response to plaintiffs complaint filed what action should i

I have a delinquent credit card account with Chase, which has been written off. The account status on my experian credit report is “transferred,closed”. Several different debt collection agencies have made attempts to collect this debt. The debt has been bought by asset acceptance and they have added a trade line to my credit report for this same debt. They have also filed a complaint in the local municipal court, which I assumed was an attempt to obtain a default judgment. I attempted to negotiate a settlement but was unsuccessful. They would not go any lower than 60% of the amount that they claim the debt to be (which is 70% of the amount that shows up on my credit report for the chase account). In order to avoid the default judgment, I filed a certificate of service, a response to the plaintiff’s complaint and a copy of the summons with the plaintiff’s complaint. I then attempted to negotiate with them again but they would not budge from their original offer and they claimed that they have the documentation from the original creditor necessary to win the case. I have been reading advice on several credit help web sites and have found several claims that junk debt buyers usually do not have adequate documentation from the original creditor to substantiate their court case. Is it likely that they are just bluffing in an attempt to get me to pay a larger settlement percentage? Or is it likely that they actually do have adequate documentation to win the case?

Basically, I have the funds available to pay a lump sum settlement but I have other debts to tend to after this one. This is the current priority only because they have filed a case against me. I am anxious to get this resolved to eliminate the mental and emotional burden but I am willing to spend the additional time and effort if it will benefit me economically. Conversely, I don’t want to continue “spinning my wheels” if they are likely to have adequate evidence to win the case and get a judgment for the entire amount.

I am considering the following options and I am asking for advice regarding which path to follow: 1) believe them and pay their settlement offer of 70% to avoid wasting more time/effort on this matter (if, in your opinion, I am not likely to reach a lower settlement agreement or defeat them in court); 2) get a lawyer to help me fight the case (if it is likely that an attorney could get a much better settlement agreement or even win the case because asset acceptance will not be able to present adequate documentation); 3) call their bluff and continue attempting to negotiate a settlement before the court date (I am willing and able to increase my lump sum payment offer but obviously do not want to pay a penny more than I have to in order to get this resolved); 4) wait for the court date, show up to court and attempt to negotiate a settlement with their lawyer.

I thank you in advance for any advice that you might offer regarding this matter.