No response to DV letter now being sued-help

[cwodew]

Since I found this web site in 2007 I have been trying to clean up our debt little by little. We have contemplated filing for bankruptcy but so far have been able to scrape by. We are already paying on several debts and due to a situation earlier this year did not have health insurance and had to pay those debts on a payment plan. Earlier today I was given a judgement from Blatt, Hasenmiller, Leibsker, and Moore out of Normal, IL for my husband. This is for a Citibank debt for almost $2000. The original debt was taken out in 2003 and last paid on in 2008. It has been sold/written off by the original creditor three times in the last two years. I have written a DV letter to all of the agencies when I start receiving bills from them and none have sent any proof of validation. I have not received a phone call or letter from BHLM prior to today and wonder if they can serve me without prior contact. I also wondered if there is any possibility of us settling for less than the original amount which is what they are asking for + fees. As I mentioned above we are really trying to avoid bankruptcy and be smart about all of this. We do not have any wiggle room financially and there is no way we can come up with the $2000 by the end of the month. We live in Illinois. Any help would be appreciated.

[donqII]

Since I found this web site in 2007 I have been trying to clean up our debt little by little. We have contemplated filing for bankruptcy but so far have been able to scrape by. We are already paying on several debts and due to a situation earlier this year did not have health insurance and had to pay those debts on a payment plan. Earlier today I was given a judgement from Blatt, Hasenmiller, Leibsker, and Moore out of Normal, IL for my husband. This is for a Citibank debt for almost $2000. The original debt was taken out in 2003 and last paid on in 2008. It has been sold/written off by the original creditor three times in the last two years. I have written a DV letter to all of the agencies when I start receiving bills from them and none have sent any proof of validation. I have not received a phone call or letter from BHLM prior to today and wonder if they can serve me without prior contact. I also wondered if there is any possibility of us settling for less than the original amount which is what they are asking for + fees. As I mentioned above we are really trying to avoid bankruptcy and be smart about all of this. We do not have any wiggle room financially and there is no way we can come up with the $2000 by the end of the month. We live in Illinois. Any help would be appreciated.

I am a bit confused.

When you say you are being sued by a creditor were you actually served a summons with a complaint that requires an answer in a specific amount of time or were you sent a collection letter demanding payment by the end of the month.?

If you were served... you do not need the money at this point but you do need to file an answer and your affirmative defenses within a specific time span.

If you just got a letter from a 3rd party atty. collector who did buy your debt,

NOW is the tiume to do a good DV to them.

[cwodew]

Sorry I was unclear. It is a summons to appear in court later this month. There is a sworn affidavit with it from the last company- Midland Funding which I am assuming is the same as Midland Credit?

If I understand you correctly I should send this attourney a DV letter? Also how could I reply other than appearing in court? I am a complete novice at this part of the process. Thank you.

[maggie22]

You don't respond to a court summons with a DV...Too late at that point..You need to spend some time formulating an answer, they may not have the proof necessary to win since it's been sold multiple times.... Also, read up on arbitration which could help if you get in a JAM...You can also look over at debtorboards.com, they have a useful arb forum over there....

[BTO429]

Now that the debt is in court a dv is useless. Just go to the court date so they don't win by default.

[donqII]

Sorry I was unclear. It is a summons to appear in court later this month. There is a sworn affidavit with it from the last company- Midland Funding which I am assuming is the same as Midland Credit?

If I understand you correctly I should send this attourney a DV letter? Also how could I reply other than appearing in court? I am a complete novice at this part of the process. Thank you.

How long have you had your summons?

You must go to court or they will get a summary judgment by default.

When you got your summons they should have given you a specified time to answer their chharges and also list your affirmative defenses.

depending on your state it will be from 20 to 35 days.

DVing now is useless... you can hit some of that under discoveryy if you get to that but I am more concerned with getting your answer done.

You can find out how to do that here, but when did you get your summons?

Your answer would go to the Plaintiff and also a copy filed at your courthouse.

I am sending you a PM to a link I want you to check out but please

tell us your dates.

[nobk4me]

Contact a consumer attorney. Continued collection activity (filing a lawsuit) without responding to a DV letter is a violation of FDCPA.

[cwodew]

We received the letter on the afternoon of 9/11.