[Yramtac]

In 2005, I moved twice in a short span of time due to some non-financial personal issues. Somehow, in all the chaos, I lost track of a Sears credit card ($3300 balance) that I was paying off via ACH. When I closed my bank account, I completely forgot to transfer the payment to my new bank account, so the bill went unpaid for several months.

When I realized that I hadn’t been paying the bill, I took the initiative to write Sears a letter, providing my new contact info, a check to cover my missed payments, and a sincere apology. I promptly received a new statement from Sears, saying that I owed them over $1000 that was due immediately. I called to tell them that I couldn’t pay the full amount, but that I would gladly resume monthly payments to get back on track. The CSR took the info, and in a few days, I got a letter saying that the account had been sent to collections.

I spoke with the collections agent, and I asked him to send me a full written account of what I owed, so that I could determine a repayment schedule. He agreed, but never sent anything. I sent a letter, asking for the same, and I never received a response. Instead I received a notice that my account had been sold to another collection agency.

I experienced a repeat with the next collection agency, and by the time a 4th collection agency started to pester me, I got fed up and called a lawyer. The lawyer advised me to try to settle the original debt with Sears. I sent a letter and received no response, and at that point I got fed up and quit trying to do the right thing.

2 ½ years later, one of the collections agencies just served me with a summons to appear in court in less than 2 weeks. I live in a fairly small town in Illinois, but my summons is to appear in my local court.

Questions: Is this a bluff? Will they proceed with a lawsuit for less than $4000 (the new amount that they’re asking for is $39xx, which includes interest and late fees).

AND, do I have any recourse? I have maintained a paper trail of all of my attempts to settle this debt. Have I been wronged, or should I just call the agency that is suing me and agree to pay the debt?

We're aggressively paying down my husband's student loans, so I can’t pay the amount in full, but I’m sure that I could get the debt paid off in a year.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[ScottGem]

No bluff. You need to file an Intent to defend with the court. Send a copy of your answer to the summons to the plaintiff requesting verification of the debt and their right to collect it. Show up for the hearing with documentation of your attmets to pay/settle this account.

[Yramtac]

Thanks, Scott. Do you think I would be better off to just settle and start making payments? Or might I have a legitimate gripe about the way this has been handled.

I really appreciate your quick response!