Do I have any legal options? Should I pay for an attorney to

I reside in North Carolina and in 2001; a judgment by default was awarded to a legal firm representing the credit card company. The judgment states that I was served notice in June 2001. However, I was never notified because it was mailed to a previous address and I had not forwarded my mail. The judgment paperwork says the debt had been outstanding since April 26, 2001. The judgment against me consisted of the original debt or principal sum which was $6797 plus an 8% finance rate and also additional attorneys’ fees ($1025). To the best of my recollection I never made a payment because I did not know about it.

Then in February, 2003 an assignment of judgment was filed with the court system to transfer my judgment amount from the credit card company to a collection agency. It is documented in the paperwork that I paid the credit card company a $10.00 payment (which I do not remember and I really don’t believe that I sent it to them but it has been so long ago that I may be wrong). So,the collection agency became the owner of the judgment. The attorneys for the collection agency sent a Certificate of Service to the same address as in 2001. I had not resided there in over two years. So, again, I did not know about it.

It took the attorneys four more years to locate my correct address. In 2007, I was finally served paperwork by a sheriff and this is when I first contacted the attorneys. I agreed to pay them $50.00 a month and did not miss a payment. Then I started trying to pay off the debt by sending them more money each month for about six months. However, every time I spoke with a representative I was given different pay-off amounts. So, I went back to sending them $50.00 per month.

In July 2009, even though I was making monthly payments, my payment in July was returned to me with a Notice of Right to Have Exemptions Designated. The sheriff who served it said that I had to make some type of larger payment at the time. So, I paid $500.00 plus the amount that it cost to be served and agreed to start paying $150.00 per month. I sent in the paperwork, which showed that I did not own anything over $2500.00 plus I wrote a letter to the court explaining my situation and mailed it certified. At that time and currently I have good credit after many years of repaying student loans and repaying old debt from when I was in college.

Now, after paying $150.00 per month since then, the attorneys sent me a letter dated May 4th, 2011 with paperwork and wants me to sign a Confession of Judgment to avoid the necessity of renewing the judgment previously obtained against me. They wanted me to return it, signed in front of a notary public within 10 days of May 4th. I have also been sent a “Notice of Intent to file Legal Action to Renew the Judgment Debt of Record.” Their paperwork states that I have paid approximately $7,050 since the Judgment entered and that my current balance is $6,400. I have not contacted them yet.

Any advice is welcomed!