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Hi, Patenaude & Felix fist reached out in April and I requested the letter of validation witch they replied to on 4/21. I was under the impression that they will reach out to me for a settlement. INSTEAD, fast forward to 9/20 and I get legal advertisement from lawyer who found my case being filed in court on 8/11. Since I never got served I reached out to Patenaude and they want to settle initial $2900 for $2400. That seems slightly high to me. Should I hire a lawyer and hope that they will settle for less + lawyer fees = less than $2400 or should I proceed with going through court? I would like to know what would be the optimal solution. I don’t mind going the pro se route in hopes that I would pay less in settlement. (My work permit has been delayed so I don’t have means of income or getting a job ) Thanks so much for your help!!

Hello, I was served papers by Capital One Bank a few months back. I filled out a form for the plaintiff to prove their allegations against me and turned it into the court here in my town, as well as sent a certified copy to Capital One Bank. I now received a Notice of Bench Trial paper in the mail from the Civil Clerk of the Court. Can anyone tell me what to expect? I know that if I do not show up I could get a default judgement against me. This is all new to me & I'm trying to self-navigate. Is it likely for a representative of Capital One Bank or their lawyer show up? Is it also possible to work out a payment plan granted they win and I get that default judgement? Thanks in advance for any direction!

Hi Everyone, I am being sued by Capital one bank & Hunt & Henriques. My former roommate informed me that I received a letter of intent to sue from Hunt & Henriques. I am currently not living at the address they are sending mail to anymore. Because of this i have been checking the small claims website to see if my name would pop up and when i check it today it did! A few years ago I was going through very hard times and was living off of 2 CC's. My life is now moving in a positive direction, working + going to school full time, but I currently have no money to pay them. I am very scared as any reduction in my pay would put me back in a dire financial situation. Any help, advice or guidance would be most appreciated. Here is what the 2 case numbers are saying. I have been doing a bit of research on this website and I think the first thing I should file is a bill of particulars? Party Number Party Type Party Name Attorney Party Status 1 PLAINTIFF CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA) NA HUNT, MICHAEL S. First Paper Fee Paid Viewed Date Action Text Disposition Image 06/04/2019 DEPT. CLERK'S TICKLER ON CONSUMER CREDIT COLLECTIONS CASE - CHECK FOR FILING OF DEFAULT JUDGMENT WITHIN 360 DAYS OF FILING COMPLAINT 12/05/2018 CLERK'S TICKLER ON CONSUMER CREDIT COLLECTIONS CASE - CHECK FOR PROOF OF SERVICE FILED WITHIN 180 DAYS OF FILING COMPLAINT 06/06/2018 CASE ENTRY COMPLETED Not Applicable 06/06/2018 ORIGINAL SUMMONS ON CONSUMER CREDIT COLLECTIONS CMPL (CRC 3.740) FILED 06/06/2018 OF CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA) NA FILED Not Applicable N/A 06/06/2018 COLOR OF FILE: PINK Not Applicable 06/06/2018 PLACED ON CLERK'S TICKLER CALENDAR FOR 12/05/18, 06/06/2018 PLACED ON CLERK'S TICKLER CALENDAR FOR 6/04/19, 06/06/2018 COMPLAINT FILED; SUMMONS IS ISSUED Not Applicable 06/06/2018 CASE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO Party Number Party Type Party Name Attorney Party Status 1 PLAINTIFF CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A. CHEN, SHIH-LAN First Paper Fee Paid Viewed Date Action Text Disposition Image 06/07/2019 CLERK'S TICKLER ON CONSUMER CREDIT COLLECTIONS CASE - CHECK FOR FILING OF DEFAULT JUDGMENT WITHIN 360 DAYS OF FILING COMPLAINT 12/10/2018 CLERK'S TICKLER ON CONSUMER CREDIT COLLECTIONS CASE - CHECK FOR PROOF OF SERVICE FILED WITHIN 180 DAYS OF FILING COMPLAINT 06/11/2018 CASE ENTRY COMPLETED Not Applicable 06/11/2018 ORIGINAL SUMMONS ON CONSUMER CREDIT COLLECTIONS CMPL (CRC 3.740) FILED 06/11/2018 OF CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA), N.A. FILED Not Applicable N/A 06/11/2018 COLOR OF FILE: GREY Not Applicable 06/11/2018 CASE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO 06/11/2018 PLACED ON CLERK'S TICKLER CALENDAR FOR 12/10/18, 06/11/2018 PLACED ON CLERK'S TICKLER CALENDAR FOR 6/07/19, 06/11/2018 COMPLAINT FILED; SUMMONS IS ISSUED 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? CAPITAL ONE BANK (USA) NA 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) HUNT, MICHAEL S. 3. How much are you being sued for? Around $2500 and $6500 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) CAPITAL ONE BANK 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Have not been served yet. Looked it up on the county website 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? No 9. What state and county do you live in? California, Contra Costa County 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) Got this info from credit karma Dec 24, 2016 on both cards 11. When did you open the account? (looking to see which agreement/contract may be applied) Feb 20, 2015 & May 23, 2015 13. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 4 Years in CA 14. What is the status of your case? Just says active, waiting to get served. 15. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No 16. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? No 17. How long do you have to respond to the suit? N/A

Let me start by thanking ASTMedic for laying out the guidelines in "How I beat Midland in California" that I basically copied and then updated with the Target v. Rocha info that Calawyer and several others pointed out. Because of what I learned here I was able to get Absolute Resolutions to dismiss their case the morning of the trial. If it had not been for this forum and the many helpful contributors I don't know what I would have done. Now it is my time to give back, so I am attaching redacted copies of the documents that I spent so much time researching and typing up. I hope this will help someone else as much I was helped by the other contributors to this forum.