If I have a debt that was being taken care of by a third party debt relief company but I received a summons, whatdo Ido?

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If I have a debt that was being taken care of by a third party debt relief company but I received a summons, whatdo Ido?

The debt owed was from a credit card. Due to the hard time I went and found outside help from a third party company and the amounts that I owed in my contract were being paid. I still have a year left of my contract and I received this summons and am unsure as what I am supposed to do. I spoke to my debt relief company and they said they are going to take care of what they can on their end but if I wanted to seek guidance from a lawyer I could.

Asked on March 10, 2012 under Bankruptcy Law, Arizona

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You will need to file an answer to the complaint.  The complaint is the lawsuit attached to the summons.  You will need to file your answer to the complaint with the court within the time set forth in the summons and serve a copy by mail on the opposing party or the opposing party's attorney.  If you don't timely file your answer, the opposing party will have a default judgment entered against you.  A default means you will have lost the case.  If that happens, you will need to file with the court a motion to set aside the default and serve a copy of it by mail on the opposing party or the opposing party's attorney.  If the court grants your motion to set aside the default, the case is then back on track and litigation will continue.

To avoid the problem of a default, timely file your answer to the complaint with the court and serve a copy on the opposing party or opposing party's attorney by mail.  The answer denies the allegations in the complaint.  At the law library, look for answer to complaint in the index of Pleading and Practice.  This will give you the general format of an answer to a complaint.  At the end of the answer is the verification which you sign and date under penalty of perjury.  The verification attests to the veracity of your statements in the answer.  File with the court your answer and verification with an attached proof of service and serve it by mail on the opposing party or opposing party's attorney.  The proof of service verifies the date of mailing.  You can either use a court form proof of service or you can write your own.  If you write your own proof of service, it just says that you are over eighteen and the attached documents were sent via first class mail unless stated otherwise to _______ (name of opposing party or opposing party's attorney) on _________ (date).  Sign and date the proof of service at the bottom.  The date you sign should be the same as the date of mailing and the same date you file your documents with the court.


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