Mapleman Posted August 21, 2019 Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 Hi everyone, this is my first post please bare with me. I'll try and include all the information I can. I'm in the state of California being sued by "Capital One" with them using Patenaude & Felix as their law firm. The balance they are suing me for is $3100. Long story short I lost my job, and couldn't keep up with the payments. I signed up for the credit card online sometime in 2015,and my last payment was in 2017, I was too far behind, and the minimum payment was beyond what I could afford with interest. A short time after, I lost my house in the Camp Fire, and moved 8 hours away. One day I received my summons. I responded to the summons with a general denial and have asked for debt validation in which I haven't received. After filing my answer with affirmative defenses to the court, I heard nothing for about 4 months. I then got a notice for a case management conference. Shortly after I received a settlement offer from Patenaude for 65% of the debt which ended up being a little over $2000, however it has to be paid in 10 days from now to stand. I Showed up yesterday to court for my case management conference and let the judge know that I haven't received debt validation. The attorney was on the phone with court call, and said he has tried to contact me on the phone with no answer, and sent a settlement offer with no response but wanted to proceed to trial. I then Agreed to trial because i'm supporting my wife and kids as we just had a baby and she has no job. Is it better to settle, or just see what happens in trial? I already am having my wages garnished for child support,along with being head of the household momentarily. One of my friends that practices law told me that if I spent the money, settling for a less amount IS winning. I'm curious to know, Do these guys really go out of their way for 3k? I know they will tack on attorney fees etc adding well over 3k, so if this is the case settlement may be in my best interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted August 21, 2019 Report Share Posted August 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Mapleman said: I responded to the summons with a general denial and have asked for debt validation in which I haven't received. The problem is debt validation is no longer an option once you have been sued. Even under California law they were free to ignore it. 1 hour ago, Mapleman said: Is it better to settle, or just see what happens in trial? I already am having my wages garnished for child support,along with being head of the household momentarily. In this situation settling for less is a better option. Years of post judgment interest could balloon that judgment to $10k fast and then if they garnish you would be paying for years to come. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mapleman Posted December 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2019 I wanted to update. I decided to fight this and ride it out following the information on this site. P&F sent me a CCP96 in which I didn't respond to. I showed up on the day for my trial, and the clerk told me that P&F had filed a dismissal without prejudice the DAY BEFORE. I have not received a proof of service for this (i'm not sure if its even required) and the court cant print me out anything for my records. My question is, do I need to worry, or is this a done deal? I know they can re file again, but is this some sort of tactic or was my case really not worth it for them? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackFromTheDebt Posted December 6, 2019 Report Share Posted December 6, 2019 They could file again. They might file again. They more likely than not won’t. But you can’t be sure until the SOL has passed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mapleman Posted December 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2019 I just don’t understand why they’d even go through all that just to let it go at the last minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackFromTheDebt Posted December 7, 2019 Report Share Posted December 7, 2019 They probably won’t. Realize there are no guarantees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaneBlane Posted December 7, 2019 Report Share Posted December 7, 2019 Let's hope they don't refile. Do you know if there are any programs designed to assist victims of the Camp Fire and other wildfires in California? There have to be countless people who suffered great financial hardships that prevented them from keeping up with their payments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LILI Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 On 12/6/2019 at 2:04 PM, Mapleman said: I have not received a proof of service for this (i'm not sure if its even required) and the court cant print me out anything for my records. Have you ldtried checking on the Superior Court's website. I know I can check in Los Angeles, and it gives you status of the case and what has been filed. You can even download all the documents for a small fee, but even if you don't want to download, it should list there what type of filing was filed such as dismissal etc, then you can screen shot for your records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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