dkay Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 I recieved a citation for petition for suit on an open account. It is dated the 14th of July and I have 10 days to reply. I have been researching on you forum and I know my first step is to contact the court and find out the procedure to file my response. The state is Lousiana. I lasted paid on my account I believe 2 years ago this month. Not sure. I had gotten letters from CAs and at one time I did try talking on phone with them, but they wanted monthly payments of 2 and 300.00 dollars a month that I could no way pay, so then I just ignored letters and phone calls (stupid I know). I have about 5 cards that haven/t been paid in at least 2 years totally up to about 35,000. The one being sued for is 2200.00. I would like help to clear this up and all my others. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.dkay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandydm318 Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Since the debts are yours and you acknowledge you havent paid them for whatever reason, file your answer, then i would try to settle before court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I acknowledge I have some debts that havent been paid yet, but not necessarily this one. I do not have enough information on it to find out. What card, what company etc. I do have some of my accounts with a debt consolidation company so what I am saying is I haven't paid directly to any card company in 2 years, just one business and they pay the monthly payment to each credit card. So I need to make sure I am not double paying to someone in my debt consolidation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDL Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I acknowledge I have some debts that havent been paid yet, but not necessarily this one. I do not have enough information on it to find out. What card, what company etc. I do have some of my accounts with a debt consolidation company so what I am saying is I haven't paid directly to any card company in 2 years, just one business and they pay the monthly payment to each credit card. So I need to make sure I am not double paying to someone in my debt consolidationThey can still sue you even though you're with a debt consolidation company, you wouldn't necessarily be double paying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 I called the courthouse this morning about my peitition to being sued for an open account. First she asked if I owed the money and I told her I didn't have enough information. I was told to call the lawyer that is handling the suit to find out the details on the case. Told them I wanted the information in writing but probably not enough time to get it before my 10 days is up which is the 28th of July. They said if I owed the money to not file a response and let it go to judgement by default, because it would add more attorney fees. I have yet to get ahold of the attorney handling the case. Was also told by the clerk of court the reason I hadn't heard of the company that is sueing is because it is a company that buys debts to collect on. What should I do, respond or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swirlgirl Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Definitely respond. You do not want a default judgment. Also, the court should be able to give you a copy of anything that has been filed with the court. The court papers should indicate who is the OC. If need be, contact the plaintiff's arttorney just to ask about the OC.Lastly, have you contacted the debt settlement company to see if they have been really sending in your payments to your creditors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 I will go to court house tomorrow if I don't hear back from the attorneys office to find out who the oc is. The company sueing through the lawyer is Atlantic Credit & Finance out of Virginia. Never heard of them. Should I try to contact them also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merrybucks Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 They will only refer you to their lawyers. You need to file a response. Don't take advice from Atlantic Credit or their lawyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I will go ahead and file my response of not having enough information to know if I owe the debt. Should I go ahead and send a production of discovery/documents or a valadation request and do I send it to the lawyers or the ca or both. The county clerk told be not to file the response until I find out who the credit card is, because if I do owe the money I will get a judgement against me and it will cost me more money in legal fees if I do owe the money. That is why she told be to contact the lawyer by phone first before I file my reponse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merrybucks Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 It sounds like the clerk is trying to give you legal advice. Does the summons include a claim for legal fees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 yes, it does day including legal fees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merrybucks Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Responding to the suit will give you time to determine if the debt is yours or not. It will also allow you to see what evidence the other side has. You can still reach a settlement after you respond that will allow you to avoid a judgment. Failing to respond will allow the other side to obtain a summary judgment by default, which will probably include legal fees. You want to avoid a default judgment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Finally contacted lawyers office about petition. They could tell me who the oc was and the last time a payment was made. Also was told they had a second file for another company. Not familiar with either so don't know if it is mine or not. Was so shocked when told of second file I did not ask if it was a petition to sue or what. I only recieved one from the county clerk. If it ends up that one or both is mine what are my oppositions. I do not have any cash to settle I am already paying on a debt consolidation and have no extra money. Between rock and a hard place and getting information overload. Any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 I responded today on my petition. They had a standard form to sign, but it had on it that defendant denies the allegations, so I added defendant without suffiecent knowlege to admit or deny, demands specific proof. Also at the end of the form it has typed in defendant prays that plaintiff's suit be dismissed with prejudice. My question is what to do next. Do I wait for a court date or do a production of documents/discovery(which looks like can be done in this civil court) Also the attorney's office said they had a second file on me for a personal loan, so I checked with the court and they only have the one petition, so how would I handle the other. The lawyer asked me if the personal loan could be for a car, which I have never taken a loan out for a car except through the car company and that has been paid off. Any suggestions are most appreciated and all help so far. Great site thanks for all help so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 *Bumped* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montanatim Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 If discovery is available to you in the court your in, I would send a discovery request to plaintiff's attorney. At this point in time if you are only being sued for the one account, let sleeping dogs alone. You want information on the chain of custody, how the amount was calculated, and the contract establishing the account. The documents on the amount claimed, and the contract, should be from the OC. Documents that are/were generated by the JDB don't count, I could generate documents that say you owe me $20,000.00. The judge may set a preliminary hearing that would more or less be a scheduling conference, this could include a time line for discovery. I don't know how your court likes to do things. It shouldn't hurt to send the request anyway. They may be waiting to move on the other "file" to see how tough you are on this one, just a thought. Your discovery request should go CMRR, keep a copy, make sure that any and all you do from here to the end of the case is documented or otherwise provable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkay Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 delete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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