Expert: Creditwrench - 3/11/2010

Question
We were just served papers stating that we have been sued. We have ten days to file a written answer with the clerk. I contacted the creditor (AC CREDIT INC.)before the suit AC Credit told me that i needed to receive the papers before they could the discuss the account with us. The account as of March 2010 has been caught up and is not late. The thing that she did say was that they had turned it over to the lawyers because the payment was not consistent.(meaning i always pay late). So in Feb i contacted them to make pmt aggragements i told them that i would make Jan&26Feb Payment and since i had the money i paid March on the 22nd of Feb. (they have no record of me calling them) We have a payment coming up on April 1st and i don't know if to make the payment to them or just wait. So My question is how do i respond to the written answer?? And what chances do i have in  court if i have been trying to make the payments, the payments have been late but i have contacted them on several occasions stating that i need the payment date changed. Also what proof would i need to take to the court showing that i am trying to make payments or should i just avoid trying to go to court?? Oh and we never got a copy of the contract itself because we had to sign agian cause they lost the 1st contract.

Answer
The important thing is to respond to that summons and complaint in the proper time and in the proper way. If you don't do that properly they will get a default judgment and then you will be stuck for sure. Don't pay them anything more. Another important point is whether or not the lawyer has ever sent you any correspondence prior to getting you served with the summons and complaint. This is extremely important for me to know in order to be able to correctly inform you of all your options. How do you respond? You need to prepare a response, a certificate of mailing and a good set of demands for admissions. Depending on your answer to the above question you may also want to send the plaintiff's attorney a good validation demand. And don't forget that your response must be filed with the clerk of the court before the 10 days have passed as well. If you handle things correctly you just might be able to turn this whole thing around but you will obviously have to hurry. In order to speed things up for you call me at (405) 237-2174 so we can hopefully get this thing started and your paperwork properly prepared and filed.