I've been served a summons in California

[bbgughj]

is it possible to settle before going to court , i really dont want to deal with this 

 

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit?

Suttell, Hammer & White, APC

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.)

 

Suttell, Hammer & White, APC

3. How much are you being sued for?

1381.26

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff)

Discover Bank

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?)

 Person knocked on door , Girlfriend answered and asked to sign Served at home ,  Few days later a second copy was mailed home

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door)

Some one came to door 

7. Was the service legal as required by your state?

Reside in CA. 

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?

none

9. What state and county do you live in?

Clifornia , Los Angeles County

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations)

2014

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

4years

Statute of Limitations on Debts

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). i have 30 days to file a written response to the court

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.

no

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?

30 days from time being served 9/07/2016

 

Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits

16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. general allegations

17. Read this article:

Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits

[CCRP626]

@bbgughj if you edit your title to include California it will help the California posters find this.

[RyanEX]

You were served via Substitute Service: an adult other than you was given the summons at your residence & you were then mailed a 2nd copy of the summons. The mailed copy should have a proof of service (POS) with it indicating the service date (date that it was placed in the mail). Service is considered complete on the 10th day after it was mailed, then your 30-day countdown begins -  so essentially you have 40 days from the date it was mailed.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=415.10-415.95

You can certainly settle before going to court, even before filing an answer, but right now the plaintiff is unlikely to offer you much of a deal. They'll want close to the full amount, or they'll want the full amount in payments. They file suits like this one hoping you won't have any idea how to defend yourself. Most people don't. If you want to get some kind of a deal the best way to go about doing so is by fighting them, step by step. Even then, you best deal would likely not come until right around your eventual trial date. By then, however, you can probably force them to dismiss it entirely. CA law is good for defendants in these types of cases.

[Anon Amos]

I agree with RyanEX.  If you talk settlement now you will. just be chumming the water. I would send them a demand for a bill of particulars now (which is easily done). Research BOP here.

[1stStep]

File your answer and send a BOP.

 

Since this is an OC, this is just to buy you some time - the further you go in a case, the more likely they are to agree to a more favorable settlement.

[RyanEX]

I don't think this is an OC, Discover wasn't named as the plaintiff.- but maybe @bbgughj can clarify since they named the same group as both plaintiff and the law firm handling the case. A BOP can be sent out prior to filing the answer, many here recommend doing so.

[BV80]

13 minutes ago, RyanEX said:

I don't think this is an OC, Discover wasn't named as the plaintiff.- but maybe @bbgughj can clarify since they named the same group as both plaintiff and the law firm handling the case. A BOP can sent sen out prior to filing the answer, many here recommend doing so.

It's very unusual for Discover to sell accounts.   It would also be unusual for the law firm representing the plaintiff to also be the plaintiff. 

As you pointed out, the OP needs to clarify.  Perhaps he can post a copy of the complaint with his personal information redacted.