[needcredhelp]

My wife was served yesterday with a Summons to appear in court next year because of a debt. We are in California, and the statute of limitations is 4 years here. The plaintiff is First Resolution Investment Corporation, whom I've heard has no qualms filing frivolous law suits. They are being represented by Gordon and Wong Law group. The amount is only about $3000 after attorney's fees are factored in. It doesn't seem worth it to hire a lawyer if we're just going to end up having to pay anyway.

My issues:

1) I need to file a response to the court within 30 days and serve the plaintiff with the response within 60 days. The court has a website with help for the proper documents, but what should I be considering when writing my response?

2) I think we MAY be past the statute of limitations, but I'm not certain. How do I request that they show me the evidence for their suit? As far as I know, the original creditor still owned the debt the last time we had any contact with a creditor. It's been a while, but I'm not sure how long.

3) The irony is that we've been attempting to repair our credit and would have been contacting them with an offer to settle. Now that we've been served, I'm feeling more inclined to let this one drop off if we've no obligation to pay it. If it turns out there's no obligation to pay for it, I think we should counter-sue. Are there any good lawyers who take on these cases or do you know of any class action suits against FRIC?

4) Is there anything else I should be considering?

[ScottGem]

Have you read through the threads here? Most of your question can be answered by reading through other people's similar expreiences.

You respond the summons with your Intent to Defend. If you have to cite a reason its because you are not sure the debt is valid. You then request verification of the debt from the plaintiff.

[mlr08]

Check out this very resourceful article about the crucial first steps to take when served a summons at: Served a Summons Or Credit Card Debt Lawsuit - Don't Call the Creditor!

You definitely want copies of old credit reports and try to figure out if the creditor re-aged the account at any point. Remember that cc debt is considered "open" debt according to the Federal Truth in Lending Act.

You can and should fight this yourself. When pressed for documentation many of these third party collectors quickly fold and move on to their next default target.

Good luck!

[mlr08]

Oh, and I forgot that in answer to your question, yes you can demand proof of debt documents, statements, etc. This is generally done during the "Discovery" phase of a lawsuit. Basically, after you send your answer either party can initiate discovery. You can then send them a Request for Production of Documents and they have 30 days to respond. All "discovery" documents can be admitted as evidence during a hearing.