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Expert: Creditwrench - 1/29/2010


Question
My husband and I have had some financial hardship lately. He is a contractor and new home building as we know has stopped for the last 2 years. He has been successful doing insurance restoration work, but the time it takes to get paid can range from 30-60 days.  We got behind on an American Express card as well as other credit cards.  I was working with a debt management company, who were no real help to me whatsoever. They didn't do anything until I was able to give them a large sum down. They jumped ship when I got the summons for American Express.  I was able to negotiate with the other credit card companies to a feasible payment plan. When I called American Express they had just, that day, referred my account to Zwicker & Associates. They call me daily and I recently about 3 weeks ago received a summons to court, where I know they want to get a default judgement to go after my checking account and/or my wages.  What is the best way to handle this situation?  I am planning to go to court, but I've never been to civil court before. Will the judge actually give me the time of day, or will it automatically go to a default judgement? Should I try to contact Zwicker & Associates ahead of time, or just go to court and try to submit a payment plan.  I am unable at this time to make any lump sum settlement, or I would prefer that, but I can offer them a decent monthly payment ($250/mth).  Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer

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You need to learn how to respond to that summons and complaint. You also need to learn how to take the lawyer to federal court and make him forget about getting paid and pay you instead.

Yes, I know that probably sounds like crazy talk but several hundred people are doing it every month. The reason you can do that is because lawyers are debt collectors by definition of law and when they break the law as they almost always do in their attempts to collect they become liable under the law and can be sued.

Lawyers almost always win in local courts and if people don't fight back the lawyers get a judgment, go for garnishment and seize bank accounts, garnish wages, take vehicles and do all kinds of nasty stuff to collect.
So whether you want to fight and win or just take your punishment, whatever that might end up being is up to you.

I can teach you how to do all of the things you need to do to win. It isn't all that hard and it isn't rocket science. You don't even need a lawyer to do it.  

Creditwrench

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.

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