I want to sue a creditor. does anyone know where i may possibly find some legal help in California?
548697
well let me ask you this. did you pay the $100 fee ? if not that's why it was sent to collections. but if you payed the $100 by check. go to your back and have them pull up the check off of micro film and request a copy of it and dispute this w/ the 3 credit places by mail and send them a copy of your copy and keep records of all of this.
833164
Try Consumer Credit Counselling Service (0800 1381111), National Debtline (0808 8084000) or Citizens Advice (www.adviceguide.org for advice or to find local bureau). They all give free advice and can negotiate on your behalf with creditors.\n\n"Debt management companies" are profit-making organisations who WILL charge you, so avoid them.
480309
Your local consumer credit counseling agency may be able to offer advice and possibly assistance.  \n\nI would try the one that is actually called CCCS rather than one that may advertise as credit counseling.  CCCS is non-profit and offers free advice.
202012
There are credit collection agents who like to scare people into paying by forging legal documents such as a summons, and mailing them to you.  Sometimes it's accompanies by a letter saying somewhere that "...if we do not receive our money we will file this summons with the court...."...that sort of nonsense.\n\nIf the summons is legit, and the court clerk failed to write a court date, then you have a wide open loophole for an appeal.  Whether you show up or not is up to you.\n\nHow was the summons served?  Depending on the state you live in, it must be served by a court clerk, an uninterested adult (a process server), or mailed by certified mail/restricted delivery.  Mailing it by regular first class mail does not constitute a legal service.  You can simply inform the judge of this and your case will be tossed out (but they can file it again...more cost on their part).\n\nNow, lets say this is a fake document. You called the court and they informed you there is no such case.  Can you say "cha-ching"?  Contact a lawyer.  These people have broken a number of laws.\n\nForging court papers, fraud, violation of the Fair Credit Collections Act, just to name a few.\n\nIf everything turns out legit, don't panic.  Just appear in court with whatever documents you have.  If the debt is legit, and you think you will lose your case, come with documents supporting your income, and ask the judge to order a payment plan that you can afford.  Otherwise the creditor can garnish your wages,seize your property, or make your life miserable.\n\nYou may want to contact the credit company and try to work out some kind of payment plan, in exchange for them dropping the negative report on your records. If they refuse just accept the judgement, since your credit is ruined anyway.\n\nGood luck
997367
That's something you REALLY need to talk to a lawyer about, and quickly! Contact Legal Aid of California, they answer questions and provide help on a sliding scale.
934577
You are indeed a creditor to the company. You have as many rights as anyone else. Make sure you contact the person who is acting as liquidator and stake your claim.\n\nxxB
270865
Normally I recommend that you do not mess with credit repair services if you can help it. Many are a scam.  They charge you hundred of dollars to do stuff that you can do yourself.\n\nYour case appears to be a little more complex.  You need instant relief (which I seriously doubt you will get).  Not only do you need to work with your current creditors, you would want to work with the mortgage company.  They seem to be very unreasonable about their demands to clean up your credit report.\n\nYou may need the help of a trained negotiator.  I don't know your current income situation so I can't be of much more help here.\n\nRead the links below and decide what you would like to do.\nGood luck.
1093197
I would contact the better business bureau and place a negative report on their business. Next I would contact the credit card agency and ask them how to dispute this charge. Since this is from December 05 you might have a hard time getting them to do anything since that is almost 6 months ago.\n\nAs far as small claims court goes, you have 2 choices in filing a case. You can report it in your precinct where you live and if they will not go across state, which i do not understand as i have done this several times with medical collections....then you can file in the precinct where the business resides. You would need to call the county clerk for that county or the sherriff's dept and they can tell you which precinct that address would fall under. Best of luck.
234706
If that was me I would call the court house in S.Cal. and ask some one what u can do . You might just have to pay a small fine, Just tell them u forgot all about it since it was so long ago . Things like that have a way of finding you . So get rid of it and Chill....
208759
you should consult a California Lawyer and discuss with him/her what you should do
758646
Citi is notorious for suing their clients and they have a right to do so if you are in default.\n\nyou should try a debt settlement company such as http://www.fdnsolutions.com\nand http://www.1800debtsettlement.com\nthey can try and work with the creditor to avoid a costly lawsuit.
571470
<sigh>\n\nOK, William, I thought you would be a differant form of creditor....but you are at least honest.  Just need some more education.\n\nWinelover, you are obviously a collector, peddeling the same like of BS as all the rest!\n\nLets clear up the lies.  Debts can NOT be reported on your credit report for more then 7 years, beginning on the date of the delinquency.  Please refer to the Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 804.\n\nCreditors can continue to collect on a debt that is older then the statute of limitations.  They just have no legal way of collecting.  Depending on the state, that runs from 4-10 years.  Once that day is passed, they can NOT sue you in court or legally try to collect.  If the debt is real old, you can simply contact the credit bureau and demand that it be removed due to the SOL running out.  It will probably require a letter to the creditor also.  Either way, debts older then 10 years can easily be ignored!\n\nSo when you folks tell people that depts never go away, you are simply uneducated or lying?  Which is it?\n\nThe only time they can continue to come after you is if they have taken you to court, and won a judgement.  \n\nThat said, lets answer your question.  William is correct.  Older debts do not hurt your score as bad as recent debts.  Don't get me wrong...negative reports still hurt!  \n\nIf you have any bills collection interest, pay them first (high interest rates first).  Then just try and work your way through.\n\nBefore you pay, first contact the creditors and try to negotiate a lower balance if possible.  Just explain what happened and they may work with you.  \n\nMost importing...you are trying to cean up your credit report.  It does you absolutely no good to pay these bills if the creditor does not remove any negative information from your report.  And you will find that once they have your money, they will not be very cooperative in helping you.  Once paid, you no longer have any leverage to work with.\n\nGet IN WRITING an agreement that once the bill is paid, they will remove all negative information from your records.\n\nUse the sample letters below to help you.\n\nWhen you negotiate, DO NOT offer to pay anything.  One slick trick collectors are using is to ask for a "good faith" payment.  If you do that, you start the statute of limitations clock, and your debt added several years to it's age.  The way the game is played...you are NOT denying you owe the debt, but you are NOT offering to pay it either, until an agreement is reached.
727086
First of all... please watch your language.\n\nThe Better Business Bureau in your state will know your state laws.  Credit laws vary by state, so what someone else might say here, may not apply to you.\n\nAlso, some attorneys give a free initial consult and may tell you your rights under the law.  They can be found in your local yellow pages.\n\nGood Luck!\n\nSue
225326
You can dispute it through all three credit bureaus and also contact the bankruptcy trustee and let them know. They can help you also.
573354
i would reccomend the following site:\n\nhttp://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/protection/
1026784
Contact a personal injury lawyer.  Most charge a contingency fee - that is a percentage of what you make on the claim.  The usual amount is about 20-30% of the verdict.  On the plus side. they only make money if you win the case.\n\nThey can also help stave off creditors until the matter is resolved and you are back on your feet again.
1025112
Most likely they won't try to sue, they will give you a chance to pay what they feel you owe and then they will sue. They have lawyers, they know what they are doing.\n\nWhat can I do? - \n1. If you believe you owe them the money, try to work out a settlement and arrangements\n2. If you don't, go see a lawyer