Help! Just got served!!!!!! FREAKING OUT!

[pitts48]

To Samanthajones:
It's probably been about a year or so.
I think it may have stopped the law firm from taking the suit futher once they saw the responce to their law suit was from my bankruptcy attorney.

[ironman1964]

I was just greeted at my door by a Sheriff with papers from the district court saying Discover is suing me! I haven't yet filed, but am going to as soon as my husband can get his payroll information to the attorney (he doesn't get pay stubs as he is just issued a hand-written check). It says

"you have been sued by the above named Plaintiff, and you are directed to file a written answer to the attached petition in the county court stated above within 20 days after service of this summons upon you, exclusive of the day of service"...

on the next page it talks about how I defaulted on the loan and they are wanting my employment information from the Oklahoma Employment and Securities Commission. I am assuming this means they are wanting to garnish my wages?

This came from an attorney in my state that was hired by Discover. A couple of months back they contacted me and I gave them my attorney's information since I was planning on filing but hadn't yet. He was fully retained.

What does all of this mean??? What do I need to do??? Will speeding up the filing process make this go away?

HELP PLEASE, I'M FREAKING OUT!!

How long has it been since you stopped paying on your Discover card? It has been about 4 months for me, and I still don't have enough saved up to feel comfortable seeing a lawyer yet. There are only 2 bk lawyers in town, one wants $1200 and the other wants $2000 but neither will take installments. If Discover is this agressive, I may have to throw my lease in when I file since that will save me some fast money. I really don't want to wait until I get a summons but I don't like the idea of walking again either. The problem with Maine is the excise tax on vehicles. Mine is due this month and it will be over $500 plus my regular payment ($250), insurance ($61), and gas. That is about $900 I will be coughing up for my truck this month, which will almost wipeout all the money I have saved since I stopped paying on my cc's 4 months ago. I will need to decide in the next 2 weeks whether to keep my truck or not. If I let it go, I will have the money to file in 6 weeks. If I keep it, it will probably be July before I file. That is why I am interested in how agressive Discover really is.

[ccidiot01]

We got served back in November by Chase, which we had not paid for about 6 months. We had 18 days to respond. Fortunately, we were ready to file and did so about a week before our response deadline...

I'm surprised to hear that Discover is that aggressive. They bent over backward trying to accomodate us from the time we stopped paying (July 06) up until our filing. The even offered an unsolicited settlement of 35% of what we owed about a week before we filed...I felt bad enough filing, but felt especially bad towards Discover since they really seemed to be the most accomodating creditor we had.

Chase was BY FAR the most antagonistic creditor we had...the suit not withstanding they were bulldogs...

[treehugger1]

I had a local payday loan company file a small claim after 30 days when I could not make my agreed upon payment. I received a summons in February, and this rolled into a default judgment. I have a new agreement with the PD loan company and they agreed , in writing, not to pursue a writ of wage garnishment as long as I live up to the current agreement. As far as I know, the judgment is simply in the local court and doesn't get reported unless instigated by the aggreived party. Over half of my creditors are working with me, but the other half are wild cards, and may throw everything out-of-balance. See below.

Now, today I received a letter from an out-of-state credit union that I owe $8400.00 to. They want $390.00 within ten days or, "you will be turned over to a collection agency for wage garnishment or other legal action." Well, I don't have $390.00, so I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens next. Since they are out-of-state, they will have to send my account to a collection agency that is licensed in my state (Oregon). Once that happens, I will wait to hear from the CA, and file my letter for verification/validation at the last minute (28- 30 days). It may take them a few days (5 - 10) to get their information together and mail me the validation/verification. I'll try to speak with them after a few days ( 5 or so). There is no way I have the money, so they will have to file with a justice court (the amount is too big for small claims). I'll wait for 18 - 19 days to decide if there is any value in "answering." If not, they will move for a writ of garnishment, and begin sucking 25% of my take-home pay (currently better than a 13 in my case). I'm guessing that any wage garnishment could occur no earlier than May 1. This is the first creditor that I can truly not pay and who will not accept any other arrangement. So, here we go!! In the meantime, all I can do is keep my eye out for other creditors who will undoubtedly be suing me. But, since their actions are out of my control, and I'm not afraid of the possibility of wage garnishment, all I can do is wait and respond when necessary. Wish me luck. I still need at least 5 - 6 months to be able to afford a BK 13.

[treehugger1]

More to add...

I think it is very important and powerful to know that being unable to pay all your unsecured creditors is not a crime. However, you do want to protect yourself. Get your paycheck in paper, have another bank account (out-of-town) ready should local folks make an attack (through judgment) on your bank accounts. I have thought out solutions to potential problems as far as knowing where I can go to cash my paycheck (actual cash), if necessary. Pay your secured creditors, especially, if any equity in your auto(s), home, furnishings, etc is within the exemptions allowed for in your state. Be proactive. And, I suppose one must always be prepared to file when their ship finally runs aground. If I could file a 7, I would do so the first of April. Since I am potentially looking at a future 13, sc*ew 'em, creditors will have to "force" me there. Educate yourself every step of the way. Cheers.

[no_it_all]

Emanual Law book, google it and find the one about Civil Procedure. File an answer, make sure you do that within the twenty days. I was sued for about 9K and they never got a dime. Is there a docket number on the summons? If not, it was probably not filed through the court and is just a form letter with a We Cheat'm and How letterhead.

[ilovemycaitybug]

How long has it been since you stopped paying on your Discover card? It has been about 4 months for me, and I still don't have enough saved up to feel comfortable seeing a lawyer yet. There are only 2 bk lawyers in town, one wants $1200 and the other wants $2000 but neither will take installments. If Discover is this agressive, I may have to throw my lease in when I file since that will save me some fast money. I really don't want to wait until I get a summons but I don't like the idea of walking again either. The problem with Maine is the excise tax on vehicles. Mine is due this month and it will be over $500 plus my regular payment ($250), insurance ($61), and gas. That is about $900 I will be coughing up for my truck this month, which will almost wipeout all the money I have saved since I stopped paying on my cc's 4 months ago. I will need to decide in the next 2 weeks whether to keep my truck or not. If I let it go, I will have the money to file in 6 weeks. If I keep it, it will probably be July before I file. That is why I am interested in how agressive Discover really is.

I haven't paid on my Discover card since August 2006. So, 6-7 months. They'd been in contact with an attorney for a few months, though. I told them I'd retained an attorney and was filing bankruptcy. I guess they got tired of waiting! So, I did have contact (via phone and a letter) from an attorney on behalf of Discover before I got served.

As for Chase, I have about 3-4 Chase cards and all I get from them are letters from collection agencies. Wait, no, they did contact my BROTHER (I'm married so we have different last names) on his cell phone (I don't even know his cell #!!! and he's even in a different state!!!) and gave a phone number and claim # to refer to. When I googled the #, it brought up some music sites. I was curious so I called it and found it was MRS (a collection agency). I called them and told them to STOP calling my brother. Very sneaky, I think.

One card that is absolutely RELENTLESS (haven't filed suit or anything yet) is my husband's Citi card. They call several times per day... first at his mom and dad's and now at our house since we told them not to call them anymore. We have caller ID and they call from 2 different numbers, even on Sundays. They REALLY try to get us close to 9:00 pm (I think that's the latest they can call). What makes me mad about the Citi card is that we WERE on a credit counseling program, and they were receiving payments (haven't missed one yet, just stopped it this month) but the credit counseling and them couldn't get to an agreement of what to pay! So they said they hadn't received a payment since December!!! But they sure did take our money each month... jerks.

Anyway... that got kind of long, but hopefully it gives you an idea of Discover's agressiveness (is that a word? ). I'd say they were rather agressive with me. It was probably 4-5 months without payment when they got the attorney.

HTH!