

Demand Debt Details

In the past, debt collectors would use just about every scare tactic in the book to make debtors pay for debts that they may or may not owe. When the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was passed in Congress, debtors can now demand for information pertaining to the debt. For instance, if you are unsure that the debt is indeed yours, you can dispute the debt claims within 30 days. In turn, the debt collection company has to resent evidence that the debt is indeed yours. The debt collection company is not allowed to collect the debt during this time.

Limit Communication/Correspondence

Gone are the days when a collection agent can call you at work demanding for money or scaring you into paying by threatening to discuss your debt with your employer. By law, they are prohibited from calling you at work or at certain hours during the day and night. They cannot repeatedly call you to threaten, harass or use harsh language to get you to pay. They are not allowed to discuss debt information with other people, including your relatives. If you hired an attorney, they are only allowed to discuss the debt through your attorney.

Cease and Desist Letter

Debt collectors are infamous for their persistence. Put a stop to all collection efforts by sending a Cease and Desist letter via certified mail with return receipt requested. Let them know that you no longer wish to be in communication with them and would rather communicate via mail and nothing else. Most collection agents will stop once they received a cease and desist letter and will only hear from them once they file a credit card lawsuit. However, for others that did not stop, you can file a complaint and receive a fine for it.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act helps you deal with abusive debt collectors and prevent them from ever harassing you again so make sure you learn more about local and state rules in your area before you start discussing the debt you allegedly owe with a debt collectors.

Debt Settlement Companies: Should You Trust Them?

Many debtors work with debt settlement companies, being required to pay the money via escrow and once the fund reaches a certain amount, the company will try to settle the accounts for them. Unfortunately, most of the payments debtors make only covers the extra service charge and other fees that debt settlement companies make them pay. If you have been paying less than a thousand dollars for ten months and your debt, settlement company hasn’t even contacted your creditor, who gets all the benefits? You, your creditor, or the debt settlement company? The answer is pretty obvious.

While you pay hundreds of dollars for almost a year, your creditor will get tired of waiting and your debt settlement company will continuously collect all your hard-earned money. It’s not surprising that many debtors lose all their cash after their creditors filed credit card lawsuit. Most debt settlement companies are in it for the money, so debtors need to tread carefully before they agree into something that these companies offer. If the offer is too good to be true, it probably is.

You are much better off handling your legal and financial problems yourself rather than trusting a debt settlement company to pool all your cash and work with your creditor. After all, why settle working with a middle person when you and your creditor can strike a deal on your own?

It’s no surprise that many debt settlement companies are being deemed as a scam or at best, totally incompetent in terms of settling the debt. When in doubt, it is always better to check other options you have. You can either hire an attorney to deal with the credit card lawsuit, in case your creditor pressed charges against you, or if not, get the attorney to work out a sensible repayment deal with the creditor.

On the other hand, if you cannot afford a lawyer, you can always research on how to properly negotiate a debt settlement with your creditor directly. Don’t wait until your creditor decides to file a credit card lawsuit, give the right person a call, initiate the negotiations and propose a payment plan you can afford.

However, if your creditor filed a credit card lawsuit, you can always check online or purchase eBooks on how to properly represent yourself in court. Familiarize yourself about state laws, federal laws and court rules in your area if you are presenting yourself  Pro Se, in court.

How To Negotiate With A Debt Collection When You Got No Budget For Repayment

In most cases, creditors who are pursuing debtors will make them feel like they got the upper hand when negotiation starts. They will try every trick in book to collect from debtors including threatening phone calls, harassing letters and even phoning you from where you work. If you can settle dispute, they will stop all the annoying phone calls and letters. But this is easier said than done if you don’t have the budget to repay everything. If you don’t have the money, is there are way to resolve the debt and quite possibly avoid a credit card lawsuit. In this article, we will discuss ways in which you can settle your debt, avoid a credit card lawsuit, all without having the budget to pay off debts:

Don’t let the debt collector know about not having the money to repay the debt. What many debtors don’t know is that they are not obliged to reveal their financial status to the debt collectors. Also, you want the debt collector to be under the impression that you can pay the debt so they will make things easier for you, in terms of resolving the debt.

Offer an amount 50% to 75% lower than the original debt amount. Debt collectors and creditors alike would rather collect a small sum rather than not getting any money at all. You might not have the cash to pay the debt right now but a massive discount on your debt could make it easier to repay the debt in the future.

Offer an installment payment plan. Shooting for a monthly payment plan will give you leeway to save up and pay up. In addition to all that, you don’t need to pay a lump sum, which is unrealistic if you barely have enough cash to pay daily expenses. If you show the creditor that you are making efforts to pay the debt, they might go easy on you and grant your request.

Dealing with the debt in person. In most times, talking to a creditor or debt collector in person should be discouraged but desperate times require desperate measures. A few facts to remember when you do speak with your creditor or debt collector, note the name of the person you are talking to, keep a good record of the conversation and put everything in writing. Finally, never let the other person know you do not have money to repay the debt!

Be assertive yet polite. Give your creditor or debt collector the impression that you are familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act so they do not try to intimidate you using scare tactics. When negotiating with a creditor, it is important to say your piece politely, while also keeping your dignity intact.

Protecting Consumer Rights Under The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Debtors are expected to repay the debt they incurred within the given terms of the contract. Unfortunately, a number of debtors got debts so high, they are unable of repay them at all. Creditors have the right to collect the debt, with a few limits, of course. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA is enacted by the congress to stop abusive debt collectors from applying aggressive collection efforts, including using threats or intimidation to get debtors to pay up.

The FDCPA protects consumer rights related in personal and household debts or consumer debts including phone bills, credit card bills, medical bills, etc. Do note that this Act is only pursuing debt collection and not creditors.

As a debtor, it is important to know what you can do to protect your rights against unscrupulous debt collectors. Below are debt collection efforts that debt collectors cannot apply under the FDCPA:

* Calling at 8 in the morning or 9 in the evening, your local time
* Phoning you at work after telling them not to
* Calling you when you have a legal representation (contact the agency and leave your attorney's contact details for future communications)
* Contacting you through postcard
* Misrepresentation, profane, obscene, language
* Discussing confidential debt information to a third party
* Publishing your personal details
* Reporting inaccurate information to credit bureaus
* Threatening you with a credit card lawsuit
* Threatening you with wage garnishment
* Threatening you with property lien
* Using fake names or claiming to work in a credit bureau

Debtors' Rights:

One: You have the right to arrange a payment plan that both parties can agree to (get this in writing and include the date, the name of the person and the time).

Two: You have the right to request collectors to stop contacting you.

Three: File a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission when a collection agency violated your rights as a consumer.

Four: Take legal action against a collection agency when your rights are violation. You will need to hire an attorney who has extensive experience in fighting debt collectors.

As a consumer, you should be aware of your rights and what you need to do in order to protect yourself against abusive debt collectors. Therefore, educating yourself about the enforced law against unscrupulous collection practices is a must. Start with knowing more about consumer rights laws under the FDCPA as well as local court rules in your state, in case your creditor decides to file a credit card lawsuit for your unpaid balance. This is one of the best ways to fight deb claims without hiring an attorney.

Learn how you can handle answering a summons on your own and WIN your case! This groundbreaking eDocument will help you end all debt claims and fight credit card lawsuit! 

Visit http://answeringasummons.com for more information.