How do I answer a summons?

Submitted by spola33 on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 19:17
Forums

How do I write a response to a summons? I just received it today and have 30 days to answer. I have looked on some forums and have found that I should answer that not enough information was provided to me. I just don't know exactly how the letter should be constructed. Is there an exact way to do it, or do I just simply write a paragraph stating my answer?

Thanks.

Nicegirl (not verified)

I also received something about a summons today. I received a note on my door saying that someone has attempted to deliver a summons and I must call a number. But doesn't say who from.

Sat, 09/13/2008 - 21:00 Permalink

Spola33,

You will want to use exactly the same format that they did. When I recieved mine it was numbered statements. I called an attorney and he told me how to answer it. This is an example of what I did.

their statement:

1. Defendent resides at 124 abc lane in disney land.

I wrote

1. Admit: Defendendent does reside at 124 abc lane in disney land.

2. Defendant entered into contract for credit card number 345677.

My response

2. Admit: Defendant did enter into contract for credit card number 345677, but not with Plantiff.

Only admit what is true, if it is a collection agency like mine, I never entered into anything with them, they were not the original creditor. If it is a collection agency I would also send them debt validation and make sure that you send it certified mail, return reciept requested.

I have been through this process, if you have any other questions you can ask. Make sure that you file everything with the clerk of courts and send a copy to the plaintiff.

If you don't answer with in thirty days they will win by default.

Sat, 09/13/2008 - 21:12 Permalink
stretch33 (not verified)

Does it change anything that they say in the summons that I opened an account with the plaintiff's predecessor, and that the plaintiff's predecessor can be referred to as plaintiff?

Sat, 09/13/2008 - 21:47 Permalink

How did they obtain the debt? Are they a collections agency that purchased the debt? Who are they?

Sat, 09/13/2008 - 22:11 Permalink

It will make a difference if it is a collection agency.

Sat, 09/13/2008 - 22:59 Permalink
stretch33 (not verified)

It is a creditor that purchased the debt from B of A. They are Midland funding.

Sun, 09/14/2008 - 04:44 Permalink

Okay, so you are in the same situation as me. Mine was/is Cach bought mine from providian.

*** you should register here then you won't have to keep coming on as a guest, it is free and you can earn some money while you post.

anyway,
You never had a contract or a card with midland, you need to answer the summons as I stated above. You did have a card but not with midland. Admit or deny each statement. I would also do the debt validation with them, send the letter certified mail return reciept requested, file a copy of this with the clerk of courts so that it is on record too.

I have tried to get debt validation three times this way and have not gotten anything valid so far. I am waiting for an arbitration to come up, it has been almost two years (clerk of courts says it is still there, checked last week) Any way mine will consist of a group of three attornies and from what the lead attorney told me is that they will NOT only have to prove that I owe the debt but that I owe the debt to them. I have requested validation three times, all certified, all signed for by them through return reciept requested. I have filed all this at the clerks office.

When we go into the court room I will present these three requests and then again request it in person in front of the attornies, if they don't own it then they can not collect it.

I was really nervous when I recieved this summons, I have since learned what the laws are and how to handle these junk debt buyers, I will not cower down to them. I say, register here, learn what you can through questions and discussions and fight these guys. You never had a contract with them.

Bank of America has probably already charged this account off and have gotten there loss accounted for, you may end up getting a letter from the irs to count it as income one of these days, this did happen to me, anything over $600 written off and is your gain is considered your income.

I hope you register and stick around, make sure you answer with in the time frame so these vultures don't win through default. We are here to help you out.

Sun, 09/14/2008 - 15:59 Permalink

Wow alot of people have Providian deliquencies. I have one and Midland has mine. I have not heard from them since spring (knock on wood). I hear they are real slimy people to deal with. GN if they were trying to sue you don;t they have to serve you with papers first before getting any type of judgement?

Mon, 09/15/2008 - 00:25 Permalink
j (not verified)

As the initial question was stated.. The person is asking HOW TO STRUCTURE THE RESPONSE - HOW TO WRITE IT - WHAT TO SAY.. and again this forum is the same exact situation the person was talking about.. Everyone gets off subject. Forget the rare case where you are actually questioning the validity of the debt.. How do you address it in the MAJORITY of the cases.. where you know the debt is true. ? HOW YOU DO YOU STRUCTURE THE RESPONE - WHAT DO YOU SAY?

Tue, 11/18/2008 - 00:51 Permalink

Hi Guest
There is a format in the court itself following which you need to file a answer to the summon. But you need to file the answer within the date allotted to you by the court. In addition to filing the response, you should also send a debt validation letter to the creditor or the creditor's attorney by certified mail, so that if within the court date if the creditor does not provide you with proper validation, the court cannot bring any judgment against you.

Tue, 11/18/2008 - 03:54 Permalink

Along with filing a response to the summon, you can also include a motion to dismiss the case which the plaintiff has started against you if you want to do so. But you should do so within the time frame the court has set for filing your response. In the meanwhile, you can send a DV letter, and if the creditor can validate your debt, you can come to a settlement deal with the creditor to repay back the loan. In this way you can avoid the judgment against you which may lower your credit score by as much as 100 points.

Tue, 11/18/2008 - 04:06 Permalink

If they pursue this with out validation you can make a demand during the discovery phase.

Tue, 11/18/2008 - 15:16 Permalink

They shouldn't be allowed to even collect on the debt if they didnot validate ,if you asked, prior to the court date. If they were asked to validate and didn"t with in 30 days I would believe they should have to dimiss it regardless. Wonder if it works this way? Any clue Gn?

Tue, 11/18/2008 - 23:20 Permalink

If the creditor does not validate the debt, but sue you to the court, they will not be able to bring judgment against you to garnish your wage or bank account in order to recover the outstanding debt. However, if you do not file a answer to the summon, a default judgment may be brought against you. Although you can vacate the default judgment later, it is always better to avoid judgments by filing the response. In the response you can mention that you do not agree with the debt as the CA has not validated it.

Wed, 11/19/2008 - 10:25 Permalink
Anonymous (not verified)

What do you mean by vacate the judgment? Do you mean that the judgment can be changed once it has been passed.

Wed, 11/19/2008 - 10:27 Permalink

Hi guest
Once a default judgment has been passed against you due to your failure to answer a response to the summon or appear on the court date, you can file a motion to vacate the judgment. Vacating the judgment means you can change the judgment if it has gone against you and you are sure that you are not liable for the debt either because the CA could not validate the debt or because the SOL has expired. However, you need to file the motion to vacate the judgment within 30 days from the date of judgment.

Wed, 11/19/2008 - 10:41 Permalink

I guess then that would leave somebody out in the cold if they did not find out about a judgement until somewhere down the line. See I really feel this is quite unfair. I seen a special on the news that the sheriff is allowed to leave a summons with another family member or adilt in a household whether or not the debtor lives there or not. How can someone be sure that the person intended to get the summons actually does? Some p[eople would just throw it iff in a corner and forget about it until it was thought of too late or maybe not get along with the relative and never give it to them.

Wed, 11/19/2008 - 17:37 Permalink

Hi Guest
Yes, judgment can be changed once it has been passed provided you file the motion to vacate the judgment within the time specified. It is generally 30 days from the date of passing of the judgment but you should always avoid default judgment because for vacating a judgment would require hiring an attorney which will shell out dollars from your pocket and it is also time consuming. But if you are present on the court date, you can not only prevent default judgment, but also can verify whether the CA actually owes your debt or not in the court itself.

Thu, 11/20/2008 - 10:48 Permalink

In other words never just not reply to a summons. No matter if you are in the right or wrong and even if the Statute of limitations on the credit card debt has passed you will find yourself repaying the debt if you do not answer the summons. If you need assistance in doing so please let us know.

Thu, 11/20/2008 - 11:46 Permalink
Angry (not verified)

I researched the collection agency online when I became suspicious of the document and they have a record of sending bogus paperwork saying they have received judgement, etc when they have in fact just pulled some blank forms offline and filled them in and sent to whoever. I had no idea of a court date, no subsequent letters because I was homeless and not even in the state for 6 months after I requested validation. They were sending things to a PO box that I did not receive mail at just so they could say that they sent ne(sic) something. I have no transport, no home, no bus system here to do anything and 2 kids. How can I get them exposed? I've contacted the 3 bureaus and FTC and am waiting for the responses from dispute. Levying officer is good friends with the agency owner and won't pursue (small town bs). Court hasn't shown a judgement filing and they say it 'just might be too soon to show'.????

Sun, 11/23/2008 - 18:34 Permalink

Well you may have to wait it out and keep checking. They could have very well had bogus paperwork..wouldn't be the first time a collection company would try this tactic. If you haven't anything than they really can not get nothing from you anyway. Do you recieve any type of state benefits or payments..if so they can not even touch these. You need to ask the courthouse how long it would take for a judgement to show. Surely this can not be a really long period. I am sure there has to be a time frame there.

Mon, 11/24/2008 - 01:15 Permalink

Hi Angry
Since the court has not shown any judgment filing, you need not worry because the CA may be lying to recover the debt from your which they are claiming. Before getting a judgment you will get a court date where you will get a chance to defend yourself. Even if you are not informed of the court date and a judgment is passed against you, a motion can be filed to vacate the judgment.

Mon, 11/24/2008 - 06:38 Permalink

Yes, even if you get a default judgment, you can always file a motion to vacate the judgment, but the motion should be filed within 30 days of getting the judgment. In the meanwhile you can always send a debt validation letter by certified mail to be sure whether you are actually responsible for the debt or not. A proper Debt validation should always include a copy of the original agreement that you have made with the original creditor and the proof that the OC has sold off the debt to the CA.

Mon, 11/24/2008 - 06:54 Permalink
karla (not verified)

How do you file a letter to respond who do you see at the courthouse? what is validation of a debt i have asset acceptance suing me.. i had account with citi, but i dont even work i cant work i have nothing of value i dont even own home or car or have bank account

Fri, 02/20/2009 - 21:09 Permalink

Hi Karla
Validating the debt means that the creditor need to prove that he owns your debt. As per the provisions of the FDCP Act, the creditor needs to validate the debt within 30 days from the date they receive your debt validation letter.
Now, if you have received a summon from Asset Acceptance, you need to file an answer to the summon within the date mentioned by visiting the court from where you have received the summon, else a default judgment may be passed against you. You can ask for debt validation in the court itself.

Wed, 02/25/2009 - 09:06 Permalink
Phil (not verified)

A group of attorneys who are (Plaintiff)representing American Express credit card who are trying to collect debt from me served me summon.
What should i do know. I called them trying to settle debt but they are asking a lot more money then i owe they are being greedy. I am going to offer more money lets see what happenes beacuse i dont want my wages to be garnished beacuse thats the worse thing one can do to their credit.

Tue, 08/11/2009 - 17:51 Permalink
awh (not verified)

Help!! I got a summons on my fence from Lloyd and McDaniel for Cach LLC who I believe is providian. I verified that hey have filed with the court, but there is no court date. I have a debt validation letter typed to send because I am not sure that I owe this. Couple of years ago, I settled one of their cards.

Here is my complaint, how do I respond??

1. The plaintiff owns and is the holder of an account due and owing the defendant, and is the assignee of xxxxx

2. The defendant is indebted to the plaintiff in the amount of xxxx

whereof, plaintiff demands,
1. judgment against defendant in the amount of

2. Interest thereon at the rate of x from date and x% per annum from date of judgment, until judgment is satisfied

For any and all other relief to which the plaintiff may be entitled pursuant to contract, statute, or common law

Thanks.

Thu, 01/28/2010 - 20:35 Permalink
twsport (not verified)

Do I use a cross complaint form or get another summons form or just do this on regular paper?

HELP. I got one today saying I owe 27,000 from a loan within the last 4 years. HOwever I pulled out my contract and the loan was from 1999, for 10,000 plus interest Sallie Mae unsecured personal student loan, not government backed. They would never give me a deferment or forbearance. Hounded me for many years, and were always very rude with harrasing phone calls.

Sun, 01/31/2010 - 23:12 Permalink
Steve Wicks (not verified)

I have til 3-25-10 to reply on my summons.My wife and I filed chap.7.We had a rental business with 3 others.With a debt over $300,000.The business went into chap11 9-23-08.Then chap 7 10-03-09.The complaint is accusing us of fraud,embezzlement,larceny,wiilful and malicious injury.I have all the paperwork to disprove these accusations.Whats my next step?Our finances were sunk into this project,and there are no assets in our residence or vehicles

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 14:23 Permalink

Hi,

To respond to a summons you can visit the court where the case has been filed, and request the court clerk to hep you in answering to the summons. It is better to take help since this is a court matter.

Thanks,

Aaron

Wed, 05/12/2010 - 10:57 Permalink
Mimi (not verified)

I tried to settle with Chase now they are JPMorganChase and now I have a summons. I have loss my source of income and I don't know what to do. I tried to settle, they wouldn't take the 30% of what I owed to settle it. I explained to them that I can only borrow that much from family and friends. The summons was sent by Chase's legal department which means they are doing this because then you can't do anything because they are not a debt collector and they made that point clear to me. The attorney for chase was very nasty. What can I do?

Wed, 05/26/2010 - 15:25 Permalink

Hi Mimi,

As you have been served with a summons, you need to answer to that, else JPMorganChase may win a default judgment against you. For answering to the summons you can visit the court from where the judgment has been served.

You should make a copy of your monthly income and expenditure. This you can provide in the court to lower the judgment amount.

Thanks,

Aaron

Thu, 05/27/2010 - 11:26 Permalink
worried guest (not verified)

I really don't know where to begin and feel lost but
I've read what the other people asked regarding the summons and it was very helpful but on the debt validation letter, what should the letter say exactly since it is the first summons I've ever received and don't know anything about the court system

Wed, 06/09/2010 - 02:56 Permalink

Hi Worried guest,

Can I know as to why you are wanting to use a debt validation letter? If you have been served with summons, and thus you should answer to the summons within the stipulated time. If you are not sure about this debt, and summons, you can get the details on this debt from the court house itself. Just visit the court house, and request the court clerk to provide you with detailed paperwork on this case.

However, if you still have not been served with the summons, you can send validation letter so as to stop the collection agency from suing you. Send them the debt validation letter through certified mail, requesting a return receipt.

Thanks,

Aaron

Wed, 06/09/2010 - 08:07 Permalink

I recieved a summons as well.. two weeks ago from an attorney for Fia card services.. up till now I had ignored their calls and such as eerything I read online said that they weren't legit. anyhow.. i have a few days left to respond to the summons.. 18 different article points in it. I was served at 7am at my residence where the processor repeatedly rang the doorbell until i was finally roused to answer it.. he stated that I have 20days to contact the lawyer stated on the document.. he said nothing about a written response.. it wasn't until i was searching online to know if the summons was actually valid that I came upon your page and realized that I now have to cram to answer all of the allegations. My debt was orginally with Mbna who changed my account to a bank of america amex.. got an offer from them back last year to settle for 4k on an 18k debt but didn't have the funds.. due to illness and jobloss which were the original reasons for not being able to continue to pay the full amount on the debt.. the real kicker was the same month I lost my job they doubled my minimum payment due.. and would budge.. I know the account has already been charged off.. in superior court what I fear is what the actual damage can be to my family.
any advice would be appreciated.
since reading more responses and calling the court i know have even more questions.
I got that I need to answer the summons.. alot of is speculation on my marital status at the time the debt was incurred and pursuant to ars codes 12-341 and 12-341.01 do I just affirm these.. I was told by the court that if I don't deny any of the allegations that there may be a chance of settlement outside of court.. but that if I deny any allegations then there will have to be a hearing before a judge and no chance of settlement..
thanks for your help.
baldman

Mon, 06/28/2010 - 23:24 Permalink
SophiaGLowe (not verified)

My husband is the one who received the summons. Can I file a response for him or does he have to do it?

Tue, 08/10/2010 - 03:11 Permalink

Hi baldman:

You should answer to the summons else FIA Card Services will win a default judgment against you. Thus, you should file the answer to the summons. Then you can visit the court house to check the validity of the debt. Request the court clerk there to provide you with paperwork of the case. Mention that you are not sure about this debt. You will get to know whether or not the debt is valid.

SophiaGLowe:

I think your husband will have to give you the power of attorney to do this. Still, I think you should consult an attorney regarding this.

Thanks,

Aaron

Tue, 08/10/2010 - 09:15 Permalink
LaQuainta (not verified)

I received it last night and called about the balance because it was filed and I never knew and I was paying on it. I called them and they called the attorney's office for a balance. I have already agreed to pay balance. Is there anything I can do if I have already made an agreement to pay even though I agree with the balance??

Wed, 09/22/2010 - 19:00 Permalink

Hi LaQuainta,

Even if you have agreed to an out of court settlement, you will have to file the answer to the summons. Otherwise the creditor can win a default judgment against you.

Thanks,

Aaron

Thu, 09/23/2010 - 10:17 Permalink
oic.net@xs4all.nl (not verified)

"See you, why the hell not? He's gonna see you alright, he's going to be a part of this."
"I bet you are," she says. "30 years ago we'd have had some fun."

Sun, 10/03/2010 - 01:11 Permalink
er68jk23vb@aol.com (not verified)

The closed formulary can also be broken down into what is referred to as positive or negative formularies. This is the method by which the formulary is developed. A positive formulary effectively starts with a blank sheet of paper and specifically adds agents. While this is probably the best method to limit the number of drugs available, it is often not very popular when first implementing the formulary because every agent must be considered. That means the physicians must even make specific decisions on whether they should add such things as acetaminophen and amoxicillin to the formulary. Therefore, in hospitals just establishing a formulary, it is often more popular and easier to use a negative formulary system. This essentially starts with the current hospital drug stock, with each drug class being evaluated to eliminate agents that are not necessary. The first steps in this process may be as simple as eliminating multiple salts/esters of the same drug. Then classes of drugs with multiple similar products could be addressed (e.g., analgesics, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and topical steroids). While in some ways this process is easier, it is also likely to result in a much bigger formulary, since the decision will be made as to what drugs are definitely not needed, rather than which drugs the institution definitely needs. However, the specific institution's situation will need to be assessed before the method of determining the formulary items can be decided on. Overall, the goal is to provide the optimal agents; it is easy to end up with too many duplicative agents; however, having a greater number of agents to choose from can lead to better patient care in some areas. ,

Mon, 10/04/2010 - 08:17 Permalink
brett@bniles.com (not verified)

Improvement of visual acuity is variable after onset of AION. A number of studies reported varying incidences of recovery. The IONDT found that 42.7% of patients improved at least 3 lines by the time of their follow-up visit. A small number of patients may progress to severe visual loss in the first 2 weeks after their initial attack.

Thu, 10/07/2010 - 02:06 Permalink
chuck (not verified)

I have a judgment against me today. I went to court hoping to plead on account invalidation (from Metris that i dont own ). I sent them a validation request and They didnt respond. At the court They presented an HSBC account from about 3 or 4 years ago. Now the judge ruled against me. What to do now?

Mon, 11/29/2010 - 18:56 Permalink
India (not verified)

I received a summons from chase bank, I called the number on the summons and left a message for the appointed chase attorney. I got a call back in 5 minutes, I worked out a settlement and received a letter to confirm. I have called several times since to see if I must answer the summons, they will not return my calls. The person I thought was the lawyer returning my call informed after that he works with the attorneys and only gave a FIRST name with a work I.D. number. I feel I should answer the summons in writiing

Tue, 02/01/2011 - 23:55 Permalink