Can You Plead 'No Contest' to a Collection Lawsuit
My question involves court procedures for the state of: Texas
My husband received a citation for debt claim (under $2000) on an old credit card debt that fell through the cracks and unintentionally didn't get paid. He is now being sued and must submit an "answer" (or plea) to the court.
He attempted to contact the plaintiff with the intention of paying the debt and asking for the charges to be dropped but has not heard back from them and must file my plea with the court today. He was going to just file "no contest" and pay the fees but is concerned this could end up on his record. We've never dealt with something like this before and should have contacted an attorney sooner (and we did this morning but of course it's the last day so not we may be too late).
My question is: If he enters a plea of "no contest", is it possible to still work out a plea deal to pay the full amount and have the charges dropped? We have the money, we are just concerned about a permanent record. We hope to hear back from wither the plaintiff attorney or the attorney we contacted and just retain them to take care of things but in the case that he has to file an answer himself, is it best to file no contest or file not guilty then try to arrange a plea deal with the plaintiff.
Re: Civil Citation - Debt Claim
There are no "charges" and you don't enter pleas. You answer with either an admission of their claim(s) or a denial.
The 'record' already is in place. Your husband's credit is trashed. If he settles now, they will likely dismiss the civil case (or at least you can go to court and show that the debt has been settled). That will stop a notice of judgment from being entered, but frankly, the damage is already done.