I am scheduled for a hearing in local court concerning 2 credit accounts march 27(tomorrow). I filed my notice for intent to defend with the court last week and the lawyer suing me called last Friday and also sent correspondence stating that we could work this out to avoid court. Now I do not know what to do... call them today and make some kind of arrangement... or go to court and request validation for the debt and make the case that the sol is up in 2 months... I do not want to pay all the accessorial charges of interest, late fees etc. I do have knowledge that this is not the first collection agency to attempt to collect on these debts... Also how do I know that the original creditor didn't charge off this debt long ago? And does that even matter?

Please help... my time is running out and I standstolose.

Forget the SOL issue. If it hasn't already expired then you have no reason for bringing it up.

Second, forget the chargeoff issue. That has NO bearing on this. Whether the account was chargedoff or not doesn't affect the fact that you still owe the debts.

So your ONLY hope is that they do not have sufficient documentation to prove that the debt exists and they have a right to collect it. My advise is to negotiate.

My advise is to negotiate if possible, if not go to the hearing, demand to see the original contract you signed, not a copy.

Remember the plaintiff must be present, attorney cannot testify for their client, no plaintiff shows up, move to dismiss with prejudice their claim.

Thank you both for quick replies. It is much appreciated. As for plaintiff showing up... the original summons shows the attorney filing for plaintiffs. One is collection agency showing attorney's address. The other plaintiff is the bank. I will ask to see the original contracts with my signature not a copy, and wish me luck that neither plaintiff shows up!

Attorney cannot not be the plaintiff, they cannot testify for the plainitff, if that person doesn't show, move to dismiss with prejudice, you havethe right to cross-examine that person.

Request the validation of the debt with original signature, send certified return receipt letter only. They have 30 days to respond or respond in court with the docs.

If they do show up and have the doc, you can also attempt to negotiate the dollar amount down, or "intent to pay" by making payments on the $$ amount agreed upon depending on your circumstances. In exchange, request that upon final payment received, they agree to either delete this from the credit bureaus or mark the account "Paid as agreed." and this must be in writing--never do it on the phone. Whenever you make payments, put a restrictive endorsement on the check stating they agree to delete or mark Paid as Agreed as per the doc you need them to sign (called an offer in compromise). Once paid you will need to send this doc to all 3 credit bureaus certified ret rec. Make sure you keep a copy of everything you send, including checks!

Most people don't know about Novation--simplified: every time you receive your bill there can be very fine print changing the terms of your agreement every time you receive a bill. No one bothers to read it, so once you send in a payment, you are agreeing to their new terms. Sneaky, huh?