Should a creditor try to contact me before taking a case to court?

  • Thread starter Thread starter skw5s
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skw5s

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I have a debt that I was not able to pay a dime on for most of last year - I'm a full-time college student, living on $200 dollars a month. I was in contact with the creditor when I left my full-time job to return to school and things were set in motion. My last payment was in November and I have not heard a word from them since then - no phone calls, emails, written letters, nothing. I got a summons in the mail for court the other day and unfortunately, won't be able to attend the court date - I will be back in school in a whole other state.

I will be calling the creditor on Monday in an attempt to set up some sort of small payment - as a student, there is truly only so much I can do. It's sort of a catch-22 - leave one thing behind you to make something ahead of your better, only to have to worry about all of this! But after going through my files, I confirmed that the creditor had made no sort of contact with me whatsoever. Should they have been at least attempting to reach out to me before serving me papers?

I'm in no way trying to avoid the debt - I knew it would have to be paid eventually and fortunately, once school resumes, I will be in a higher paid position and will be able to make small payments to them. Something is better than nothing, no? I just feel as though they should have made some sort of contact with me rather than just slapping me with a summons - not even a late notice came from them!

Thanks!
 
It's a good idea, but they don't have to.
READ THE CONTRACT.
You know, the one you should have read BEFORE you signed it.
 
Are you sure you are being sued? Have you received an official summons from the court with a confirmed court case docket #? A letter from a debt collector threatening legal action is not a summons. If you can confirm that this is a real summons:

On the court date: DO NOT be a no-show under any circumstances whatsoever. Not showing up is the worst thing you can possibly do. Even if you are frightened....or you're sick with a 102 degree fever...or if you think that you'd loose up anyway! If you live in another state, make arrangements to travel to the court location. If you don't, the other side will get a default judgement and they will get this on THEIR terms. They will tack on all sorts of add-on fees and the amount of the judgment could end up being two or three times the actual amount of the debt.

IMPORTANT: bring complete documentation of your income and living expenses: Pay stubs and copies of bills. Even if you loose, you can use this to negotiate much more favorable repayment terms. Request the following info from the other side on the court date:

- a copy of the original application with your signature
- a fully itemized statement for the amount they are asking which clearly details how this amount was calculated, including the interest rate being charged - How much was this debt purchased for?
 
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