Scared to file BK now! Will they take everything?!

[FortHoodTX]

Can I get a couple more responses of advice from you all with regard to my lawsuits? I have been sued by one of the banks twice for 2 credit cards I had with them. I was served on the 9th (14 days ago). I have until Monday the 2nd to respond, else the plaintiff gets a default judgment.

I asked the paralegal (at my lawyer's office; I also did my BK consultation with her) what I should do. She gave a response I didn't like. She said the answer is to hurry up and get all my lawyer fees paid and file BK, because that is the only thing that will stop the lawsuits in their tracks. Well... yes... I know this. I know they want their money... but $3000 isn't something I can pull out of thin air so I need to buy time.

I really like Angelina's advice 3 posts up. "I neither affirm nor deny this debt." and by the time it ends up going to court, I will have filed BK. But considering I'm very new to the whole "having a lawyer" thing, am I supposed to go to my lawyer and ask her to help me draft the Answer letter? Surely she should be able to understand my need to buy time in this situation. Or, do I just do everything myself— look up a template online and alter it then submit it to the courts? I have been speaking mainly to the senior paralegal in the office, and now that I have retained the lawyer, should I go directly to her with my questions? Hah, I hate feeling so timid about this...

Again, State of Texas.

Thanks, all...

[AngelinaCat]

I really like Angelina's advice 3 posts up. "I neither affirm nor deny this debt." and by the time it ends up going to court, I will have filed BK. Hah, I hate feeling so timid about this...
Thanks, all...

We didn't have any attorney advise us, we just did this. The idea was to make the opposing side prove what we supposedly owed.

As I said before, it was sent to Arbitration, which only happens once a month. We Did NOT know this. We found this out when the judge set the date for the FOLLOWING month, after we said that we were going to be out of town.

Check the local rules of your local civil court. See if your court has a (useful) webpage for information. I say (useful) because our court does not really do useful information of the type that you are seeking. Ours is 'General Info' only.

[FortHoodTX]

Thanks. Our District Court's website is fairly useless as far as advice. I've found many resources on the web about how to respond to the Request for Admissions. I am going to talk to my lawyer on Monday and see what she says. Either way, "do nothing about the lawsuits" seems to be a bad course of action, and every resource so far as told me that... so hopefully my lawyer will advise me to respond to them and assist with it.

I was served with TWO separate stacks of paper. They have different cause #s which indicates that it's 2 different lawsuits. One was filed 30 JUL and the other 06 AUG. Seems legit, right? Well, aside from the dates... the packets are IDENTICAL. This makes no sense to me. Even the credit card account number in them is the same. So by reading the docs, I gather that I'm being sued twice... for the same card... for the exact same amount. It's like they xeroxed the packets and just changed the dates. Really odd! I did have 2 different credit cards with them... so 2 suits would make sense... but the documents do not.

[AngelinaCat]

I was served with TWO separate stacks of paper. .... so 2 suits would make sense... but the documents do not.

Yes, you are being sued on two different issues. Most likely you are being sued by a law firm representing BOTH cases. That IS common.

As you read the paperwork, YES, the verbiage contained within will be the same--since the issues involve credit cards. The differences will be the Dates, the EXACT account numbers, the EXACT amounts, and EXACT names those cards are in. Just some things to think about...

[FortHoodTX]

Exactly, and therein lies my confusion. I expected the paperwork to be roughly the same since the cases involve 2 credit cards from the same company. The dates are different... but the account numbers listed in both suits are the *same* (they shouldn't be.) The amounts are the *same* (they shouldn't be.) And both in my name of course.

Not planning on fighting the suits of course, just trying to buy time... but the paperwork seems totally wrong. They can't sue me twice for the exact same card, and according to the paperwork, that's what they're doing. My lawyer's office is familiar with this law firm though. Hopefully she'll give me the course of action that's in my best interest right now.