I received a summons for a credit card debt of ~$4,500 (credit limit ~3,900). I felt I have done some pretty extensive research though these law forums to figure out my options, but I do still have some questions that can hopefully be answered here.
Background: Bankruptcy is not an option, this is one of 4 accounts I had in college that went to collections - I have settled with 3 of them but completely missed the boat with this one. I have a well paying job now, and want to get this done but the Law Firm suing me offered at best $700 a month payment plan. I am paying $300 a month with the others, and can only afford to do the same here. On the summons (which is legit, I checked) they only include a copy of the "Citibank Card Agreement" and a written above is "10/1998 RICA". I'm in Colorado, and the SOL probably doesn't apply here as I stopped paying this account around 2 years ago (when the APR went to 32.5%).
So to my questions:
1) Should I get a lawyer, if so how do I find one (the ones I have tried to talk to weren't interested since I didn't want bankruptcy)?
2) Should I sent a certified letter (as suggest to me) to the Law Firm requesting the $300 / month payment - the Court date is Oct. 3 and today is Sept. 26?
3) Should I request the signed, original contact with Citibank? If so, how do I go about that?
4) What should I bring to Court, how do these types of proceedings go, will I just be rolled over if I don't have an attorney?
5) Anything important I need to say/bring up to the Judge / Plaintiffs?
6) I've read about this "Consent Decree", is this an 11th hour thing to prevent a judgment? Should I request it if all else fails?
7) Does a judgment show up on any background checks (besides my credit report)?
8) What should I do to make sure that my credit reports reflect that the debt is paid when all is said and done?
Any help would be so greatly appreciated; I really want to get this right as I'm getting close to "righting the ship". Thanks for taking the time to read this! The court date is Oct. 3rd.
Cheers!

