Answers
Today, I come home and notice an envelope taped on my door. It was a summons from a local lawyer regarding my Citibank credit card account. They state that I owe $1700, which I am not sure of, will have to do a little looking back. I don't dispute that I have not made payments in the last 6 months. BUT, I cannot pay that amount in full at this time. I have a few questions:
1-The date on the summons was December 14th, and there was also a Jan. 11th stamped date (I am assuming it was when it was brought through the courts) and I got it today Feb.6th. wtf? and they want me to respond within 30days. How the heck do I prove that I didn't get it until today?
2-If I know I owe the debt. Would it be better to go through the courts or just try and settle with the lawyer. I do not have assets at all. My car is not worth $2400, I rent and my bank acount has about $300 in it. They could garnish wages, but I would rather avoid that. What should I do?
3-Is it too late to get some help from Consumer Credit Counseling?
I am in NY btw. thanks for any advice.
Thanks. I just don't know what I am going to do. Settle something? I have no money. I can make monthly payments, but there is no way a lawyer will do that. I am going to go through the courts and see if they will allow a payment option. And it wasn't my fault that I got the summons today and not on Jan. 11th. that to me is shady. typical lawyer tactics. oh yes, I will be calling the county clerk first thing monday to let them knwo that I just received the summons. That lawyer was probably hoping that i would not send an answer in due to the time constraint, therefore he would win by me not showing. shady sh*t.
I work at a law office and I would advise for you to try to file an answer to that complaint asap so you dont get defaulted otherwise if you do that will allow for the creditor to get a writ and garnish your wages. If I were you I would file an answer and at the same time try to settle something with them. You should try to avoid the garnishment because that will only accumulate interest or if you have lots of debt you might want to consider filing for bk. Hope this helps... and good luck!
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Today, I come home and notice an envelope taped on my door. It was a summons from a local lawyer regarding my Citibank credit card account. They state that I owe $1700, which I am not sure of, will have to do a little looking back. I don't dispute that I have not made payments in the last 6 months. BUT, I cannot pay that amount in full at this time. I have a few questions:
1-The date on the summons was December 14th, and there was also a Jan. 11th stamped date (I am assuming it was when it was brought through the courts) and I got it today Feb.6th. wtf? and they want me to respond within 30days. How the heck do I prove that I didn't get it until today?
2-If I know I owe the debt. Would it be better to go through the courts or just try and settle with the lawyer. I do not have assets at all. My car is not worth $2400, I rent and my bank acount has about $300 in it. They could garnish wages, but I would rather avoid that. What should I do?
3-Is it too late to get some help from Consumer Credit Counseling?
I am in NY btw. thanks for any advice.
It is legitimate. I looked up the case online in public records. It is listed with the date Jan.11th and it does not give a dollar amount on there as far as what is owed. I don't mind setting up a payment plan. However, it has to be affordable.
How can they give you a time frame in which to respond, when there wasn't a Feb. 6th date on there at all. And that is when I got it. They can't just hold on to the summons for close to a month and give it to me at the last min. How the heck am I supposed to fight that? I have never been through this before and it is freaking scary. They can't put a lien on a home that I don't own. And they can't touch my bank account when there isn't a high balance. That I know.
Respond to the summons. Since you know the debt is yours, ther isn't a whole lot for you to say in your defense. You might object to the amount.
Show up in court. Otherwise, they will get a default judgment. With the judgment they can attach your bank account, garnish your wages, and lien your property.
You can try calling the attorney and working out a payment plan. They are not going to accept small payments drawn out over a long period. A lump sum offer would get the best deal. You may be able to settle for less but since the account is only 6 months in default, don't expect more than a 25% discount.
Credit counseling only works when the accounts are still active and they can negotiate better interest rates. When you default on the account, it's too late.
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