I recently received a summons from Sheriff's Deputies regarding a debt from a furniture company which I actually owe and have become default on. The summons was through a local "Attorney" in the Atlanta area. The debt is listed as 2000.00 with some court fees and interest thrown in. I contacted the Attorney office and talked with my "case agent". They stated I needed to pay the full amount listed, which I advised I could not. I offered to pay them $200.00 a month, and to have the money drafted from my account if they would drop the case. They advised they would have me sign a consent judgement, and I would not have to go to court. I informed them the only reason I would be able to pay that much was to take on a horrendous second job, but I would do it just to keep a judgement against me from being on my record. And a consent judgement is still a judgment. They advised that they could offer me a special deal of a "consent agreement" which was not a consent judgement. (Which sounds exactly like a consent judgement) I feel I have messed up by sounding so desperate to them originally, along with telling them how much I can pay. I feel they now think they can get the full judgement against me, and that I am made of money. I still have several weeks to respond to the judgement. Is there any way I can keep a judgement off my record without paying the full amount at once? By taking the second job, I will have an extra 400.00 or so a month, but I don't think I will have the time to get up the 2000.00 before the actual court date, so a judgement seems likely. I know I should have paid the debt earlier, but am just now getting my life back on track. With my job, I cannot afford to have a judgement on my record. Can anyone offer advise on dealing with the creditors?

Well I feel for your situation and the system seems to make people as yourself who want to do right dig a deeper hole. No need to me mystified by the system, but take advantage of what it does best, drag things on forever. What you need is time to gain capital to pay this off. Usually amounts this small lead creditors to write it off and sell your account to a law firm. The law firms will do all kind of nasties to compound the interest, and add fees and such. However, remember that they need to prove you owe every penny.

Simply make a plea of not guilty by uncertainty you owe all that is charged. This is truthful and gives you time. The law firm who is suing you had no part of your original promise to pay the debt back to creditor, so find out if they are directly representing the original furniture store. They still have to prove you owe each cent, use this to your advantage to save money up.

I'm sorry I sound so naïve, but at what point do I plead not guilty. Is this when I file the first notice that I am going to defend the case in court? If so, is there any general time line from the time that is filed with the court to the actual court date?

If it is possible to delay them for say, 4 months, allowing me to get up 1600.00, than what are the odds that after already mentioning I can make 200.00 dollar payments a month, the Lawyer company will settle for the lesser amount to dismiss the case? (I doubt I can stretch the case for the 5 months required to get all the money together)

Is there any chance of a Lawyer company even dismissing the case at all even if paid in full, or am I destined to have to show in court and have a hearing granting either a settlement or a judgement of not guilty?

You tried to work out a settlement by offering a fixed monthly payment and it was rejected. Now after looking at the monies they say you owe you don't know if they are accurate. Do you still get statements from furniture store, have you received a breakdown in all charges and fees, did you agree to pay fees and court cost with the lender before the loan? How do you know they are not being dishonest with the total amount due? You probably don't know these things so DON'T be eager to find out, let them prove each point. When you go to court the judge or referee will ask if you owe this amount, a yes will require you to pay in full. By saying I do have debt with the furniture store but you are in disagreement with the amount being sued for and have not been given any type of proof these figures or amount are accurate. This will give you time until next hearing or trial (30-90 days depending on State).

You may even get an offer to accept your payment plan, since more court requires more time (money) out of the law firms pocket. If they do this, offer them $150 a month instead….heh.

mystifiedbylaw writes: "They advised that they could offer me a special deal of a "consent agreement". What this means is that you agree to pay a sum of money at an agreed amount and interval until the sum is paid in full; you might have gotten a 'discount' if you could pay the sum immediately. You need to inquire further: the consent agreement is not a judgement; you are agreeing to make payments, and the creditor is agreeing not to push the case forward unless you default, in which case you have agreed to the sum certain, whatever that is. Keep in mind that you may be responsible for court costs and attorney fees; this would be specified in your sales contract. If you don't answer the suit within 30 days of service or default on your consent agreement, the creditor will get a judgement. The creditor can take the judgement and garnish your wages, so you would be careful not to let them know where you work or where you bank. Use money orders and keep copies of everything.

In situations where debts have reached collections, I have had HIGH levels of success simply negotiating a one-time payment with a written agreement that THEY sign indicating the payment I make settles the debt in full.

The good part - the one-time payments I've helped arrange all are in the 30-50% range. This is even easier once a debt GOES to collection because the collector often paid 10-20% for the debt, so even 30% is a profit for them.

Still, make an offer of $800-1000 in exchange for settling the debt in writing, in full with no recourse. You might be surprised. And that's an amount I bet you could scrounge up if they agreed.