My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Pa
I'm being sued by a debt collector. Court date is in 2 weeks. I'd like to know how to best prepare myself. I don't have a lawyer, I'll be representing myself. Here are some details. I got a "Final Notice" from the collector saying I owed $$ to a certain local business. This was the 1st notice I ever received from the collector. It said I had to pay or I'd be taken to court. So I called them and sent them a small payment and said I'd make further arrangements to pay it off. Then I found out about the FDCPA and discovered it was 1 month shy of the 4 year Pa statute of limitations. But since I sent a payment, that defense is negated. I then called the collector and asked for all their paperwork they had on my case. I got a copy of the agreement with the original creditor, a few pages of the payment history that looked like they just printed some numbers on blank paper (it was not on company letterhead or anything official looking), and a copy of the check I sent to the collection agency. I called the collector to discuss this some more and the guy got rude and told me to stop playing games. I then did some more research and found that they violated some of the rules of the FDCPA. I went about 3 weeks without any contact from them. Then 2 weeks ago I got a certified letter saying they were taking me to court. So how can I prepare myself for court? I'm not sure if they can validate that they can legally collect on this debt. They didn't show me any proof of it. Do I just wait for the hearing and ask? Or am I supposed to be given all that info before the court date? Any help would be appreciated.

