I just received a summons(my first one ever) in the mail last Friday filed in county court from a law firm. Capital One is the original creditor. I do not know how to respond to the summons. I do not really want to get an attorney involved. I was wondering what steps I take and I was wondering if anybody had any guidelines that could help me out. I do not deny the debt. My goal is to make payment plans, but I do not know if I waited too long. I would really like to avoid court all together. There is no Court date on the summons. It just has a cause Number. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have 23 days to respond. Should I call the law firm and try to work things out, or am I too late? Are there any templates I could use to respond. I have a college education, but I have to admit I am not very legal saavy. I want my response to look professional.

I am not a legal professional. The law is called Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) for the federal law, different states may also have addition protections for you. Many times debts are bought from the original provider, these collection "agencies" will go for a judgment in a courtroom increasing the amount of the original debt and after getting a judgment increase it even more. You need to make yourself aware of your rights and what you can do about it and lastly what they cannot do to you. Go to this website for consumer information: Americans for Fairness in Lending - Debt Collection Abuses

Every state, county, or city collections court is different. The one thing that you should never do if you get sued is ignore the lawsuit. At a minimum, always follow the directions on the court summons to file a written answer with the court and do not let a default judgment be entered against you. In court, you will have a chance to explain your side of the story. The lender or debt collector must produce certain minimum evidence in court to prove your debt, such as a signed contract and the like. Often they can't or don't produce these documents for a number of reasons, including the passage of time and poor record keeping. When you file an answer in the court when sued and go to the court date when notified, you put the lender or debt collector to the test of proving their case. If you win the case, then all collection efforts should end. If you lose the case, the judge will sign a paper listing the amount you owe. This is called a “judgment.” You may have the right to appeal the judge's decision if you think it is wrong. If all else fails, even if a judgment is entered against you, every state has a list of “exempt” property that can't be seized and, if you are employed, a minimum amount of wages that can't be garnished. In addition, social security and other benefits are also exempt. As a result, poor people who are unemployed and even some people who are working part-time or for low wages will not have to pay a judgment.
Another important thing to keep in mind is what is called “a statute of limitations” on your debt. If the lender or debtor does not sue you within a specified period, they lose their right to ever sue you again. This is usually a period of several years, normally counted from the date of the last payment you made. As a result, debt collectors will pressure you to make a partial payment—even a very small one—because this will extend the statue of limitations further in time. Therefore, it may be a mistake to make a partial payment when pressured by a debt collector after years of not paying, because in some states this partial payment starts the statute of limitations running all over again.
Save all collection letters and other documents that come in the mail, and keep the postmarked envelopes. Don't throw them away.

They also have the link to the law for you to see your rights and advice on letters,

Hope this helps, Frankie

I got a letter like this once. Come to find out it was the collection agency trying to scare me. I called the court and they told me nothing had been filed. I do believe that by sending you a court document that was never filed it is a violation of the FDCPA, however good luck finding a lawyer that knows anything about the FDCPA to represent you.

Jon where do you live and when was the last payment made? Each state has its own statute of limitations regarding dept collection. Look up your states statute and do not say anything about paying one red cent to anyone until we get the answers to the statute.

I was in the same situation where there was no court date on my summons. I used an "Answer" template from ihavebeenserved.com and the creditor never responded after receiving the Answer. The case was eventually dropped. Good luck!

Can third party collection agency refuse payment before the summons and complaint has been filed? And they purchased this debt from local grocery store called King Soopers who had permission and even paid one of the two I accidntly had bank return.. and King Soopers claim they threw my credit card info away after the first transaction and then Apollo credit never read me mini miranda and harassed me through out June and July
With ill attempts at service.. included coming back to my job after being told not too...