Subpoena Duces Tecum?

Question

I recieved one it the mail for a past creditcard debt. They want me to appear in person with my tax returns, bank books, deeds, titles, ect. What should I do because it said that failure to appear might be a contempt of court and possible imprisonment and fine. I owed a credit card company about $3,000 dollars over 5 years ago. They recieved a default judgement against me. Does anyone know what will happen if i do not show up with the stuff will it be a criminal charge. Help i do not know what to do. I thought about calling them up and making a payment plan or something. But I think that is a bad idea because i really can' t afford to eat and pay them it will only be a matter of time before i miss the payments or stopy paying

Answer 1

A Subpoena Duces Tecum is an order from the court for you to appear and produce documentation for the court.

You were already sued for the CC debt and failed to answer or defend yourself. That's how you got the default judgement against you in the first place. The only way you can fight that now is if you can prove that you were not properly served before that went to court. It's certainly worth looking into that but you'd probalby want assistance from an attorney there.

The plaintiff is now asking for an order from the court to force you to pay. It is in your best interest to appear as ordered with the documentation that the court has requested. This information will be used by the court to determine how much (if anything at all!) the plaintiff is entitled to from your pay and any assets. If you are truly living hand-to-mouth the court could decide that you don't have enough in the way of resources to attach and therefore the plaintiff gets nothing at all, or at best a tiny token payment like $1 per paycheck.

If you ignore the subpoena you do so at your peril. The judge could find you in contempt of court and order you to be thrown into jail without any further action until such time as you produce the records as ordered by the court. Or the court could proceed with whatever information it has available and order garnishment of your wages, seizure of bank accounts, assets, etc. The court would not consider your overall financial situation as you failed to provide the requested documentation that could have minimized the damage. Failing to show is only screwing yourself, pure and simple.

The best advice would be to consult with a local attorney. You may be able for assistance from Legal Aid if your financial situation is as you say.

Answer 2

you had better show up and bring with you whatever records were listed in the subpoena.

Are you in an area that has access to pro bono (free) legal services? if so get a lawyer.

Once in court one of two things will most likely happen...

1. the court will grant a "writ of attachment" (wage garnishment)

2. The court will setup a paymnet plan (the reason the subpoena wants records of your earnings etc so as to prove that you can pay "X" amount per month.

bottom line is that the credit card debt is unsecured and if you have no assets then they can't get anything from you EXCEPT they can garnish upto 25% of your wages. Under federal law, you cannot garnish more than 25% of the debtor's disposable income. There is an additional protection for low-income people: A wage earner must be left with a weekly wage equal to 30 times the current federal minimum wage -- which has been $5.15 since June 2000. This means that the debtor gets to keep the first $154.50 per week; you can garnish 25% of the excess. (15 U.S.C. §1673(a)(1).)
A few states have even lower wage garnishment limits. If a state wage garnishment law results in a smaller garnishment, the state law must be followed. Ask your sheriff or marshal's office for your state's garnishment rules.

I am not a lawyer...this is not professional legal advice.

Hang in there.

Answer 3

It is an asset hearing and when it's ordered by the court and you fail to show you stand a very good chance of being held in contempt of court.

If you were served and failed to respond, there isn't much you can do but cooperate.

If you are low income and can prove, through your asset records, that a garnishment will be a hardship, the judge may set the garnishment to a small amount or waive it until your finances have improved.

A hardship does not mean that you would not be able to pay for things like cable, high speed internet, etc., etc. It means that you are barely able to make your rent/mortgage and place food on the table.

You might be able to try and work with them on a payment plan before the asset hearing, but be very careful and never promise to pay what you know you cannot.
If you do make an agreement with them, "you" take the signed agreement and have it entered into your file. NEVER trust them to do it.


If you weren't served you might be able to file a motion to have the judgment vacated for improper service.
Depending on how soon the asset hearing is, you may have to wait until after. You "generally" have up to one year to file a motion to vacate. But as always, you need to check your states rules of civil procedures.

edited to add - I agree with everything Boston and Daddy'O posted
(they are faster typers than me)

Answer 4

Subpoena Duces Tecum means ordering the witness to appear and bring certain documents or records, and you better go, might as well, maybe you can work something out if you explain your situation to the Judge, if you don't - they will just get a judgment against you and garnish your wages anyway.