Last night some guy knocked on my door and presented me with a summons listing a credit card company as plaintiff, with a law firm listed on the final page ("Attorneys in the Practice of Debt Collection" is listed under the law firm name). This credit card company has sold this debt to at least two other debt collectors prior to this law firm getting it. The two previous collectors never contacted me again after I sent letters requesting validation. This law firm first contact me 11-5-10, stating that "this firm is a debt collector". I sent them a letter requesting validation, they sent me copies of the last 10 cc statements. A month and a half passed, then I got the summons. I contacted the clerk of court (for the North Dakota county district court listed on the summons) and they don't have an open case for this summons. Turns out the complaint and summons number (same number) are the same as the "file number" listed on the first letter I received from this law firm. The clerk said that I should send a response to the plaintiff (certified w/ return receipt), but not with the court because they have no place to file it. If I want to open a case with the court, I'd have to pay $80 plus another $50 to file my answer - otherwise I'm suppose to send my answer to the plaintiff and wait and see what they do. My questions are:
1. Is the plaintiff the credit card company, or the law firm - and does it make a difference? The credit card is listed as the plaintiff on this "summons", but the law firm has been representing itself as a debt collector - so wouldn't they really be representing themselves, not the credit card company?
2. Do the copies of statements qualify as validation, or do they need to provide copies of a signed agreement - and does that signed agreement need to be between myself and the credit card company, or me and the law firm (debt collector)?
3. When I send my "answer", should it be to the credit card company because they are listed as the plaintiff, or to the law firm because they are the ones who apparently had this delivered to me?
4. After I send my "answer", will I be notified of any court date that is scheduled, or is it possible they will file with the court but NOT notify me, thereby getting a default judgment against me because I don't show up?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

I hope someone else with more knowledge can answer this for you, but I definitely think you should read up on consumer rights regarding debt collection.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

If you can speak to legal counsel, you should do that as well because something doesn't really seem right with the way you've been contacted and the way the credit card company has sold the debt to three different agencies (but I am not an expert on this).

What I can say is that once the debt has been sold to a collection agency, your business is with the collectors, not the credit card company.

Did you receive a response? I've had the same experience, with a law firm acting as the debt collector and sending a summons that has not been filed with the court.