Being sued in Texas by credit card company, have citation from court, can I still settle out of court?

Question

Some lady just delivered a package to my house that says I'm being sued by a company called Arrow Financial Services, this was a credit card I obtained from Providian and what happened was that I went through a consumer credit counseling program a few years ago and they did not accept the reduced payments this credit counseling firm was sending them. I did not find out about this until 5-6 months later and more than $600 in extra fees added to the account, I tried to work out a settlement but Providian declined and I just blew them off, now I have this citation from a court dated July 07 and don't know what to do!!! Should I try to settle out of court with the lawyer? should I go to court? what's the best way to go about this? I'm in Texas so I don't know if they can garnish wages or what not......thanks for the help!!!!

Answer 1

OC is correct except for requesting validation UNLESS the summons has some type of wording on it that states that if validation/verification is requested, the Plaintiff will cease all collection activities, including the suit, until validation/verification is provided.
If it does not contain those words or similar, requesting validation at this point would be moot and you might request a Discovery if you need the info to aid you in fighting them.

Though requesting a Discovery can be a double edged sword if you are still within the collecting SOL. If they dredge up the information - they can use that same info against you. Where they probably would not have that info if it is not requested by you.

Like OC said, the Texas collecting SOL is 4 years. It starts from the last payment or charge you made on the account BEFORE it was charged off by the original creditor.
Even though you attempted to pay but they refused payment, they cannot legally reset the collecting SOL. In Texas a "written contract" with a collector, signed by both you and the collector, MUST be made for the collecting SOL to be reset.

Order your credit reports ASAP.

If it has been 4 years or longer since your last payment / charge with the original creditor, include in your answer An Affirmative Defense Of SOL. Then file a counterclaim against Arrow for filing suit on a time barred debt - requesting $1000 for it.

Whether you are still within the collecting SOL or not, look over your credit reports for all violations Arrow is reporting (there probably is quite a few violations) Then include the violations in your counterclaims - requesting $1000 for EACH violation.
A few violations that Arrow likes to report are - Past Due, Past Due Dollar Amount, Factoring Company, Open Account, possible re-aging of the fall off date, some other creditor/collector listed as the original creditor rather than them reporting original creditors name, etc., etc., etc.
(a charged off account CANNOT be a factored account)

If you have plenty on them for counterclaims, they may try to get you to compromise in if you drop the counters, they will drop the suit, and then slink away. Or, if you have far more in counters on them than what they are suing for, they may offer "you" a small amount if you agree to drop the counters and they drop the suit.
If you have them on quite a few "concrete" violations, you may be able to find an attorney who will take your case on a contingency basis. If you win the suit and / or the counters, the atty would / should request that Arrow pay his / her fees. If you lose, you will have to pay your atty.

If you handle it yourself, you need to use the Texas RCP (rules of civil procedure) as a guideline in writing up your answer.
You also NEED to read the FDCPA, FCRA, Texas debtor / creditor and SOL statutes as you need to be able to cite the statutes in your answer.
It wouldn't hurt to include case law either.

I'm including a couple links for Texas - statutes and RCP, terms of service (to see if they properly served you) etc. (all are free sites)
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/cvtoc.html
http://www.megalawserve.com/tx/tx.php
http://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/district_courts.html

You might click on my profile and click on the links I have listed for the FDCPA and the FCRA.
You might also click on the last link I have listed in my profile.It is a free site where you can find more Tx. info, feedback and suggestions on writing up your answer, counters, etc.

Answer 2

Arrow financial might be one of those collection agencies that go after people so they can make some money. They don't garnish wages for credit card debt and Texas is a safe have for bad debtors as well. IF you don't show up then you will lose by default and a judgment will be issued and you will owe the money. You could make an appearance in court and ask the judge to grant you a feasible payment plan. The judgment will ultimately wind up on your credit report for seven years.
Personally I would contact the credit counseling service and have them look into it. They are the one who were supposed to help you out!

Answer 3

The first thing you need to do is send in your "answer" to the suit. In the answer do not admit to ANY of the debt. Instead request proof that the account is yours including the original signed documents. Also request a detailed list of charges that make up the amount of the suit, and payment history including the date of the last payment and delinquency. The date of last delinquency is important because the Statute of Limitations in Texas is 4 years. So if the "few years ago" is more than 4 the suit can be thrown out because it is out of statute.

Second, you need to go to court. If not they will get a default judgment against you, which is not what you want. If they get a judgment they can not garnish your wages in Texas, but they can attach your bank account.

If you know your last payment was within 4 years and don't think it will get thrown out then yes you can attempt to settle with the lawyer. However, since you have been sued don't expect them to settle for much less than the suit amount. If your only dispute is the $600 extra fees you will need to find out what these fees are and if they are allowed to be charged in Texas.

If this is a major amount of debt it is advisable to get a lawyer to assist you. But since a lawyer is going to cost you a few hundred dollars if the debt is only a few hundred it would be up to you as to if it is worth it.

Answer 4

You have one of two choices to quickly end the matter. Do it yourself or hire an attorney. The main defense here is the debt may be barred by the Statute of Limitations. If it is, you should fight it to the bitter end. If you want to resolve the matter otherwise, you or your attorney should contact the collection agency and offer to settle the matter for a much smaller sum, There may not be witnesses or records available to prove you owe the money.

Answer 5

Arrow is a collection agency.

How did they get a court judgement without you being notified?

Talk to a lawyer.