I am being sued by a law firm representing a collection agency that purchased my bad debt from CashCall. While I do admit here that I owe the amount being requested ($5,000; stopped paying in August of 2009 because I lost my job, CashCall was not willing to negotiate a payment that would not leave me indebted to them for about 30 years, and the new job I finally obtained only pays about 1/2 of what I was formerly earning), I would not be able to pay more than $100 a month towards the outstanding amount without literally having to eat Top Ramen every day until the debt is paid off.I know I don't have much of a legal leg to stand on and would lose in court, so I was wondering if it would be proper to contact the law firm directly and attempt to settle? Would they even consider this low of a monthly installment or should I just ignore the summons, lose by default, and start searching for homeless shelters now before they begin garnishing my wages?I'm being facetious at the end of that last question (of course) but, at this point, the stress makes me want to just give up and let the cards fall where they may.
Hi, thank you for asking your question today. The other Experts and I are working on your answer. By the way, it would help us to know:When was the last payment or charge to the account made?
Has the suit actually been filed in the court and have you been served with the summons and complaint?
The last payment I made was in June of 2009 and the complaint states I breached my contract on August 1, 2009.
Yes, I was served with the summons and complaint on June 23rd. I haven't been ignoring the issue for this long; I've been doing extensive research as to what my options would be and have found nothing that would lead me to believe I have any sort of hope for not losing this case.
DearCustomer- The first thing you need to do is to file an answer or response to the suit asap to avoid having a judgment by default taken against you. If the contract was in writing then CA has a 4 year statute of limitations however if there is no signed contract the SOL is 2 years. So that may be a defense if there is no evidence of a written contract. It is always the duty of the plaintiff to prove the case so they have to have the copy of a written contract to overcome the statute of limitations defense. If you let them get a default judgment they will not have to prove anything so that is why it is important to file an answer and deny the debt and make them prove it.
I am not permitted to represent clients from this website or prepare documents so I can only give you some general information as to how to prepare a response. I have also included the CA self help website that may also be of some assistance.
To prepare an answer you can use the format used in the complaint with the court name at the top and the parties and case number XXXXX Where is says "Complaint" you would put "Answer". Then below that you would simply say "Defendant denies for want of knowledge the allegations contained in plaintiff's complaint and further states that plaintiff's complaint is barred by the statute of limitations. Then you would sign the answer and include your address and phone number just like the attorney for the plaintiff did in the complaint. You would make 4 copies and take everything to the clerk of courts where the case was filed and have the answer filed.
Then you would send a copy to the attorney for the plaintiff by regular US Mail. Once that is done you will simply wait to see what is filed next or wait for a court date to be set by the court.
You cannot force the plaintiff to accept payments or to settle so all you can do is try to defend yourself as best you can. If you end up losing then all you can do is try to settle or possibly seek protection in bankruptcy. Here is the CA website.
http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-problemswithmoney.htm