I got a summon at my door from a lawyer and it said I have to appear in court in 20 days. I went to court and they told me I have to call the law firm first. They want to collect a debt for Chase for $6839. I owed $5400, I guess the interest kept growing for the last 3 years. How should I approach the law firm? Can I negotiate with them? Can I offer them $3500 to settle the debt. I don't have money for a lawyer. I am unemployed. Please advice.

They might take that as an innitial payment, call them and say you want to settle out of court and can pay 3500 now and see if they can work with you on a payment plan with the credit card company. I don't know if they would take a partial settlement, but it would be good to offer before committing to pay back the whole amount

Doesn't hurt to offer a settlement. Most likely Chase has written off the debt and sold it, so anything they get is gravy. If they won't offer a settlement, then read the several similar threads in this forum. They will give you advice on how to deal with this.

Yes NEGOTIATE!


They have sold your debt for pennies on the dollar to this creditor. I would call and tell them you'd like to settle this debt TODAY and make them an offer.
I would offer no more tha 50% of the ORIGINAL debt. [Late fees and interest ARE commonly written off] If your original debt was 5400 then I would start with an offer of 2000. This way you can always negotiate upwards. Always leave yourself some wiggle room. :)

Also, when you make an offer be prepared to pay that day. This always perks their interest! They will want you to pay check/debit/credit- by phone that day. Tell them you want them to mail/fax you a letter stating they are accepting this as payment in full! That way there is no coming back for the rest of the amount OR something else they are doing is writing it off on taxes and YOU will be mailed a 1099 for the whole amount they write off... and of course this means additional income that YOU must claim for the year! So get their "payment in full" in writing! :)

Edited to add:
If for some reason they will NOT accept an offer then tell them you'll see them in court... AND SHOW UP! This is your chance to tell the judge, hey, I called and offered a settlement amount and they would not accept it. As far as I'm concerned MY DEBT was NOT with THIS COMPANY/CREDITOR! [and legally its NOT] So show me a contract! THEY can not produce ANY contract between you and them whatsoever... YOUR debt is with CHASE, remember?! So show up in court and fight them... I don't think loopholes should make any of these "debt mongers" legal! Buh! :)

You should check out clarkhoward.com and check out a link for CCCS of Atlanta