AboutCreditwrench Expertise Debt Collections law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), federal law, how to properly answer court summons for collection cases, how to prepare federal cases against debt collectors, how to deal with debt collection phone calls.
Experience I've been an active consumer advocate for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of people win cases against debt collectors as well as helping them defeat demands for summary judgment lodged against them by banks, debt collectors and defeat mortgage foreclosures and keep their homes.
Education/Credentials Paralegal courses for the most part. I have been teaching people how to deal with judgments, mortgage foreclosures and other such problems both on and off the internet for many, many years. I am a Richard Cornforth information provider ever since 2000 and worked with many other organizations and causes since 1980. I was Oklahoma State Chairman for the nationwide drive to defeat the Constitutional Convention which was proposed by various factions within our federal government such as the Council of State Governments and the National Organization of State Governors who were working hard to organize a Constitutional Convention to be held in 1995 for the purpose of rewriting our American Constitution to be more acceptable to the United Nations. I worked with Senator Charles Duke of Colorado and Senator Don Rogers of California and many others across the nation to keep them from getting the number of delegate states required to lawfully hold a Con-Con and we were successful. I have worked with many other legislative issues in Oklahoma and have always been very successful.
I have been unemployed for a year, and was unable to pay the two credit card debts that I have. I recently got a part time job, and called both of the collection agencies to attempt to settle the debt now that I am able to make payments. One firm, Daniels and Norelli was very helpful and we set up a payment plan that will allow me to pay off the entire debt within a month. The other firm, Mann Bracken initially accepted a similar payment plan, then called me back saying they did not get "approval" to accept the terms of the plan we had discussed, and that I needed to either pay the amount in one large sum right now (which I cannot do since I just began working again), or else agree to the new terms they were sending me. I received the letter with the new terms, and the amount seemed inflated, and I cannot meet the terms at this time. I sent them a validation letter yesterday asking them to explain how they came up with the total (1500.00 on a card with an original limit of 500.00), and also asking them to only contact me by mail, since I was very confused with all of our phone contact and them accepting terms and then changing them. I sent the letter certified with a receipt yesterday, and then today, I received a summons for a different amount (1300). There is no court date on the summons, but it says I have 30 days to respond to the summons. The Date on the summons is June 12, although I did not receive it until today, June 30. How do I go about responding to the summons? I intend to pay the debt, but since I just paid large amounts on my other debt, I have nothing saved up to put towards this one right now. What can I do to avoid going to court? I cannot afford a lawyer, do I need to somehow get one?
How did you receive the summons? Was it served upon you by a sheriff or a process server or was it by registered or certified mail return receipt requested? The only way you can avoid going to court is to pay in full before the date or just fail to show up and let them get a default judgment. I'd fight it if I were you even if I had the money to pay it. No, you don't need to get a lawyer. Lawyers are of little or no actual use when it comes to debt collection matters. The reason that is true is because there are so few defenses to a debt collection lawsuit. Sometimes they can get You can do more good for yourself without an attorney than an attorney can do for you. When you go to court you know you owe the debt, the judge knows you owe the debt or the plaintiff wouldn't be there complaining so your defenses are very limited. Therefore, since you are probably going to lose the case and get a judgment against you no matter what you do common sense would seem to dictate that you might as well not bother trying to fight the inevitable outcome. But common sense thinking often leads us astray, blinding us to other options. When it comes to debt collection problems, there are other options that should be considered. Although we owe the debt and do have a moral obligation to pay our just debts we also have the right to be treated fairly and with respect to our rights under the law. Among those rights is the right to full disclosure and not subjected to false and misleading information from debt collectors and lawyers alike. We have the lawful right to an accounting of each and every amount claimed by the plaintiff. There are a great many rights that we have most of which are totally ignored by both the debt collectors and the courts. This is so in almost every case when a debt collector comes calling. Our rights are also routinely violated by judges. They think nothing of it so in order to enforce our rights we have to become proactive in enforcing those rights. After all, isn't it also common sense and just plain justice that if we must obey the law that the other person also must obey the law? Isn't it also just plain old common sense that if we have to pay for our transgressions against others then they should also have to pay for their transgressions against us? Should they be allowed to violate our rights under the law simply because they have more money and more influence than we do? I don't think so and that is why I teach people how to win in court without lawyers. I'm not a lawyer myself so I can't give legal advice but providing legal education is not giving legal advice. You can learn what your rights under the law are and you can learn how to defend those rights without having to hire an attorney. This stuff isn't rocket science.
)