What is the best course of action if you are being sued by a collection agency and have to appear in court in a few weeks?

Answer

By all means, answer the summons and appear in court. Put forth a defense.

Collection agencies manage to obtain a huge percentage of default judgments because consumers do not show up in court. Your debt MAY be past the statute of limitations, as established by (your) state laws. If so, raising this affirmative defense would prevent a judgment from being granted against you.

Your best option would be to thoroughly investigate your rights and the status of the account. You may be able to not only provide a defense to the judgment, but counter sue. www.artofcredit.com may offer you some useful information. Good luck!

Answer

It is always advisible to have legal counsel. However, persons who represent themselves in court are given more leeway to plead their case. If the debt is valid, there really is no defense. What is needed is documentation, of income, assets, bank account statements and most especially exemption status. All states have exemptions that specify property that is exempt from judgments. The CA will more than likely be awarded a judgment. That does not mean they will be able to collect it.

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