Please..Need Help ASAP!

[xxbrowns]

First I want to say after reading so much the past couple of days, I'm a little comforted knowing I'm/we're not alone in this...

Is there anyone out there at this hour that can advise me. My husband let a notice sit a the P.O. and we just picked it up earlier today. It was a summons dated 3/15/2011, filed by Chase (credit card). I'm in Ohio so I have 28 days, which is this Tuesday. We are in the process of searching for an attorney, I don't want to just pick one and be sorry later on. I don't want to rush, but I know I need to find one by mid week. Anyway, I need to answer this summons and from the research I have done, I should deny it. I don't know what grounds to deny it on since the CC agreement and my bill are attached. I just want to buy more time so we can file for bk. I want to send it in the mail tomorrow. Overnight and signature required to both attorney and court. I don't want to screw this up before my attorney comes into the picture.

Any words or encouragement are appreciated and/or guidance. You guys have helped me more than you'll ever know.

Thanks!
Chris

[sealpup]

My husband and I have had to file several answers. From my experience, you don't even really have to deny it. You could get really fancy and deny it and list affirmative defenses, which I did once. But I found it very time-consuming and really a waste since we were filing anyhow. On several of ours we admitted it, but either said we had been working to resolve this w/the creditor and had not come to a resolution yet, or we said we were in a financial hardship due to my husband's unemployment, etc. I don't think it matters really what you say, just that you file something. I suppose you could even say you are in the process of retaining a lawyer and considering bankruptcy, so you would like more time while you explore your bk options. Don't know how it works in your county or state, but here once an answer is filed, then it has to be set for mediation, but that usually takes 1-2 months to get scheduled and arranged, sometimes longer. We have never actually gone to mediation- we either worked something out w/them beforehand, or more recently had our lawyer tell them we were filing bk soon and they said they would wait 60 days. If you don't show up for mediation here, it's a default judgement against you.
Not a lawyer- just my personal experience. Hope that helps! Good luck!

[xxbrowns]

Thank you so much Sealpup! I really appreciate your time. I've been hanging around here trying to figure all this out. No matter what, I need to send something out tomorrow. Again, thanks for your time.

[DYLAN150]

XXbrowns: How long did it take chase to file? ( i owe them too) In other words, how many payments have you missed?

[catleg]

Chase filed against me after 5 months. But it was in NJ where they have in-house counsel. I assume it would be slower in other states, besides like NJ,NY,FL,IL,CA, but can't say for sure.

[xxbrowns]

It seems like it was roughly around 8 months of non payment and I had 2 credit cards with them. They combined the 2 on the summons. You probably want to be prepared but I learned that it's 28 days (or what ever your state is) from the day you receive and sign for the law suit and not the date signed. Good luck.

[lillymarlene]

I agree with sealpup.

I don't think it matters really what you say, just that you file something.

When I was going to be sued by BoA, starting with a summons taped to my door last March, I decided to answer it, since I knew ignoring it would result in a default judgement. I wrote my local court that I denied the charges. Then, all kinds of "interogatories" and questions from an attorney representing BoA were also sent to me, which I did not bother to answer.

July 2010, I attended the "pre-trial" phase (which maybe is common in my district) and the case was continued to Nov. 2010. I knew I absolutely had no chance of "winning" this, but was able get my "act" together and file bk.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[catleg]

It all depends on your state how fast the process goes. Here in NJ the skids are greased to deliver judgments with maximum efficiency. After my first lawsuit I realized why bother, time to file.