My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Arizona
First, thank you to the people who give their time and share their knowledge with those of us need advice for some dumb**s things we've done in the past. My question relates to my past money mistakes that have caught up to me and which I hope to get paid off at some point in my life. Long story short (kind of)....I have multiple credit card debt for aprox. $23k which I'm paying on monthly. I have another debt with Amex for $7k that was written off and has been sold and re-sold to a collection agency. No payment has been made on the debt for last 15 months and I had thought there had been no correspondence or attempts to contact me about it for last 9 months.
I was divorced and left the residence a year ago and my ex-wife did not inform me that the collection agency had sent a letter and had made numerous phone calls trying to contact me about the matter. I found out earlier today from my ex-brother in-law that someone came to my former residence asking for me and stated he was from Superior Court System....so I am confident that they were trying to serve me with a summons pertaining to collection agency filing a suit over the Amex debt. My ultimate goal is to pay everyone off and get back on the right track but my job which I just started 3wks ago but getting paid barely over min wage means I cannot handle anymore bills, that is if I want to keep roof over my head and vehicle to go to work in (I've gotten use to eating 1 meal a day).
By reading other posts on this site (which have helped me already) I read there is normally a 20 day period from the time the papers served until the time that the receiver has to respond to the courts. My question is that since the summons has not been served to me and they do not know my current address as of yet, the 20 days to respond to the courts cannot start yet, correct?
I'm hoping that it won't start until papers are served or I'm in some way notified. I plan on addressing the matter but if they time limit has not yet started this would mean I have a couple extra days to contact and meet with a lawyer that has debt collection experience and/or as well as, if I can afford it, to also meet with a bankruptcy lawyer so I can figure out the best procedure to take for my specific issue. If someone can also give some insight as too whether contacting both is overkill and if so which one I'd be best contacting to discuss and handle my issue.
Again, I sincerely thank you for your time and response.

