Hello fellow sufferers and advisors,
I am in dire need of some advice. Much thanks to those who read and respond. I am in California and received a summons for a limited civil case. The plaintiff is listed as Capital One Bank and the attorney is listed as Hunt and Henriques. Hunt and Henriques is a law firm/collection agency. They have negative reviews when googled. They are the second group to send me a debt collection letter. I am being sued for $2800 for a credit card debt. I'm somewhat sure that Hunt and Henriques is suing me and not actually representing Capital One, but that's just a hypothesis.
A brief history of this collection activity on this account:
I attempted to reach a settlement offer from the first collection agency that was handling this case and they eventually agreed to $1500 over the phone. However, I believe they must have sold the account or given it back to Capital One because when I attempted to receive the settlement details in writing, they were not in charge of my account any longer.
A few months later I received a collections letter from Hunt and Henriques stating Capital One Bank has engaged them to collect the entire outstanding balance. I sent a debt validation letter within 30 days, and I received a response 2 months later with 6 pages consisting of the first page of the bill for 6 months as well a facsimile page, which had the account balance and my name and address when I applied for the credit card.
I thought they were past the 30 day limit to respond to my debt validation letter, so I didn't respond right away. A month later they filed with a court and served my roommate 2 days later.
I need to respond to the court within 30 days, which I have no clear idea how to do and costs $220. I guess that I go to the court and ask for the document related to my case to affirm or deny each charge? I'm currently an independent (tax-wise), low-income student without a job, and I believe that I will qualify for a court response fee waiver. I guess that my case is not eligible for free legal aid from a non-profit legal aid group. Should I hire an attorney? Ultimately I want to make a settlement offer around $1000-$1500, which would be the amount that I would have owed without interest. I am so poor and truly cannot afford more than $1500 TOTAL for everything involved with this summons, but I do not want to file for bankruptcy because I believe that I will be somewhat successful in a few years.
Thank you,
Jamie
Received a summons
Hi Grapesforwine,
Welcome to this community v:)
You have received the summons, and so will have to answer to that. Can you tell whether or not you have proof of the validation request sent to the collection agency? If you have you can provide that as proof to oppose the lawsuit. I think you should consult an attorney regarding this.
To answer to the summons, you can take help either from an attorney, or the court clerk. You should have disputed this debt as you did not receive a proper validation.
Thanks,
Aaron
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for the response and welcome. Yes, I do have proof as I sent the debt validation letter by certified mail. I am meeting an attorney for a free consultation tomorrow. Does it matter that I did not send a letter to the collection agency/attorney stating something to the effect of "you have not properly validated... etc."? If I went to court, how would they place a judgment against me if I am not working for money the next few years? Would the plaintiff be more inclined for a lower settlement agreement in that case? Would it make any sense at all to use an attorney outside of the free consultation? They charge like $300 per hour and I'm trying to make a settlement offer of around $1000-1500 for a $2800 civil suit.
Thanks