New guy and need help

[stand alone]

I recieved a letter,droped off by a guy last night from what looks like the state of texas.Its from a credit card company,witch looks like there sueing me.At the top of the first page it has :original petition with request for disclosures & admissions :. I also has address ,name.

In another paragraph it has the following :

You are commanded to appear by filing a written answer to the Plaintiff's original petition at or before 10:00 o'clock a.m. of the Monday next after the expiration of 20 days from the date of service of this citation in the county court at law no. two of tarrant county, texas at the courthouse located at 100 west weatherford st., fort worth, texas. The original petition was filed on 01/07/09.
FIA CARD SERVICES, N.A., FORMERLY KNOWN AS, BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
V

S
XXXXXXNOTICE TO DEFENDANT
YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. YOU MAY EMPLOY AN ATTORNEY. IF YOU OR YOUR ATTORNEY DO NOT FILE A WRITTEN ANSWER WITH THE CLERK WHO ISSUED THIS CITATION BY 10:00 A.M. ON THE MONDAY NEXT FOLLOWING THE EXPIRATION OF TWENTY DAYS AFTER YOU WERE SERVED THIS CITATION AND PETITION, A DEFAULT JUDGMENT MY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU.

The following pages have the following plantiff original petition. Plantiff's first request for admissions to defandant. Have several questions for a response.

What should I do?

[Trish]

What you need to be sure to do is file an Answer and Notice of Appearance before your 20 days is up.

OR if you know what this debt is.......and you legitimately owe it...another option would be to contact the company and try to work out a deal.

I am speaking from experience when I say.......You do not want to have to go to court unless you are pretty sure you can win. It will just make things more difficult and end up costing you more.

I have fought a CA and lost......ended up owing way more than it started out.
And I have been sent a summons on a debt I knew good and well was mine (and within SOL)........I did not want to fight it so I just called up the CA and made arrangements with them. I wasn't happy about it but it was easier that going through the process of filing, appearing in court, etc.

Just make sure and get ANY arrangements in writing UP FRONT before you give them any money.........AND make sure that they cancel the summons/court date and agree to remove/delete any mention of judgment.

IF you decide to go ahead with it and file an Answer, you can usually get the forms online or at your local courthouse.

[stand alone]

Thanks for the reply. My biggest problem is that I can't afford anything comming out of my pocket.I am on disability,witch cut my income from $30,000 to about $12,000.Plus I spend close to half of that on meds and the doctor.Would getting legal help do any thing.If I send a letter now could I still bargain with them latter.

[Trish]

Just a thought....
You may be judgment proof if your income is that limited.
You are in Tx? We need to see if they can garnish your wages.

Is it a large debt? Is it still within SOL?

[stand alone]

Originally Posted by Trish

Just a thought....
You may be judgment proof if your income is that limited.
You are in Tx? We need to see if they can garnish your wages.

Is it a large debt? Is it still within SOL?

My wife works but it takes all we have to pay the bills.What dose SOL mean .Thanks

[stand alone]

Sorry the debt says $5800 by what they say.

[Trish]

Is the debt within the statute of limitations for collection?
How old is the debt and what state do you currently reside in?

[stand alone]

The debt is about 2 years ago,and its in Texas.

[Trish]

TEXAS %

INTEREST RATE*

Legal: 6% with agreement can charge up to 18%. w/o agreement - statutory interest of 6% begins to run 30th day after becoming due

Judgment: 10%

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (IN YEARS)

Open Acct.: 4

Written Contract: 4

Domestic Judgment: 10 (Renewable)

Foreign Judgment: 10 (Renewable)

BAD CHECK LAWS (CIVIL PENALTY) N/A

GENERAL GARNISHMENT EXEMPTIONS

100% of Wages

COLLECTION AGENCY BOND & LICENSE

Bond: Yes License: No Fee: No

Always consult counsel to charge interest - Texas has very onerous usury laws & penalties.


Ok......well, there's good and bad. Tx has great consumer protection laws.
Your wages cannot be garnished.....that's a good thing
BUT from what I can tell, they can freeze your bank accts. So just a heads up......if you want to protect yourself, you may want to pull your money out......just be aware that they can levy any checking/savings of yours OR your spouse's.

Hmm......well, if I were you I would try to talk to BOA to see if there is some other way to work this out. You really don't want a judgment on your CRs (especially since it can stay on there 10 years AND it's renewable). You may even mention that you are on a limited income........and that it is going to be tough for them to get anything out of you if they try to sue you so it would be in their best interest to work with you (if you want.......you could even mention you're considering bankruptcy OR give them a sob story depending on how sympathetic they sound). Hopefully they will halt the lawsuit and make payment arrangements with you.

[stand alone]

Thank you so very much for helping me.