Sued in Small Claims by Palisades
Hi, my father has been sued in small claims court in MA by Gary H. Kreppel, PC representing Palisades Collection, LLC. It's much too close to trial date (8/31/09!) to ask for verification. The debt is about $800 and described as "For Goods sold & delivered on or before 10/31/04 with PALISADES COLLECTION credit card."
My father is old and feeble and has a really hard time keeping up with any paperwork whatsoever, hence the reason I didn't have time to get any verification rolling. Needless to say I will bring him to court to avoid default judgement.
I know my father has no clue what this is about, and the summons really doesn't identify it either. In fact I doubt Palisades does any kind of credit card issuance. My question is how should I approach this in court without incurring the wrath of the judge? Can I demand original signed contract proof of debt? Also I feel this may be very close to SOL (6 years in MA I believe), but again I would need to see good documentation to even know for sure. Will the judge be on my side in this? Should I bring up Palisades' shady reputation? Any help at all appreciated.