Negotiate a Debt Settlement - I have recieved summons over a credit card debt. Is trying to negotiate a settlement my best option?

I have recieved summons over a credit card debt. Is trying to negotiate a settlement my best option?

What are my chances of settling at a lower amount? With over 25% in interest the amount is over $8000. What would be a good target for negotiation? Also the lawfirm involved is about 4 hours away from the court location. If They don't show up, can this be dismissed?

Public Comments

If they didn't show up then yes, the case would be dismissed. That won't happen, they are the ones who filed suit. Your best bet is to try to negotiate a settlement. Here is some good info regarding your court date... YOUR FIRST COURT DATE If you admit you owe the money or don't show up on your first court date, they get a judgment. Ten days after the judgment, then they can get the garnishment. Around here, most people don't show up for their court date, so they automatically plead guilty to owing the debt. Ignoring court papers is usually not a good idea, and especially not in Virginia where the judges don't lose sleep over whether you really knew about your court date. Most people who do show up for court, just plead guilty. The judge says, "do you owe this money?" "Yes, but I can't pay it right now." Judge, "OK, you can discuss it with that lawyer after court." Do that, and you just pled guilty! The ONLY judge who cares about whether you can pay is a bankruptcy judge. Bankruptcy judges worry full time about whether you can pay, so the other judges don't have to worry about it at all. And they don't. If you go to court on a warrant in debt you should tell the judge you are not admitting you owe they money and you need time to talk about it with a lawyer. Some judges will really crowd you to just plead guilty, but if you stand your ground they can't make you. YOUR TRIAL If you show up for your first court date, don't plead guilty and ask for a trial, you'll get a trial date a month or two later. At the trial you need to stop the creditor from proving that you owe the money. The creditor's lawyer probably appears in that court on hundreds or thousands of cases each year. You're there for the first time. That gives you an idea of what your chances are of winning if you show up without a lawyer.
if its been sold to a collection agency you should start by asking for a 40% reduction. I started with that and ended up getting a 30 percent reduction. it is not worth trying to fight it in court a judgement against you is very harsh on your credit worthiness
If you've already received a summons to court, you're pretty much out of luck. You can only negotiate settlements before you're sued. If they get a judgement against you, you can try to work out a payment arrangement, but it will be on the full balance plus court fees and such. However, if you wait until you have a judgement against you, and you have a lot of other debts you can't pay, bankruptcy may be your best choice. Yeah, it's on your credit for 10 years, but that judgement is going to be on there for seven anyway. Bankruptcy wipes out a lot of debts, gives you a little cleaner slate, and can alleviate a lot of worries about money. And while yes, it's true that if they don't show up it will be dismissed, the chances of that are imaginary. They don't care where court is, they are LAWYERS. They have MONEY. They can go wherever they have to; they make enough on $8,000 to make a 4-hour car trip worthwhile. I had lawyers from New York threatening to come to Michigan to get $4,500 from me. They don't play around.
i had a credit card sent to collections- (some law office about 2 hrs from me) and they served me with court papers. I wasnt paying the credit card becuase they payment went from like a modest amt of like 50 a month to 200 and i didnt have the 200 so i sent 100 and the nect month i owed 400 so i judt didnt pay it.. i called the credit card to negotiate.. no luck.. they sent it to collections... so i got served papers from the collectors there was soemthing on the papers abotu contacting them within 7 days.. so i did that... they said that i could pay 100 am month, but i didnt have that much so i had to go to the court house and "answer" my summons.. basiclaly saying i did owe the debt and aknoleged i owed it and that i coudlnt afford 100 a month as said i was was able to pay 60.. they then sent me a letter back saying they would accept my offer or 60 a month.. and i didnt have to go to court and i didnt keep building up interest on my credit card so my payments are the same 60 per month i would suggest doing this first, call the company summoning you to court and see if something can be worked out becuase you may have more say in the matter and they may be more lenient. I was also given the option that if i payed it off in 4 installments total they would knock of like 400 bucks.. wich the debt was only 3000 to begin with, however i didnt have that kind of money to do that....
All the answers you need is here..http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/index.php They are counting on you not to answer the summons and get a default judgement. Tell them you want them to verify the debt in your answer. And I mean sign receipts, signed contract asap.....