Court Next Tuesday

[Tramagni]

1. Who is suing you?

Arrow Financial Services

2. For how much?

$3996.28

3. Who is the original creditor?

Washington Mutual (Providian)

4. How do you know you are being sued?

Received Summons from District Court

5. How were you served? Were you served?

Signed for letter at Post Office

6. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued?

None

7. Where do you live?

Pennsylvania

8. When is the last time you paid on this account?

About 18 months ago

9. What is the status of your case (if anything has been opened)? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted daily).

Just received summons

10. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?)

No

11. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? If not, don't bother doing this now.

No

12. Does your summons require a response? (Look hard!) If you don't get a questionnaire with your summons, you are still probably required to answer it in writing. 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.

The summons says:

"If you intend to enter a defense to this complaint, you should so notify this office immediately at the above telephone number

If you have a claim against the plaintiff which is within magisterial district jurisdiction and which you intend to assert at the hearing, you must file it on a complaint form at this office at least five days before the date set for the hearing"

We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit?

"The above named plaintiff asks judgement against you for $3996.28 together with costs upon the following claim.

Unpaid balance of credit account #XXXXXX. After applying all known charges and payments t the account as of this date, the net balance is $3996.28. Plaintiff demands $3996.28 plus costs."

No questionaire was included with the summons.

13. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affadavit? A statement from the OC? Anything else they attached as exhibits?

An "Affidavit of Indebtedness"

14. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out:

4 years in Pennsylvania. This is well withing the SOL.

I read through as many posts as I could find relating to upcoming court appearances, but I still have some questions. Thanks for your patience.

I contacted a representative from Arrow Financial Services (today) to try to work out some kind of payment arrangement. The collection representative offered me a settlement of $3271.82 (they say I owe $3996.28). When I asked the representative if I could set up payment arrangements he told me that he could, but "that is what they will do in court anyway". He was obviously pushing for a lump sum settlement. I was hoping that I could settle the debt for less and avoid paying for a lawyer's court appearance. He also said that they are more likely to go to court than make a settlement since the court date is only a week away.

I'm not sure how to proceed.

Is there any possibility they would settle the debt for less money? What would be the best way to negotiate a lesser amount?

Should I forget about negotiating with the rep over the phone and try to work something out with the attorney before the hearing?

If I can't negotiate a settlement, should I answer the summons by filling out a complaint form? I would have to submit it by tomorrow.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kevin3344]

Whatever you do, show up in court! You should have answered the complaint by now. Get everything, all agreements, etc. in writing. I would try to get an installment agreement in writing before going to court. Call the plaintiffs atty asap.

[nervousinohio]

what happened in your court case?

were you able to settle?