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I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates

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  • 12-04-2013, 10:51 PM
    needavice2013
    I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates
    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: California

    Looking through a pile of mail from the last couple of weeks (I have been away from home), I spotted a pink-colored letter that has "ATTENTION: LEGAL MATTER ENCLOSED", "IMPORTANT NOTICE" atop the front in bold lettering.

    Upon opening it, I see that it's not a court summons but a letter from a legal firm asking me to call, saying that I "have a limited amount of time to protect my legal rights".

    It has my name on it, the name of a court at which this lawsuit was filed, and a case number.

    Curious, I went to the court website and searched the case # and it returned this summary:

    http://i.imgur.com/xFKNCXL.jpg

    What does it mean? What should my next steps be and how soon?

    Facts: -I have a couple of credit cards that I stopped paying a little over 16 months ago because I got laid off from one of my jobs.

    -I cannot find any official summons from the court in the mail. If they sent any, I haven't received it.

    Please help! I'm pretty scared. Thanks in advance for reading.
  • 12-04-2013, 10:58 PM
    Dogmatique
    Re: I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates
    In a nutshell, you're being sued. You absolutely need to attend though - the creditor seems to have provided proof of mailing, so service has been perfected and the language suggests that a summons has been issued.

    If you don't respond, the creditor will get the judgment.

    Have you contacted the legal firm?
  • 12-04-2013, 11:26 PM
    needavice2013
    Re: I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates
    Quote:

    Quoting Dogmatique
    View Post
    In a nutshell, you're being sued. You absolutely need to attend though - the creditor seems to have provided proof of mailing, so service has been perfected and the language suggests that a summons has been issued.

    If you don't respond, the creditor will get the judgment.

    Have you contacted the legal firm?

    Thank you for being kind enough to reply!

    I have not contacted anyone as I just stumbled upon this letter in the last couple of hours. If they mailed a summons to me, was my presence or signature not required? I never signed for anything, and I've searched all of my mail from the last month and have found nothing!

    How soon do I need to act and in what manner? Again, thank you in advance for whatever basic advice you can give me.
  • 12-04-2013, 11:38 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates
    It looks to me like you MISSED the court date and a default judgment was made against you.

    So, they might now try and attach bank accounts or wages to enforce the judgement. If the dollar value is significant enough, you might consider consulting an attorney as to your options.
  • 12-04-2013, 11:49 PM
    needavice2013
    Re: I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates
    Quote:

    Quoting cdwjava
    View Post
    It looks to me like you MISSED the court date and a default judgment was made against you.

    So, they might now try and attach bank accounts or wages to enforce the judgement. If the dollar value is significant enough, you might consider consulting an attorney as to your options.

    cdwjava, thank you for being kind enough to reply!

    WHAT?! That is awful and exactly the thing I didn't want to hear! I was never served personally, via post, or otherwise! Are you absolutely sure that this is the case, seeing how the case was continued to three years from now(11/7/2016)? I appreciate any other comments you may have.
  • 12-05-2013, 07:00 AM
    cdwjava
    Re: I Think I'm Being Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates
    Entirely my bad ... I read that as 2013 not 2016.

    Have you checked your credit history lately to determine if there is an open collections account against you? This looks as if an action may have been initiated already.

    It makes little sense to schedule a collections hearing three years down the road, so I'm thinking it might be a review of the matter. But, maybe someone else with more experience on these matters will pipe in on the collections process.
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