I recently received a summons for a credit card debt that was charged off in January 07 and turned over to a law firm that collects debts. This account was actually in my debt consolidation program, which I started in February, and two payments had been made on this account BEFORE the complaint was filed.

There is no court date listed in the summons, it simply states that I have 20 days from receipt of the summons to respond. I contacted my debt consolidation company and they have been in touch with the law firm that filed the complaint. They are reviewing a repayment proposal from the debt consolidation company, and if they agree, I was told that they would inform the court that I had responded within the 20 days as instructed in the summons. They would then ask that the court attach something to the judgment to show a payment plan is in place, and if I break it, they can then have the court grant the judgment and garnish my wages. I asked the debt consolidation company if this would show up as a judgment on my credit reports, even though I am complying to the complaint by responding, and have already begun making payments. I was told that it depended on whether or not the credit bureaus had runners that checked the local courts for this type of information. If they do, it will appear. The only way to get this to go away is to pay the $2500 debt in full before the 20 days is up, which I cannot do.

My question is this...... Is it worth me getting a lawyer to draft up a response to the complaint, and take it to the courthouse and file it? Or, should I just let things go as they are? I feel that this should be dismissed entirely, because I had already begun a repayment plan, which the collection agency/law firm acknowledged in their complaint, and to me, they are just trying to be jerks.

I want to do what is best for my credit. Although it is severely damaged now, I have never had any judgments or liens filed, and would like to avoid that happening.

Help!!! My state is Indiana.