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Shite! I woke up to a process server this morning with a summons. The in-house counsel of a local collection agency filed on their behalf, attempting to collect on $2000 of medical fees. This local agency works directly with most of the health care facilities in the area, and in my interactions with them they have been completely legit and following the FDCPA to the letter. Anywhos, there's no court date on the summons, but an order to respond with my defense in writing to the plaintiff and file the response with the court to avoid default judgement. On my one and only dealing with the collections agency, they refused to setup payment plans and demanded payment-in-full within a month to avoid "legal proceedings" (considered it an empty threat - whoops!). I'd love to pay it off slowly, but they refused to budge unless it was paid in full in that small span of time. What are my options here? Do I need to retain an attorney to respond to the summons and file with the court? What should I put in my letter? Added: So far they haven't dinged my credit. Bored College Guy fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Jan 7, 2010 |
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Jan 7, 2010 03:15
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An outside collection agency representing a hospital filed against me recently, I filed an answer with boilerplate defenses, and proceedings are scheduled for later on this month. I decided to look up the case records of the plaintiff attorney's prior cases to see what my chances were....he has a 100% win record for his last couple dozen cases (these are not including summary judgments because the defendant didn't show). Now that I have the money from my annual bonus check, I'd just like to pay in full and get this dropped. From the internets, I've learned that this will involve a "consent judgment" entered into the docket. 1. What's the best way to go about proposing a settlement in full? 2. Does a consent judgment remain on court record or on my credit report (which has not yet been dinged from this) ? Because I'll be applying for various government security clearances in the future, I'd like to make sure I don't have to declare anything resembling a "judgment" in my history. Edited to add: 3. Okay, apparently they just reported to the credit bureaus as of a few weeks ago, as it's now showing up. Additional question: How do I get this off? Bored College Guy fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Mar 6, 2010 |
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Mar 6, 2010 22:08
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CubsWoo posted:A consent judgment will stay on your credit report/court record, like other judgments. What I would suggest, if you want to pay instead of fight, is to contact the legal firm and see if they'll, as a condition of you settling (and maybe offer less than 100%, but if you don't care about that go ahead and offer the full amount) in return for them dismissing the lawsuit/deleting off the report. This way the case goes away, a judgment isn't entered on your credit report, and they get their money. I recently contacted this attorney's office and spoke with his legal secretary, who was shocked/flabbergasted that I wouldn't trust them to dismiss the case automatically after mailing in a payment (either she's a very good actress, or perhaps this particular attorney/CA actually does have a sense of ethics). In any case, I am appearing in his office next week to personally hand over the check and have us both sign an order of dismissal. Since his legal secretary was less than helpful in making sure all of my stipulations were going to be in the paperwork, I am planning to send this letter ahead of time CMRR: I am writing to confirm the details of the stipulations I am proposing in exchange for payment in full. This is not an admittance to this debt. As discussed with your legal secretary xxx, I am prepared to present a certified check for the amount of $xxxx.xx under my proposed agreement with the following stipulations: a dismissal of the case with prejudice, removal of all references to this debt filed with any and all credit reporting bureaus, an acknowledgment that the debt has been settled in full, and an assurance this debt will not be re-assigned to another collection agency. I will be appearing in your office in person on xx/xx/xx to sign the agreement and present the certified check. Please contact me at the address or phone number listed above if needed. Does this look good/sound like a good plan? Hopefully I am not missing anything. (Yes, I am still planning to show up in court on our assigned date in case they try to pull something)
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Mar 11, 2010 10:54
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