Help - I've been served!!?

Question

I got stuck with credit card debt in my divorce & I have neglected to pay it. It is almost $1400. I was served a Summons and Complaint from a guy the other day. It came from an attorney for a collection agency that has been trying to collect my debt. Can I start making payments on this since there isn't a Judgement against me as of yet or what is the best way to handle this without having to go to court or without having them garnish my wages.

Answer 1

If you've been served to go to court, go to court, don't ignore it. You can set up a payment arrangement with the judge that way they won't garnish your wages, but you have to do this in person. Most of the time, if you come up with a sufficient amount of payment they will accept it. If you don't appear, they will automatically issue judgement, and garnish your wages  up to 25%, and or checking account and can be up to 100%, which they can do.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

You can try...it's better to deal with it now if you can....If you can't reach an agreement, DO NOT under any circumstances whatsoever be a "no show" on the court date...the other side will win a default judgement. They'll get whatever they want...which means 25% wage garnishment for you. By showing up you can plead your case and get better terms.

Answer 3

They will drop the case and save themselves further costs if you can convince them that they will get their money without a judgment.  How you will convince them of this, when you have been ignoring them will be a problem.  It's worth a call to them to try to keep it from going to trial.  A formal judgment can really mess up your life,

Answer 4

Well, once you have been served with a summons, you must appear in court as the case is now in the legal system.  You could attempt to contact the collection agency to try to set up a payment plan and have them withdraw the court case, but it;s really up to the plaintiff to do so.

Answer 5

I live in UK and worked in this sort of environment. Talk to the lawyer or the credit card company and make an offer for repayment both verbally and in writing. when it is agreed or not accepted in writing take the correspondence to the Court at the hearing. Most companies will accept a reasonable offer because they could well find themselves getting a similar award in Court. You may be asked to accept an agreed judgment and it will be up to you to talk to them again pointing out that you do not want to have a bad credit rating because of a judgement against your name. They may or may nothave some sympathy with that.   Do not fail to keep your side of the bargain because if that happens and you were dealing with me I would throw the book at you.

I think you realise that youare in deep poo.