I defaulted on a Bank of America loan a couple years ago after setting up payments with a credit service, and, they (BOA) refused to work with them. BOA continued to raise the minimum & interest rates, past due fees, etc. With the amount past due, I couldn't even afford to keep up on the minimum payments. Now, I received a summons from the court giving me 20 days to respond.

The total amount the are requesting is slightly over 5,000. My circumstances are as follows: I am a full-time mother. I have 4 young children, and because of the cost of child care am not able to work. I receive approx 2K a month in child support. I hold a mortgage on my home of around 75K. My interest rate is 6%. I am unable to get a home equity loan due to my having no job, and, my credit issue due to this card and the credit counseling. I obviously can't squeeze out 5k anywhere I can find...

My question is: If I don't come up with the money and they place a lien on my home, does that allow my mortgage-holder to raise the interest rate? Will they be notified of the lien? Also, it says it "may also be enforced by garnishment or seizure of property". I assume this would only apply to secured debt?

No, your mortgage holder cannot raise the interest rate if they polace a lien on the property. Yes they would probably be notified of the lien, but it would be secondary to their lien.

If you have any bank accounts where you are listed as an owner, those accounts can be seized and frozen. But its unlikely they bother going after any other tangible assets like furniture, jewelry etc.