call from c/a

[bird]

I am answering a summons to a citation in a day or so. NCO is suing me over an account they bought from MBNA. They already had their side heard by the NAF which ruled that I did owe them money. I got a call from NCO today. I'm almost sure they might want to settle. I didn't call them back though b/c I've heard that talking to a ca is usually a bad idea. I also didn't want to risk being recorded.

In my answer I'm denying that I owe NCO the debt. That was the main reason I didn't want to make the call today. If I made the call, then I would basically be admitting that I do owe them money. By doing that, couldn't I get in trouble by denying it in my answer?

I also am pretty sure that whatever settlement they want; they want now. I'm still trying to find a way to come up w/ the amount I owe and I don't want them to use any info I give them against me.

So should I call now or wait and see if there is any way I can come up w/ the money (which is unlikely but I'm going to keep trying) and then deal w/ them once I have the amount they would probably want immediately? Thanks for any input.

[merkurfan]

make them put up or shut up. I see your in TX, a great state to be in when it comes to laws that protect you. They are going to have to prove a lot, like the chain of custady of their debt. Not only will they have to prove that you own it (you can get everything they have in discovery if you ask correctly) they have to prove all the hands the debt went though and that they are intitled to collect. They likely don't have everything are going to need. This is shown in the fact that even after sending the summons they still want to settle. Why settle if your court case is bullet proof?

[bird]

Merkurfan, thanks for your input. I hope you're right about NCO not having everything they need.

I consulted an attorney last week. I could only afford to see him that one time. He said that he thought NCO might want to settle shortly after I filed an answer to avoid having to spend more money than they had to collect the debt from me.

I know that several weeks before I was served I received a settlement offer for almost half the debt. Basically the letter said that I could use my tax refund to settle the debt. But b/c my tax refund wasn't anywhere near the amount, even after the deal, I could not take it.

Maybe it's as you said, they don't have enough. That's my best hope.

[MountainDude]

I don't think you'll be admitting you owe the debt by returning their call. When you're in litigation, this is how deals are made. In most states (I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS TRUE IN YOUR STATE), most dealings concerining settlement can't be used on the record (in court).

When you're at the point of being in court and defending an action, most of the time your're not really dealing with the CA, you're dealing with the CA's attorney. The CA's attorney should be a bit more grounded than the CA (i.e., better understanding of the whole cost to benefit ratio of prosecuting a case to completion).

My best advice (being from a novice) would be, call the CA's attorney back with a settlement number slightly under what you could pay right now. Be sure to remind the attorney how broke and poor you are, because he doesn't want to waste time on something he's not going to get paid on in the end. Be sure to tell him that you've been thinking about filing a bankruptcy (because if you're at this point, more than likely you have thought about filing bankruptcy), and do you're best to let him know that you're doing the best you can, but in the end he's not going to get jack shi* if he follows through with this lawsuit. With your discovery, motions for summary judgment, motions to dismiss, motions to supress, and anything else you can think of, his time won't be worth the attempt to collect. More than likely, the more time he spends on prosecuting you, the less he gets. If their attorney was getting paid by the hour, believe me, you would be getting the kitchen sink thrown at you right now.

And very important, if you do call the attorney, only give him the number that would settle the lawsuit, don't give him any other information. Make him put every offer for settlement in writing, preferably signed by the Plaintiff. That way to end the lawsuit, all you have to do is sign the offer and send payment, if that is the end result. Don't give him ANYTHING that he can use against you in Court.

j

[direred]

Generally settlement offers can't be used because it would discourage people from settling.

A notable exception is specific performance of a settlement once agreed upon.

[willingtocope]

I wanted to point out that this court date appears to be NCO's attempt to turn an NAF award into a judgement. The case would be about the validity of the award...not the debt behind it. There has been at least one court case mentioned on the board here that found that NAF awards were not transferable. If NCO now owns the debt, you might have an out. (I'm sorry...I'm at work now, and don't have the time to search...you might want to seardh the board here and see what you can find.)