By 
I get emails every week from people who have had the misfortune of getting a summons notice on their doorstep or the joy of having a stranger sit across from them and say, “You’ve been served.”
It’s not fun. Often these same people tell me that the first thing they did was pick up the phone, call the collection agent or collection attorney in many cases, and try to come up with a payment plan or settlement agreement. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Once you have been served with a summons, this means that the collection agency is SUING you. You are being sued and the collection agency is now the Plaintiff and you are the Defendant. Any and all communications with the Complainant must be made by written correspondence only.
It’s too late for “I’ll send you $50 a month, I promise.” too late Now is the time to take responsibility for his financial future and face his fears (debt) head-on. Even if the collector agrees to a payment plan, they cannot be trusted. While you “resolve” it, they may be in the process of encumbering your property and seeking your bank account information to seize your assets.
This is what you should do. First of all, DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED. This is hard, after all, I’m sure you feel bad about debt in the first place and it’s probably been haunting you for years. The sad truth is that many of these debt lawsuits originate from unstated debt and collection agencies and debt attorneys have been known to re-age the DOLA or Date of Last Activity on your credit report. It’s in your best interest to dig up all your old credit reports and bank statements to prove the date of the last payment you made on the defaulted account. If that date has passed your state’s statute of limitations on open credit card debt, they have the right to try to collect, but they can’t sue you and must drop the lawsuit.
Also, very rarely is a debtor sued for the actual amount owed…penalties, interest, and other miscellaneous fees are often added to the balance. Have them prove their case!
There are many other defenses that can be made against one of these collectors. The key is that he needs to communicate with them through the court system. They don’t expect you to fight back, over 96% of debt lawsuits end in default judgment. The chances of them going back and dropping the lawsuit are HUGE if you take the time to properly format what is called a Notice to Appear, Answer, and Certificate of Service.
It takes some time and research to properly file these documents, but what is at stake is your financial future. A default judgment can not only freeze your bank account or garnish your wages, but it will also ruin your credit for a minimum of 7 years. Some states offer basic templates for the forms you will need to file with the court, a simple Google search should offer some resources. You can purchase Word templates (with affirmative defenses for third-party debt collectors) for the “Response to Complaint” document and more on offering advice on writing your own documents.
In addition, you must fax and mail (certified return receipt requested) a cease and desist letter to the creditor informing them that they should contact you only by written correspondence and now that they know how to contact you they should refrain from contacting any of your neighbors , friends, family or employees in an attempt to collect your debt. If they violate your request, you can threaten to sue them for a violation of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) which allows $1,000 for each violation.
Now is the time for action. If you do nothing, creditors will find your assets and take them away. Bottom line. Submit your Response and other supporting documents and wait and see. The best that can happen? They will not want to fight you in court and drop the lawsuit (they rarely have the supporting documentation to support their claims) or you will receive a court date and have the opportunity to settle at that time. time. Either way, you will have avoided a default judgment which in many cases looks just as bad as bankruptcy.
Struggle! You have nothing to lose and much to win.