Settle a Debt After Sheriff Deliver Civil Summon

[abou202]

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: North Carolina

I signed an apartment lease for my sister. The lease was suppose to be from september 19th 2008 through september 14th, 2009. She vacated the apartment on July 6th, 2009. According to statement from the apartment complex, there was a balance of $1210. Months later after she left, I started receiving calls from a credit agency even though my sister said she had taken care of the balance. Through the past years, I have received some letters from the credit agency and through my fault never tried to call them directly to see for myself. Anyway, I was served a summon by a sheriff yesterday. I called the attorney's office and they sent me a letter saying they can settle for 1300 and stated in a communication to me "....the minimum that our client will accept as settle in full is $1300 provided CERTIFIED FUNDS made payable to: MISSION RESIDENTIAL, LLC(Which is the apartment complex) are in our office no later that June 25, 2012. Once settlement funds have posted and cleared here in our office, we will notify our client that the matter has been settled so that your credit report can be updated and we will close our file..." because there is a 1700 balance. What should I do? I am considering just send them the 1300 but do I still need to respond to the summon even though they told me on the phone that if they receive the money, they'll withdraw the case.

PLEASE HELP

[LawResearcherMissy]

I am considering just send them the 1300 but do I still need to respond to the summon even though they told me on the phone that if they receive the money, they'll withdraw the case.

Yes, you do still need to respond. If you pay the amount due, include proof of payment with your response.