I have recieved a court summons for a credit card debt, there is no court date. Is this legit? What do I do?
Answer : There are credit collection agents who like to scare people into paying by forging legal documents such as a summons, and mailing them to you. Sometimes it's accompanies by a letter saying somewhere that "...if we do not receive our money we will file this summons with the court...."...that sort of nonsense.
If the summons is legit, and the court clerk failed to write a court date, then you have a wide open loophole for an appeal. Whether you show up or not is up to you.
How was the summons served? Depending on the state you live in, it must be served by a court clerk, an uninterested adult (a process server), or mailed by certified mail/restricted delivery. Mailing it by regular first class mail does not constitute a legal service. You can simply inform the judge of this and your case will be tossed out (but they can file it again...more cost on their part).
Now, lets say this is a fake document. You called the court and they informed you there is no such case. Can you say "cha-ching"? Contact a lawyer. These people have broken a number of laws.
Forging court papers, fraud, violation of the Fair Credit Collections Act, just to name a few.
If everything turns out legit, don't panic. Just appear in court with whatever documents you have. If the debt is legit, and you think you will lose your case, come with documents supporting your income, and ask the judge to order a payment plan that you can afford. Otherwise the creditor can garnish your wages,seize your property, or make your life miserable.
You may want to contact the credit company and try to work out some kind of payment plan, in exchange for them dropping the negative report on your records. If they refuse just accept the judgement, since your credit is ruined anyway.
Good luck
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