Question about a court summons and a letter from a lawyers office?

Question

Ok,
my husband has been gone for the past month on a study program. 2 weeks ago we got a letter from an attorneys office stating he owes them 4,500 for a credit card that was opened 6 years ago. It advised him to contact the office within 30 days of this letter or else they would assume this debt would be valid. i did call him up asap and told him about this, he was going to follow up soon as he got home which would be this week. Now on friday he recived a court summons from our county to apprear in court on sept 25. and it calimed now 8k. has any one been through this.. my husband will be gone out of the county during that time.

Answer 1

I am looking at your post and seeing that they 1 sent you a letter and they sent it to you county. Ok they gave you a demand letter and did not let you reply to the 30 days and you got a summons. you say it was opened 6 years ago, the important this is when it was last pd on. lets say it was last pd on 5 years ago more than likely its out of the SOL. if it is most states they cannot win a law suit. Some collection agency's will cheat even send you a fake summons. I belive you need to contact a lawyer now with this serious problem. A lawyer will help you make a settlement outside of court probably less that the 4.5k then originally asked for they have better things to do then sit in a court room. I am assuming that he has a fairly good job and assets that is why they are being urgent in this matter. They very seldom go after people who have no assets and low income less that 25 k a year.
good luck!

Answer 2

Call the court clerk’s office to let them know your husband is out of the country during the scheduled hearing time. The clerk’s office may require some kind of notice in writing, but they should accept that from you. If your husband is military, there are special protections in place via the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Relief Act. It is important that your husband have his day in court, otherwise the court will enter a default judgment against your husband.

Consult an attorney about this as well. In some states waiting six years to bring a lawsuit for an unpaid unsecured debt falls outside of the statute of limitations. If this is the case in your state, the creditor may have lost their ability to prevail in a lawsuit.

Do not let the lawyers and all of the legalese scare you. Even if the court enters a judgment against your husband, collecting the judgment involves quite a bit more work on the part of the lawyers.


Good luck!

Will D
Enterprise AL
http://www.notagz.com

Answer 3

No, I havent't been through anything like that. You have 30 days to dispute the validy of the debt before they can take court action. He should dispute the debt in writting within the 30 day time frame asking for the original creditor and proof of the debt. If they can't provide that in the time frame, the suit can be dismissed because the creditor has to follow the fair debt collections act. Is it possible the summons for the 8,000 is a different debt?

Answer 4

The first amounth that they gave you might have been a settlement amount. The second amount may be the full amount and any court costs that have been incurred. Is the debt valid? See if you contact the lawyers office and possibly try to work out a payment plan than you both can afford. If he doesn't show up to court at the time, a failure to appear warant may be issued. Contact a lawyer and the law office that sent you the subponea quickly.

Answer 5

He better make different plans. Find a good lawyer and fight it. Sounds to me like they are taking the 4500 for the credit card and adding all their fees on it as well.

Answer 6

Ask these people: http://www.handelonthelaw.com/default.aspx