I am being sued (I guess) by Capitol One. I was served a notice 3 nights ago, to appear on March 1 at 1:30 pm, no court room, just the main address. It says it is a mediation/pretrial conference, but it is confusing. The debt they are listing is a valid debt, the amount is questionable. I thru many circumstances stopped paying on the account after a layoff, and got back on my feet a bit too late. They sent letter after letter demanding 50% or some number, or else. I called back, stating I could make payments again, but that wasn't acceptable. The problem, I never sent a letter, or documented phone calls. After doing all the reading I have done, I realize the error of my ways.
I don't want to walk into the court and go, "yep I used their card, and yep, thats my name!" and be told not to expect the next few paychecks.
It isn't that I can't afford to pay it, I just can't afford to pay it all at once!!! Plus, the fees they tacked on are a bit unreasonable.
Now, I have to pay attorney's fees too ? How do I stop this, or get through it ? should I hire an attorney ? how do I pay for that ?
HELP!

mr.yet

Go to court and dispute their claim, deny it is you until they produce the original contract which you sign, not a copy the original one where you can smudge the ink on it.

Deny you sign anything they have, unless they producethe original.

Deny all, no contract, no claim.

darenj

I am nervous about just walking in and denying the claim. I need some more to go on, possible consiquences, etc. I have a family to consider.

darenj

I am still a bit nervous about this. I have read a lot of information on this site, and unfortunately I am still intimidated. I know this is a valid debt, but from some of the items I have read on here, I am not supposed to admit to it until they produce proof. I fear that if I am asked, and I say "I demand proof that this is my debt, the contract that I signed" and poof!! there it is... then what ? I feel at this point the judge is going to look at me as some type of dead beat!! I have taken care of a lot of my debts, little at a time, because that is all I can do. I won't go into my sob stories, but my suit doesn't even fit me anymore!!! SO if I walk into court tomorrow and I am in my work uniform (I work in the plumbing field, so my uniforms aren't "business casual" unless you count glue stains as decorations!!!

I am also reading the notice, in all of its legal jargon, and it seems to counter any of this verification stuff I have read. It is telling me that I needed to verify this within 30 days of "this"notice, meaning my "Notice to appear for pretrial conference/mediation"

the debt is for $1889.00, plus attorney's fees, and interest where applicable.!!!

Please help, I cannot afford to have my wages garnished, I made mistakes in the past, and made them worse by not contacting them properly.. I.e. by mail.
any advice is appreciated

darenj

I went to court, which seemed to be a waste of time, and waited for my name to be called. When court convened (sp?) we were told that we could give three answers, either we admitted the debt/claim, denied , or partially denied, which the last permitted us to a mediation, with volunteer mediators provided in court. However, when my name was called, and I approached the clerk, I said, partially deny. He told me I could not do that, because the judge screwed up, and there weren't any mediators available at this court time, (which was 1:30pm, and its now 2:15pm) . So, I denied the claim. The attorney (Cap ones minion) said he would talk with me (while in line to see the judge at the bench) and we chatted, and I told him, I owed cap one about $900 before I defaulted. The principle they are suing me for is $1800, and the fees and BS charges added to that come out to $3600 and rising. He told me I could wait for him, and we could have a "sorta" mediation, and maybe work it out. This is what we told the judge we were doing, and he marked up some papers, said he would give us 30 min to "try the case" and off we went. Me, to another waiting room for 45 more min. The attorney showed up, we sat, and he proceeded to tell me I was to pay this $3600 dollars, and he would wave the court costs. In the end, I told him I was only going to agree to pay the $1800, on $100 per month basis, and wanted in writing that my credit report would show this account paid in full and closed, on all three bureaus. He told me he couldn't make this decision, and said he would write Cap one and tell them. This was 3 weeks ago, and now I receive a letter from the Courthouse, stating I have a mediation hearing again, on 3/28 at 9:30 am!!!!!
I don't have a lot of PTO time, and the first court date cost me half a days pay. This one will cost me another half day. What should I do!!!???
I am sorry for the length of this, but I believe anyone who can help me should see all of what happened, and tell me if I did something right or wrong ?

matrix231

you should definetly denie this dept untill you get a copy with your signiture of that contract and most likely they will not be able to verify it so sometimes it isnt ok to be honest in this world but may in your next life time..deny ,deny,deny alll!

s_cianci

Send them a final written proposal of payments and keep a copy. If they refuse to accept or at least entertain it then you'll probably end up in court, at which time be sure to let the judge know that you attempted to settle with them and they refused. That'll weight in your favor and win you more sympathy from the judge.