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Hi, I have been sued by Hunt and Henriques, and it's now around 35 days until Trial. Since I am a senior citizen and in bad health, I am looking for any kind of help I can get with drafting a motion to continue trial due to my health condition. I can barely walk even with a walker, and have numerous other physical conditions and am wondering if those would be valid grounds to get a continuance. Also, I have a question on how to object to one of Plaintiff's requests in their RPD (the CCP1987 one). The first two, I think I can handle, but the third has left me confused. But, first, here is the lawsuit background: 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Citibank, N.A. 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Hunt & Henriques 3. How much are you being sued for? in the neighborhood of $6,000 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Found out on Court's online site after someone unknown showed at my door. I did not answer the door that time. Strangely, the process server never stopped by again, but filed a proof of service with the Court, nonetheless. Sadly, I lacked knowledge at the time to file a motion to quash service, so I filed an answer and stated in one of my affirmative defenses that I was improperly served. 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) I was not. I think they call that 'sewer service' 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? It wasn't legal, but I am guessing it is too late now. Process Service Requirements by State - Summons Complaint 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? I may have sent a debt validation letter, but I am not sure. 9. What state and county do you live in? Sacramento County, Sacramento California 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) the Plaintiff is alleging 2010, but they sued in 2011, unfortunately. 11. What is the SOL on the debt? in California, 4 years, but the lawsuit stopped the clock. 12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). Complaint, Summons and Proof of Service filed Answer Filed Long Period of inactivity CCP 98 Declaration Filed (without a trial date or me even sending a CCP 96) Another period of inactivity Plaintiff files a Limited Status Case Memorandum and gets a Trial Date At this point, I served some discovery on them (Form Rogs and request for documents as set one, then Request for Admissions as set two). They have responded to the Form Rogs and request for documents, and still need to respond to request for admissions). Then, I sent them a CCP 96 request (I think around 42-43 days before Trial) and the Objection to their CCP 98 (since they had filed it with Court). The day they got the CCP 96 request for me and the object, their Lawyer sent their own CCP 96 via overnight delivery and has also sent me a notice to compel appearance and produce documents (CCP section 1987). 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No. 14. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request, don't bother doing this now - it's too late. I might have, but I honestly don't remember. My memory has really gotten downhill with my age. 15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? Responded within 30 days back when I was sued. They sued on Common Counts/Account stated. Plaintiff never sent any discovery to me. 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. Nothing. But they sent years worth of credit card statements as responses to my discovery requests. They have also sent a CCP98 declaration in lieu by Dorothy Ruiz, which was the one I objected to. **** I have really wanted to hire a Lawyer but have no income to do so. I am over 70 years old and in poor health, and ther is nothing for the creditor to take. I get by with help from my family. I think it really is the sense of pride that keeps me from wanting to stop them from getting a judgment. Aside from needing help in regards to writing a motion to request continuance (can I base it on grounds of my illness as well as wanting to retain a pro-bono attorney, if I ever find one?), I am unsure how to respond to Plaintiff's request to produce documents (CCP 1987). There are 3 requests, and I have attempted to respond to #1 and #2, but the #3 is the one that is giving me a lot of trouble. Here are the requests and my responses: REQUEST NO. 1: All documents sent by defendant to plaintiff regarding defendant's credit account with Plaintiff. RESPONSE TO REQUEST NO. 1: Objection. Documents of this sort should already be in control of the Plaintiff. Plaintiff is on a fishing expedition. Burden of proof in this case rests on Plaintiff. The production of all documents sent by Defendant to Plaintiff is overly broad, as the case to date has many documents. The making of copies for Plaintiff who have all the same documents from the case file would create undue burden for Defendant who has limited resources. REQUEST NO. 2: All documents sent by plaintiff to defendant regarding defendant's credit account with plaintiff. RESPONSE TO REQUEST NO. 2: Objection. Documents of this sort should already be in control of the Plaintiff. Plaintiff is on a fishing expedition. Burden of proof in this case rests on Plaintiff. The production of all documents sent by Plaintiff to Defendant is overly broad as the case to date has many documents. The making of copies for Plaintiff who have all the same documents from the case file would create undue burden for Defendant who has limited resources. REQUEST NO. 3: All documents supporting the affirmative defenses alleged by defendant. RESPONSE TO REQUEST NO. 3: ????? (I do not know how to answer this one) Thanks!