Sunday, November 8th, 2009
How do I deal with a civil court suit summons with debt collection, & what if I don’t have transportation?
Question Queen Y!A veteran asked:
Discover Card wants to sue me for 3-yr. old debt that I wan’t able to afford to pay off because of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. That’s when I had trouble paying off my debts & trying to find a job. I am STILL financially struggling. 1 debt collector called me a few weeks ago, yelling @ me & trying to say Hurricane Katrina was my fault. (I know it wasn’t my fault). I receive SSI & Social Security. Before Katrina, I was paying ALL my credit card bills ON time for a whole year. I was financially secure. Ever since Katrina, no one wants to hire me on a job because of my Tourette’s & other disabilities. Debt collectors don’t care about my situation. I’m WILLING to find (2) jobs if I have to. I’m willing to work & pay them off. But I’m stuck on a fixed income, & I’m very afraid of losing my gov’t. & health benefits.
Discover Card wants to sue me for 3-yr. old debt that I wan’t able to afford to pay off because of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. That’s when I had trouble paying off my debts & trying to find a job. I am STILL financially struggling. 1 debt collector called me a few weeks ago, yelling @ me & trying to say Hurricane Katrina was my fault. (I know it wasn’t my fault). I receive SSI & Social Security. Before Katrina, I was paying ALL my credit card bills ON time for a whole year. I was financially secure. Ever since Katrina, no one wants to hire me on a job because of my Tourette’s & other disabilities. Debt collectors don’t care about my situation. I’m WILLING to find (2) jobs if I have to. I’m willing to work & pay them off. But I’m stuck on a fixed income, & I’m very afraid of losing my gov’t. & health benefits.
What should I do? They didn’t give me a specific date, but they gave me a civil suit #.
I don’t have a car, I don’t have a way to get to court. It’s far away. & I have no money. I can’t afford a taxi. I live here in Texas.
A non-attorney mediation law firm just sent me this letter, offering to mediate & be my power of attorney, & they want to charge me $$, but they can’t defend me in court. Neither Discover Card nor any courts have contacted me, regarding this possible court date. This is the 1st time I’m OFFICIALLY notified of a lawsuit that’s coming up soon.
***Maybe you can help me out here. I asked in the Law & Ethics category, but didn’t get a good answer.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:25 am
SSI – SSDI cannot be garnished….Wages in Texas cannot be garnished. It would be pointless of them to pursue legal action against you under these circumstances….that is, unless you have a lot of money in a bank account….Otherwise, even if they do win and get a judgment, they can’t touch your SSI – SSDI.
DO NOT sign anything that any third-party or the debt collectors send you.
If you have little or no money in the bank and SSI is your only source of money….you can’t be touched.
Debt collectors LOVE to scare people with bogus threats of lawsuits….This is illegal. If you are REALLY being taken to court….you will be served papers (usually by a sheriff or other official). Simply giving you a civil suit # doesn’t mean anything and debt collectors have NO legal authority to summon you to court. Debt collectors absolutely, positively do not have the ability to initiate court hearings by themselves….only the judge/civil court has such power.
Debt collectors cannot be abusive and they cannot pretend to be (or work for) attorneys when this is not the case. The next time the debt collector threatens legal action or quotes a “civil suit #,” per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have the right to speak with their [alleged] attorney who will be taking action against you. Request to know the attorney’s full name and his/her license # in the Texas state bar association.