Hello ,
I have a question about my being sued for credit card debt. I was served about 5 days ago with a summons stating that I am being sued by a law firm for a delinquent credit card dept I have with Capital one. On the same day I received in the mail a copy of a request for" ENTRY OF DEFAULT" "CLERKS JUDGMENT" that the same firm had filed for the same debt that I was just served a summons for. The summons said I have 30 days to file an answer. Is this normal procedure to file a request for entry of default before a defendant defaults on the summons? I live in California in case that matters.
Thanks

File and Notice of Intend to defend with the ecourt even though they enter default jusgment.

File MoTion to Vacate judgment lack of proper service, insofar not enough notice to file answer.

This should cause a hearing to be set. Than you have to defend against their claim.

They are part and parcel of the same thing. The summons is to inform you that you can respond to the request for a default judgement. If you don't respond then the default judgement is entered. If you file the Intent to Defend Mr Yet talked about then a hearing is scheduled where you can defend against the suit.

Thank you ScottGem and mr.yet for your fast response to my post. The answers were very helpful.
I have spent the last 6 hours reading answers that you two gentleman have posted for people such as myself that have gotten in trouble by falling into the credit card collections web. I applaud the both of you. From what I have seen in this forum you 2 guys have given ALLOT of your time sharing your knowledge with those of us that need it. Life is a day to day struggle for allot of us and when we are notified (AKA served with a summons) that our lives are probably about to get harder you feel like.. . Well , kind of like it is your birthday but no one remembered , so you went to the bar and had a couple of beers and on your way home you get distracted by a guy wearing a clown suit and a parachute hanging from a power line and look forward only to see a red light and in a split second realize there is no way that you can avoid T Boneing the police car that was dispatched to investigate the hanging clown incident ,then , after you are released from jail you find a letter from DMV saying your drivers license was suspended 3 days before you had the accident with the investigating officer at the scene of the clown hanging for a ticket that you didn't get. Sort of like that. :rolleyes:
Any way I just wanted to tell you guys thanks and let you know what you are doing is much appreciated . My credit troubles are far from over and I have more questions I would like to ask. I will do so on another post.
Good Day Gentleman

Again thanks to mr.yet and ScottGem for your answers on my previous post.
mr. yet I don't think they have a judgment yet but they have requested an "entry of default" "Clerks judgment" If I understand correctly this means if I don't answer the summons within the 30 day time frame that they can get a default judgment against me . And as far as asking them to prove that I owe the debt I'm pretty sure that when I had no clue what to do (before I joined this forum) I pretty much admitted oweing them in a letter I wrote. And unfortunately for me due to health issues that have had a profound effect on my ability to work full time I cannot afford to pay them nor can I hire an attorney to help me. I have 2 other credit card debts that have gone bad also but I am trying to get all the information I can on how to deal with them since I cannot pay them. I realize paying them would be the right thing to do and trust me , my credit score was 740 I would have paid if I could have kept working but my heart condition had other plans for me. Anyway my questions are :
1- Am I pretty much done for the debt I'm being sued for $1,500 on a card that had a $600 limit because I admitted oweing the debt to them in a letter?
2- I own my mobile home and my car . Will that make them prime targets for the collectors if they get a judgment?
3- Is it likely they will seize my Mobile home or car? Or other personal property?
4- Is it likely they will put a lien on my home and force me to sell it. My total debt with 3 cards is around $20,000
5- Because of my heart problem I was planning on putting my Mobile home in my wife's name so if something happens to me she would have title on it with no hassles . Now, because of this lawsuit if I do that is it going to make them think I am doing this just so its not available for them to take and would that cause problems? Even though this suit is for $1,500.
I seem to write very lengthy posts ,sorry about that.. .

In most areas they cannot attach or even place a lien against a primary residence for unsecured debt. They are also unlikley to attach personal property as it's a hassle to sell.

Put your home in both you and your wife's name as Joint Tenants with right of survivorship. That will make the home hers if something happens to you.

Show that you will fight the creditors by filing your Intent to Defend. Then offer to settle for the original bill less interest and fees.

Hello,
I received a summons for credit card debt and as well copy of request for entry of default , clerks judgment. I am going to answer the summons and appear in court. What I want to know is can they get the judgment before I answer or do they have to wait the 30 days to see if I answer and then wait until the court date before getting a judgment. I live in California. Thanks

File Notice of Intend to defend. After that file a discovery with the Attoreny for the plaintiff, request the original contract you signed, a complete account of the alleged debt, if the plaintiff is not the original creditor, request doucmentation on how they obtain the debt, assignment, prurchase, etc.

Hello,
I am being sued by a debt collector for credit a card debt. (call it # 1)
I went on line to check the status of my case and saw the same debt collector had just gotten a default judgment against me for another credit card debt. (call it #2).
On # 1 I received a summons from a process server at my home. I filed an answer to it with the court. On # 2 I was never served anything . I went to the court and got the proof of service by substitute and the declaration of diligence that the alleged server filed. He claimed he tried to serve me at my home 3 times and on the 4th try he left the summons with a competent member of my household and gave her name and description . That was a bonified lie! That did not happen. No one Else has ever lived here except my wife and I. Also I noticed that a different person than the alleged server that signed the declaration of diligence filed a proof of service by mail. Guess what, I never received a summons in the mail either. These people work for an agency and are licensed process servers. And evidently are professional lier's also. If it was mailed I would have received it.
So I am preparing a motion to vacate default judgment but I have a question about it maybe you can answer for me . On the form it states that I need to have a meritorious defense to the original case as well to get the judgment vacated. What I don't understand is how can I have a meritorious defense to a complaint that I have never read because it was never served?

Are you claiming the second debt is not yours? Or are you just not sure? You can state simply that you question the validity of the debt because you have received no documentation of it.

Thanks for your answer Scott.
I'm not saying that the debt is or isn't mine. Its posable.
As far as telling them I dout the validy of the debt , I think the time for that may have passed. They have a Default Judgment against me. I was never asked if I wanted to have the debt validated. Or I surely would have done just that.
What I am saying is these process servers are flat lying about serving me and because of that there is a judgment. Trust me if I had any knowledge of this I would have tried to defend myself. Also I am saying that if the summons was truly mailed I would have received it. As well the substitute service is a crock. I have racked my brain trying to figure out what process servers would have to gain by lying like this . It doesn't seem like not having to drive over to my house to try to serve me would be a good reason but that's the only one I can see. The Attorneys on the other hand would get an unchallenged default judgment.
I would hate to think that is what happened

The question you have to ask is what did they have to lose? In most cases, creditos get a default judgement and the debtors never even know it, let alone know how to fight it. So the probablity is that they will never be called to task for falsifying the service. Even if they are, I'm not sure what penalties they might incur if they are caught lying.

Good ole American justice. So I guess the next step in there grimey little scheme ,once they have the judgment , logically would be to wait out the time alloted for the defendant to file a motion to vacate judgment and then there would be nothing he could do.

Bingo! That is why so many creditors who fight either get offered settlements of 50% or less or wind up getting the cases dismissed. The suits are filed under the expectation that a creditor who is hiding is going to continue to hide. They are not going to fight back. These sleaze bags who probably paid pennies on the dollar for the debt, are risking little for a large return.

If the creditor fights, they walk away having spent little more than 10% of the cost of the debt to purchase the debt and file some paperwork. If the creditor doesn't fight, they get their judgement and garnish a salary or attach a bank account. Maybe they get lucky and get the account on payday.

I just answer in another thread where the guy got a summons has his 20 days to answer and ignored it. NOW he wants to vacate the default judgement. But he has no grounds to do so.

Wow ,
I guess all I can do now is file a motion to vacate and hope the judge believes me. I don't know if I would bet on that if I didn't have to.:( I'm just a despicable delinquent dirty debtor that can't afford to hire a lawyer. Well wish me luck eh. I will let you how it proceeds. Any ideas are always welcome.
Thanks

Does the Court or anybody have to notify you if there is a Default Judgment entered against you? This in a limited civil matter in California. The Default was entered 2 weeks ago.

If anyone out there has had Winn and Sims law offices claim they have served you by substituted proof of service (where they claim they left the summons with another person to give to you) but you were not served please post or contact me by private message or email. Thanks

Hello 3:

Finding somebody else who got screwed by them isn't going to help your case.

Why don't you tell us what's going on and maybe WE can offer some tidbits... I don't know, but we're not chopped liver.

excon

Hello 3:

Nope. In the normal course of events, you'd have been served a complaint. However, I see that you claim you weren't served.

So, if you knew nothing about the suit at all, the first time you'd hear about the judgment would be when your bank accounts get levied upon or your paycheck gets garnished.

excon

PS> Try to keep all your posts under one thread…. It's easier for us that way – and you too.

Threads merged. Please keep related posts in the same thread.