question for anyone who has been sued by a collection agency?

Question

i received a citation this morning.

it says if you or your attorney do not file a written answer with the clerk who issued this citation within 20 days...a default judgement may be taken against you.

i went to the district clerk's office to submit the written answer and when i asked what they wanted me to write they said they could not offer any advice and i would have to speak with a lawyer.

this collection agency is very crooked and i have the necessary paperwork to fight this coming shortly.

i'm not hiring a lawyer....can anyone tell me what a" written answer" is?

unifund ccr

they are supposedly one of the worst bottom feeders in america.

Answer 1

As much as I now <3 yahoo answers, do yourself a favor and take this question straight to the www.creditboards.com "help i've been served!" forum (linked below, in sources).

First, if you were served, don't ignore it. A default judgement is not a good thing. A judgement goes on your credit report for 10 years (same as a BK), plus the collector can try and garnish your wages, or put a lien on your home, and all sorts of other nonsense.

DO NOT PAY THEM YET. Or send them any money, until a court of law instructs you otherwise. You may end up resetting the clock, so to speak, on the debt (re-aging) which is very bad for you.

IS THE DEBT PAST SOL? If you have an affirmative defence (time barred by statute of limitations), you can tell the collector to shove off in court, and your job will be easy.

DONT ADMIT THE DEBT IS YOURS. Something I've learned from creditboards... *VALIDATION*. Thats a word you'll want to get familiar with. Make them prove its yours.

Any CB'ers here with more knowledge than me to answer this? I believe creditboards has a nice guide about dealing with collectors (psychdoc maybe wrote it?).

Keep an eye on my post, cause I'll take a look and edit my post for you in a lil bit, cause I'm at work right now.... I'll see if I can find you a nice sample letter and I think I remember CB had a flowchart for dealing with being served (a "you got served" thread if I recall correctly...).

In regards to your original question, I just got this link from creditboards that I believe answers it in full. "How to Answer a Lawsuit for Debt Collection":
http://www.lawhelp.org/WA/showdocument.cfm/County/%20/City/%20/demoMode/=%201/Language/1/State/WA/TextOnly/N/ZipCode/%20/LoggedIn/0/rpc/1020100/doctype/dynamicdoc/ichannelprofileid/13874/idynamicdocid/3846/iorganizationid/1553/itopicID/859/iProblemCodeID/1020100/iChannelID/7/isubtopicid/1/iproblemcodeid/1020100

For your first appearance in court, CB has this overview that you should read:
http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=175642

Answer 2

Pretty sure that you must find every financial solution at: loandirectory.info-

RE Question for anyone who has been sued by a collection agency?

i received a citation this morning.

it says if you or your attorney do not file a written answer with the clerk who issued this citation within 20 days...a default judgement may be taken against you.

i went to the district clerk's office to submit the written answer and when i asked what they wanted me to write they said they could not offer any advice and i would have to speak with a lawyer.

this collection agency is very crooked and i have the necessary paperwork to fight this coming shortly.

i'm not hiring a lawyer....can anyone tell me what a" written answer" is?

Answer 3

When the agency sent you the paperwork, there should have been a court document they filed, in which you need to respond by the stated 20 days. On that official document, there should be a place for you to respond. If there isn't then the state or county court where the document was filed has to provide you with the 'answer' document. On the document, in plain English, you should state the case/file number, the claim against you, and why you feel the judgment/claim is in error. Make copies of all the proof you have, and attach the copies to the document. Usually there is some kind of fee involved if you file with the court. If you have any questions, tell the court that you are pro se, meaning you are representing yourself. No, they can't tell you what to write, but they have to tell you about all the corresponding paperwork/documents you need.

Good luck, and if I think of anything else, I'll add to this. :)

To add: it is always a good idea to see if attorney can file the response document for you, but after their customary first hour free, they charge. The person who recommended Legal Aid was correct. You can often get free legal help from any associations you belong to, any schools you attend, etc.

Answer 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answer explains it more eloquently than I can, but in short, when a plaintiff files paperwork with a court to sue someone, they're filing what is called a "complaint."

When the defendant (that's you) files a response with the court explaining why the plaintiff's complaint is incorrect, that's an "answer". You would also want to raise any affirmative defenses in your answer (e.g., alleging fraud or statute of limitations defenses). If it's a large debt that they're alleging, it would probably be worth it to hire an attorney or a paralegal to help you with the paperwork. If it's a small debt, do your best and take your chances.

If you don't file the answer within 20 days, though, that's the same as saying "yes, everything the collection agency says in their complaint is 100% correct, and I agree with them." Don't miss that deadline.

Good luck.

Answer 5

This is why you need a lawyer. If you can't afford one -- hence the collections scheme -- you should contact Legal Aid in your area or the local law school to ask if someone can help you. A written answer is a form that you use -- similar to the complaint and summons you received -- that you have to file with the court. What I recommend that you do is FIRST contact the lawyer whose name is on the paperwork you recieved, that's the attorney for the collector. Ask him or her if you can have an extension to file an answer, and get it in writing from them that you are granted up to whatever date to respond. Then contact Legal Aid or someone who can help you with the form, and file the answer.`

Answer 6

A answer is a response to the claims that they stated in their complaint. Each of their stated claims must be addressed. Based on the fact it is dealing with a collection agency I would recommend consulting a attorney or looking for your local brach of free legal services in the phone book if you can not afford a attorney. Leagl aid can usually provide you a attorney when you can not pay for one, but under no means should you try to handle this own your own it could and will be costly in the end.

Answer 7

You do not need a lawyer to represent yourself. The only real authority an attorney has is to act in place of somebody else. But, you can represent yourself. A "written answer" is an answer YOU have written with no ones help. When you asked the clerk what they wanted they said that they could not help you. That's true. They can't. Just write whatever you want to reply, have it noterized and take it to the clerk.

Answer 8

The complaint, which you should have received a copy of, will have numbered paragraphs. You must either affirm or deny, or state that you do not have adequate information on which to form a belief to each item in the complaint.

This allows the court and the litigants to narrow down the issues that will need to be addressed at the hearing.

You should really consider hiring an attorney to draft your answer. If you have any affirmative defenses available to you, they MUST be alleged in your answer, or you run the risk of losing them entirely.

Answer 9

Go talk to a judge or the DA and get some guidance in this matter. If you do nothing, they will put a judgment against you and garnish your wages.

See if there is a legal aid group in your area, they give free advice in such matters. Don't drag your feet cause it could cost you lots of money.

I had an issue with a company and had the canceled checks. When all was said and done, someone in their office had cashed the checks and pocketed the money, and I was left showing I owed them money. Keep your records and canceled checks from anything your paying on.

Answer 10

Do you owe the money? If yes, pay it. Do not counter sue the collection agency. If they are as crooked as you say, unless you have deep pockets and a cracker jack lawyer you are going to lose,