How to respond to a court summons for credit card debt
If you receive a pretrial court summons you need to know how to respond. Since each case differs you may want to discuss your options with an attorney. The following guidlines are good to follow if you decide to proceed without the advice of an attorney.
The summons will list a court date, be certain to show up for the court date. If you don’t show up then the judge could place a default judgment against you. This could limit your ability to work with the creditor in the future.
If you try to work with the creditor before the court hearing be certain to get any agreement that you reach with them in writing. You might still need to attend the hearing and you will want a copy of this to take with you.
There should be instructions on how to answer the summons. Be sure to answer truthfully. You either will need to admit to the debt, deny the debt or indicate that the debt is not valid.
Sometimes you can call the collection agency or creditor and make a payment plan or settle for a lesser amount. They don’t have to make a deal with you but you can always try.
If you would like to speak to an attorney about how to respond call Jill at The Law Offices of Jill McDonald.
