Complaint Review: Love Beal & Nixon - Oklahoma City Oklahoma

Amy, First, I would like to thank you for exposing your true character and maturity level on your last post to me. Name calling always works. Idiot? I think not. Blowhard? yeah, ok. A liar? No. I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. i could care less if you believe my experience. Now, here is what you arote: "I never said that interrogatories were court orders! Steve, Pay attention! I said that interrogatories are a form of discovery just like requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, depositions, etc. You are required by law to answer these. The consequences of not answering them varies by state but in MN if the opposing side files a "motion to compel" (which means a motion to force you to comply with discovery) then you WILL have to pay reasonable attorney's fees to the other party for the filing of the motion (100% of the time)". >> That's exactly what I said! You see a discovery motion IS an order from the court as it is filed and becomes a legal document in the case. That was my whole point! Your post here contradicts the earlier statement. I said to never answer interrogatories, as they are not court orders. You agreed to this in your post above. So where is the argument here? You are just offended that anyone would handle any situation without an attorney. That is the problem here. It is a pride and/or ego thing with you. FYI..Most people, including me cannot breally afford to pay some attorney several thousand dollars to fight something like this, especially when the claim is only a few hundred or thousand dollars. It simply doesnt make sense. Only the wealthy can afford legal counsel, the rest of us have to defend ourselves. It's not a choice. It's reality. My best defense is a really offensive offense. I use a military strategy whenever someone comes after me. I play for keeps and I play dirty. I not only play to win, I always go for total destruction of my opponent. For example, as soon as a lawyer contacts me regarding a debt collection issue or threatens lawsuit, I immediately file a Bar Association complaint against them. It doesn't matter to me if they actually did anything wrong or not. That is not the issue. It's all about winning. And I do win. I will go as far as it takes to win. And I'm not worried about some petty contempt charge for refusing to fill something out. Big deal. I really hope that when you finally finish law school and pass the bar and get into practice, you get one of my debt cases. Then, I will educate you as to what you never learned in school. And, yes, I do work. I have a good union job and work seasonally only, as is my choice to do so. I am a Disabled Veteran on a VA pension as well. I had to leave plenty of time to destroy debt collectors and arrogant lawyers. Everyone needs a hobby. I just got rid of another one 2 days ago. I crush these fools upon first contact. I write 1 letter and send it by fax and by the means described certified,rrr. I never hear from them again, and no lawsuit gets filed. So, why, exactly do I need an attorney?

Amy, First, I would like to thank you for exposing your true character and maturity level on your last post to me. Name calling always works. Idiot? I think not. Blowhard? yeah, ok. A liar? No. I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. i could care less if you believe my experience. Now, here is what you arote: "I never said that interrogatories were court orders! Steve, Pay attention! I said that interrogatories are a form of discovery just like requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, depositions, etc. You are required by law to answer these. The consequences of not answering them varies by state but in MN if the opposing side files a "motion to compel" (which means a motion to force you to comply with discovery) then you WILL have to pay reasonable attorney's fees to the other party for the filing of the motion (100% of the time)". >> That's exactly what I said! You see a discovery motion IS an order from the court as it is filed and becomes a legal document in the case. That was my whole point! Your post here contradicts the earlier statement. I said to never answer interrogatories, as they are not court orders. You agreed to this in your post above. So where is the argument here? You are just offended that anyone would handle any situation without an attorney. That is the problem here. It is a pride and/or ego thing with you. FYI..Most people, including me cannot breally afford to pay some attorney several thousand dollars to fight something like this, especially when the claim is only a few hundred or thousand dollars. It simply doesnt make sense. Only the wealthy can afford legal counsel, the rest of us have to defend ourselves. It's not a choice. It's reality. My best defense is a really offensive offense. I use a military strategy whenever someone comes after me. I play for keeps and I play dirty. I not only play to win, I always go for total destruction of my opponent. For example, as soon as a lawyer contacts me regarding a debt collection issue or threatens lawsuit, I immediately file a Bar Association complaint against them. It doesn't matter to me if they actually did anything wrong or not. That is not the issue. It's all about winning. And I do win. I will go as far as it takes to win. And I'm not worried about some petty contempt charge for refusing to fill something out. Big deal. I really hope that when you finally finish law school and pass the bar and get into practice, you get one of my debt cases. Then, I will educate you as to what you never learned in school. And, yes, I do work. I have a good union job and work seasonally only, as is my choice to do so. I am a Disabled Veteran on a VA pension as well. I had to leave plenty of time to destroy debt collectors and arrogant lawyers. Everyone needs a hobby. I just got rid of another one 2 days ago. I crush these fools upon first contact. I write 1 letter and send it by fax and by the means described certified,rrr. I never hear from them again, and no lawsuit gets filed. So, why, exactly do I need an attorney?

Amy, First, I would like to thank you for exposing your true character and maturity level on your last post to me. Name calling always works. Idiot? I think not. Blowhard? yeah, ok. A liar? No. I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. i could care less if you believe my experience. Now, here is what you arote: "I never said that interrogatories were court orders! Steve, Pay attention! I said that interrogatories are a form of discovery just like requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, depositions, etc. You are required by law to answer these. The consequences of not answering them varies by state but in MN if the opposing side files a "motion to compel" (which means a motion to force you to comply with discovery) then you WILL have to pay reasonable attorney's fees to the other party for the filing of the motion (100% of the time)". >> That's exactly what I said! You see a discovery motion IS an order from the court as it is filed and becomes a legal document in the case. That was my whole point! Your post here contradicts the earlier statement. I said to never answer interrogatories, as they are not court orders. You agreed to this in your post above. So where is the argument here? You are just offended that anyone would handle any situation without an attorney. That is the problem here. It is a pride and/or ego thing with you. FYI..Most people, including me cannot breally afford to pay some attorney several thousand dollars to fight something like this, especially when the claim is only a few hundred or thousand dollars. It simply doesnt make sense. Only the wealthy can afford legal counsel, the rest of us have to defend ourselves. It's not a choice. It's reality. My best defense is a really offensive offense. I use a military strategy whenever someone comes after me. I play for keeps and I play dirty. I not only play to win, I always go for total destruction of my opponent. For example, as soon as a lawyer contacts me regarding a debt collection issue or threatens lawsuit, I immediately file a Bar Association complaint against them. It doesn't matter to me if they actually did anything wrong or not. That is not the issue. It's all about winning. And I do win. I will go as far as it takes to win. And I'm not worried about some petty contempt charge for refusing to fill something out. Big deal. I really hope that when you finally finish law school and pass the bar and get into practice, you get one of my debt cases. Then, I will educate you as to what you never learned in school. And, yes, I do work. I have a good union job and work seasonally only, as is my choice to do so. I am a Disabled Veteran on a VA pension as well. I had to leave plenty of time to destroy debt collectors and arrogant lawyers. Everyone needs a hobby. I just got rid of another one 2 days ago. I crush these fools upon first contact. I write 1 letter and send it by fax and by the means described certified,rrr. I never hear from them again, and no lawsuit gets filed. So, why, exactly do I need an attorney?

Amy, First, I would like to thank you for exposing your true character and maturity level on your last post to me. Name calling always works. Idiot? I think not. Blowhard? yeah, ok. A liar? No. I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. i could care less if you believe my experience. Now, here is what you arote: "I never said that interrogatories were court orders! Steve, Pay attention! I said that interrogatories are a form of discovery just like requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, depositions, etc. You are required by law to answer these. The consequences of not answering them varies by state but in MN if the opposing side files a "motion to compel" (which means a motion to force you to comply with discovery) then you WILL have to pay reasonable attorney's fees to the other party for the filing of the motion (100% of the time)". >> That's exactly what I said! You see a discovery motion IS an order from the court as it is filed and becomes a legal document in the case. That was my whole point! Your post here contradicts the earlier statement. I said to never answer interrogatories, as they are not court orders. You agreed to this in your post above. So where is the argument here? You are just offended that anyone would handle any situation without an attorney. That is the problem here. It is a pride and/or ego thing with you. FYI..Most people, including me cannot breally afford to pay some attorney several thousand dollars to fight something like this, especially when the claim is only a few hundred or thousand dollars. It simply doesnt make sense. Only the wealthy can afford legal counsel, the rest of us have to defend ourselves. It's not a choice. It's reality. My best defense is a really offensive offense. I use a military strategy whenever someone comes after me. I play for keeps and I play dirty. I not only play to win, I always go for total destruction of my opponent. For example, as soon as a lawyer contacts me regarding a debt collection issue or threatens lawsuit, I immediately file a Bar Association complaint against them. It doesn't matter to me if they actually did anything wrong or not. That is not the issue. It's all about winning. And I do win. I will go as far as it takes to win. And I'm not worried about some petty contempt charge for refusing to fill something out. Big deal. I really hope that when you finally finish law school and pass the bar and get into practice, you get one of my debt cases. Then, I will educate you as to what you never learned in school. And, yes, I do work. I have a good union job and work seasonally only, as is my choice to do so. I am a Disabled Veteran on a VA pension as well. I had to leave plenty of time to destroy debt collectors and arrogant lawyers. Everyone needs a hobby. I just got rid of another one 2 days ago. I crush these fools upon first contact. I write 1 letter and send it by fax and by the means described certified,rrr. I never hear from them again, and no lawsuit gets filed. So, why, exactly do I need an attorney?

Tim, I in no way ever claimed to be an expert on anything. I have stated several times that the advice I am giving is what has worked for me over the past 5 years in actual proceedings against me. And I have won every time. I am simply passing on what works. The sad truth is that MOST people who need legal advice, cannot get it as they cannot afford it. Therefore, people like me have not had the option to get legal advice, and have been forced to do things ourselves. Notice I said forced. Legal representation is only for the wealthy. That is a fact. tell me where it makes sense for someone struggling financially to pay a lawyer $1500 to fight a debt collection item of say $500? My problem with Amy, is that she has no real life experience, and is knocking mine without having the true benefit of knowledge and experience in the debt collections field. I have worked extensively in various aspects of the financial field and have had dozens of debt collectors and lawyers come after me on these very same issues being discussed here. My advice is sound, and is proven as such by my actual performance, not from something I read in a book, or heard in a classroom. You have to look at worst case scenarios here. What's the worst that could happen? I get a judgement against me for a debt I couldn't/wouldn't pay anyway. They still won't get paid, because the courts don't do collections for your judgement. I refuse to provide something to the court, big deal, a $100-$250 contempt charge, IF someone bothers to push it.They don't. I can beat a garnishment almost every time as they always do something wrong to get it or I do the hardship thing. Or I just quit the job and go work for cash. It all depends how far someone is willing to go to win. I simply never give up and I wear them down. They go away. Your best defense is a great offense, and I am very offensive when dealing with bottomfeeders. I file a Bar Association complaint immediately against any lawyer who comes after me. It doesn't matter if they actually did anything wrong or not. It is simply a defense strategy that works. I would put my debt collection experience and knowledge up against most lawyers anyday. I have a proven track record. Have you seen some of the advice here that people have gotten from lawyers? Food for thought.

Amy was stating that it is illegal for a non-lawyer to dispense legal advice to another person or to represent another person. She was not stating that it is illegal for a non-lawyer to represent himself. I'm sorry Steve, but I do have to agree with Amy to an extent. You hold yourself out as an expert in several areas that are inherently the province of attorneys and, in some cases (but certainly not most), your advice is legally flawed. I understand that you look at the big picture and the end result, and that us legally trained folks tend to get bogged down in procedural details. But the procedural details are where rights are protected and forfeited, and where the majority of cases are won and lost. You are at least straddling the fine line between legally dispensing personal advice and illegally dispensing legal advice. I do, however, feel that you are providing valuabe advice most of the time, and that the benefit you provide outweighs the potential harm of erroneous advice given in an informal forum. But I get a bit sketchy when you give people the impression that they don't need professional legal help, or that they should take your word over the word of actual attorneys. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to suggest that you shouldn't continue to do what you're doing. I'm sure you're advice has helped alot of people along the way, and you at least give the victims a sense of empowerment in the face of intimidating debt collectors. I would sugggest, however, making clear that you are not an attorney (where appropriate).

Larry, I see where my comments may have confused you; I meant that it is illegal for a person to represent another person without a license; this does NOT include representing yourself. This only means that for instance, a paralegal cannot draft motions or file complaints for clients without the supervision of an attorney; that would be considered the illegal practice of law. However, even as a paralegal if I ever chose to represent myself (I wouldn't though) that wouldn't be the illegal practice of law because I am representing myself. In my state I think it's actually a misdemeanor to practice law without a license; but that never includes representing yourself. I hope that clears up that confusion; sorry for the confusion. You can always represent yourself in anything you want; it's just not always advisable.

Larry, I see where my comments may have confused you; I meant that it is illegal for a person to represent another person without a license; this does NOT include representing yourself. This only means that for instance, a paralegal cannot draft motions or file complaints for clients without the supervision of an attorney; that would be considered the illegal practice of law. However, even as a paralegal if I ever chose to represent myself (I wouldn't though) that wouldn't be the illegal practice of law because I am representing myself. In my state I think it's actually a misdemeanor to practice law without a license; but that never includes representing yourself. I hope that clears up that confusion; sorry for the confusion. You can always represent yourself in anything you want; it's just not always advisable.

Larry, I see where my comments may have confused you; I meant that it is illegal for a person to represent another person without a license; this does NOT include representing yourself. This only means that for instance, a paralegal cannot draft motions or file complaints for clients without the supervision of an attorney; that would be considered the illegal practice of law. However, even as a paralegal if I ever chose to represent myself (I wouldn't though) that wouldn't be the illegal practice of law because I am representing myself. In my state I think it's actually a misdemeanor to practice law without a license; but that never includes representing yourself. I hope that clears up that confusion; sorry for the confusion. You can always represent yourself in anything you want; it's just not always advisable.

Larry, I see where my comments may have confused you; I meant that it is illegal for a person to represent another person without a license; this does NOT include representing yourself. This only means that for instance, a paralegal cannot draft motions or file complaints for clients without the supervision of an attorney; that would be considered the illegal practice of law. However, even as a paralegal if I ever chose to represent myself (I wouldn't though) that wouldn't be the illegal practice of law because I am representing myself. In my state I think it's actually a misdemeanor to practice law without a license; but that never includes representing yourself. I hope that clears up that confusion; sorry for the confusion. You can always represent yourself in anything you want; it's just not always advisable.

Larry, I never even implied that it was criminal to represent yourself. Nor did I say that you cannot draft motions or represent yourself. I was talking about a "motion to compel" which only is done when one party is not complying with the discovery process. If a court order is issued in a motion to compel and the party still refuses to comply then there could be criminal implications depending on the state, the judge, and the situation. NEVER did I even imply that representing yourself is criminal. You always have the right to do that but as the saying goes, a person who represents himself has a fool for a client. This is true in most cases. However, there are situations where it is not practical to hire an attorney such as small claims court, etc. I hope that clears up any confusion on my postings. I guess this one will be my last.

Steve, Pay attention! I said that interrogatories are a form of discovery just like requests for production of documents, requests for admissions, depositions, etc. You are required by law to answer these. The consequences of not answering them varies by state but in MN if the opposing side files a "motion to compel" (which means a motion to force you to comply with discovery) then you WILL have to pay reasonable attorney's fees to the other party for the filing of the motion (100% of the time). The theory behind this is that if you would have complied with the discovery requests, the other party wouldn't have had to file the motion to compel and they wouldn't have incurred additional attorney's fees. Then, after the court issues an order compelling (demanding) you to comply, if you still don't comply, THEN you could face more civil penalties, criminal contempt of court charges, jail, and/or a default judgment in the other party's favor (or any combination of these things it's up to the judge in the matter). This is in MN anyway and as far as I know in the Federal courts too. REQUESTS FOR DISCOVERY ARE NOT COURT ORDERS however, you are still required to respond to them! I do have personal experience in court, several times in fact; that's what made me want to become a paralegal and then an attorney. I have been personally involved with a two year long litigation (which seems to have no end in sight) and I have an attorney and have since day one (and he's a genius). You have just gotten lucky if the other parties haven't brought motions to compel against you; you have obviously acted very badly. OR maybe you are fibbing about all of your personal experience with interrogatories, discovery in general, and the court process in general (this is my theory). Discovery doesn't come from the court and is NOT a court order unless you force the other side to file a motion to compel. At least in MN they always come as official requests from the other party usually typed and sent by the other party's attorney (I do this in my job daily). Usually they are sent via regular mail and you have, in MN anyway, 30 days to answer the request not including the day of service (this totally varies by state). However, if you don't respond exactly within the time period, the courts usually require the parties to work out arrangments to comply before filing a motion to compel. Some states regulate how many interrogatories you can ask and so do the Federal courts. Read the law Steve! If you are so smart you should have no problem understanding what you are reading when you look up the laws. For instance, if you Google Minnesota Rules of Court or Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure this is where you will find the rules relating to discovery, such as interrogatories. I have a perfect 4.0 so if you think that my knowledge from books isn't better than your obviously fraudulent claim that you have personally experienced every kind of situation under the sun; then I dare you to look up these rules not only in MN but in your state. If you do, you will realize that I am right and you are totally wrong. You are a blowhard and this is my last posting; I have a future career to think about and finals to finish studying for. You are all over this site; do you even work? Everyone, if you are involved in litigation GET AN ATTORNEY'S ADVICE! Don't listen to this idiot! His advice is WRONG most of the time. How can he possibly have experienced every kind of situation on this web site? He's all over it giving advice from personal experience. The best advice you will ever get regarding litigation will come from an attorney. Good luck to all of you!

Amy, Most of your advice was well-founded except for the part about drafting motions. A party to a lawsuit has the right to represent himself and to perform all the same tasks that a lawyer would perform. Your statements imply that a non-lawyer would be committing a crime if he were to represent himself in certain courts. Wrong. Wrong Wrong. I have filed complaints, answers, and motions in state and federal courts on my own behalf. At the state level this included the small claims, justice, municipal, superior, appellate, and supreme courts. In federal court I have pursued cases in district court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court. Never once has a judge or an opposing attorney suggested that I was committing a crime by doing so. I am not an attorney and do not work for an attorney. Jessica, You are in a catch-22. The service of the summons may or may not be legal under state law. You were not clear as to whether it was mailed to you or simply left on the doorstep. The problem is that the plaintiff will likely proceed as if you have been legally served and seek a default judgment against you. Depending on the rules of court in your old state, the court may or may not issue a default judgment without further proof that you had notice of the lawsuit. You could file a motion to dismiss based on lack of proper service, but to do so would indicate that you did have knowledge of the lawsuit.

Jessica, You always must respond to a summons. The bad service is a separate issue. You can file a motion to dismiss after you answer the summons. As far as Amy's advice goes, it comes only from books, and not from practical experience and real life. She has obviously never dealt with these issues first hand. That is the difference between my advice, and Amy's. As far as those interrogatories go I have to ask the paralegal/law student one thing. Why have I not been held in contempt or lost my case as a result of refusing to provide the requested information on these interrogatories? Please explain that. I have refused these in six different cases. No penalty whatsoever. It wasn't even brought up. Furthermore, if they are allegedly an order of the court, how come they are sent by regular mail from the lawyer, and not filed and served by the court or a process server on behalf of the attorney? Please explain that. You see, common sense says that anything sent by regular mail never arrived, as there is no proof that it did, right? So how can I be held responsible for not answering something I never got? Explain that. And, like I said before, if the defendant is denying the debt, how would that defendant have information and documentation to provide regarding said debt? Therefore, you just provide answers like "not mine", "not available", etc. The burden of proof is always on the plaintiff. So if they had enough information to justify filing the lawsuit, they would already have the information, right? Just common sense here.

Hi, A summons was sent to a address where I used to live, I have moved out of state, and I was not living at the residence where the summans was left, during the time frame when the summans was sent. I happened to talk to a neigbor who told me they saw the summans. Since I was living in another state when the summans was sent, do I need to respond to capital one? Thanks,

Scott, Looks like you and I are both dealing with these guys on a very similar issue. I just haven't received a summons yet. Steve has posted some tips for me on what to do, and I appreciate them. After reading Amy's comments, it appears I too might need to employ an attorney before it's all said and done. I am also of the opinion that multiple viewpoints are helpful. Steve claims to have beaten several collection agencies using the techniques he states on this site. Since we are all on here because of basically the same problem, perhaps it would be best if we ALL used our collective knowledge to help one another out. I'm sure Amy can contribute some OPINIONS to our cases, as Steve has. I personally appreciate any advice given...and then I find out if it is LEGAL or not. As for my case, I suppose I am just waiting for the summons to be issued. Guess there is not much I can do before that happens. Thanks to all.

I really cannot tell you what an attorney would charge you in your area. I've heard of attorneys billing at around $160 per hour in smaller communities up to in excess of $400 per hour in Minneapolis, so it varies; most want a retainer too. You will need to shop around and find the right attorney for you. Findlaw is a good source for finding attorneys. Your state's bar association may have a attorney search feature too. You will probably want one that is familiar with consumer law. As for Steve, I'm sure he's well-meaning but some of his advice to people has been really wrong and that kind of stuff can keep people from acting in situations where they need to act or acting badly which will always hurt. I hope you find a good attorney who can help you because time is of the essence especially when you have a timeline for filing an answer. Also, Steve was wrong about interrogatories, if you are a party to a law suit you are required to answer these, but these are discovery documents and usually you don't start to get those until the answer has been served. (But that could be different in your state.) If you just ignore these things like Steve suggested you will be in real trouble and could even end up paying the other side's attorney's fees. That's why it's a good idea not to try to deal with these things without an attorney. Good luck!

I really cannot tell you what an attorney would charge you in your area. I've heard of attorneys billing at around $160 per hour in smaller communities up to in excess of $400 per hour in Minneapolis, so it varies; most want a retainer too. You will need to shop around and find the right attorney for you. Findlaw is a good source for finding attorneys. Your state's bar association may have a attorney search feature too. You will probably want one that is familiar with consumer law. As for Steve, I'm sure he's well-meaning but some of his advice to people has been really wrong and that kind of stuff can keep people from acting in situations where they need to act or acting badly which will always hurt. I hope you find a good attorney who can help you because time is of the essence especially when you have a timeline for filing an answer. Also, Steve was wrong about interrogatories, if you are a party to a law suit you are required to answer these, but these are discovery documents and usually you don't start to get those until the answer has been served. (But that could be different in your state.) If you just ignore these things like Steve suggested you will be in real trouble and could even end up paying the other side's attorney's fees. That's why it's a good idea not to try to deal with these things without an attorney. Good luck!

I really cannot tell you what an attorney would charge you in your area. I've heard of attorneys billing at around $160 per hour in smaller communities up to in excess of $400 per hour in Minneapolis, so it varies; most want a retainer too. You will need to shop around and find the right attorney for you. Findlaw is a good source for finding attorneys. Your state's bar association may have a attorney search feature too. You will probably want one that is familiar with consumer law. As for Steve, I'm sure he's well-meaning but some of his advice to people has been really wrong and that kind of stuff can keep people from acting in situations where they need to act or acting badly which will always hurt. I hope you find a good attorney who can help you because time is of the essence especially when you have a timeline for filing an answer. Also, Steve was wrong about interrogatories, if you are a party to a law suit you are required to answer these, but these are discovery documents and usually you don't start to get those until the answer has been served. (But that could be different in your state.) If you just ignore these things like Steve suggested you will be in real trouble and could even end up paying the other side's attorney's fees. That's why it's a good idea not to try to deal with these things without an attorney. Good luck!

I really cannot tell you what an attorney would charge you in your area. I've heard of attorneys billing at around $160 per hour in smaller communities up to in excess of $400 per hour in Minneapolis, so it varies; most want a retainer too. You will need to shop around and find the right attorney for you. Findlaw is a good source for finding attorneys. Your state's bar association may have a attorney search feature too. You will probably want one that is familiar with consumer law. As for Steve, I'm sure he's well-meaning but some of his advice to people has been really wrong and that kind of stuff can keep people from acting in situations where they need to act or acting badly which will always hurt. I hope you find a good attorney who can help you because time is of the essence especially when you have a timeline for filing an answer. Also, Steve was wrong about interrogatories, if you are a party to a law suit you are required to answer these, but these are discovery documents and usually you don't start to get those until the answer has been served. (But that could be different in your state.) If you just ignore these things like Steve suggested you will be in real trouble and could even end up paying the other side's attorney's fees. That's why it's a good idea not to try to deal with these things without an attorney. Good luck!

Amy, I sort of felt that I needed to employ the skills of an attorney since I really want to expedite this process. I do feel that Steve has done much good on this site for people like me, AND it is always good to hear as many different viewpoints as possible. What do you think I can expect in the way of attorney fees to see this thru the motion and request for discovery process? Any ballpark ideas would be helpful as I understand that fees vary from state to state. My 30 day window for filing a response to the original summons is mid December and I plan on getting my response filed before the close of the month. Thank you to everyone for your help-I'll keep you posted!

Steve, You seem to be giving people a lot of legal advice and I fear that they will think that you are an attorney. Are you? If so, where? I don't think that you are an attorney or even have legal training because a lot of your advice is really wrong and will only hurt people even though I think you mean well. In my state and at the federal level, if they go to the trouble of getting personal service (which is what this was) on a summons and complaint then you are right they can leave it with any adult person in the residence but they CANNOT and will not leave it on the door step otherwise it wouldn't be personal service. Also, the sheriff or whoever is getting the service needs to verify that they left if with an adult person (usually they ask the name of the person it was left with)otherwise the service is ineffective. Where do you get your information from? Scott, If you are being sued in small claims or conciliation court you really don't need an attorney and in my state (MN) you can't use discovery in small claims court and you can't motions at this level. If you are being sued in district court you NEED an attorney because a paralegal cannot legally draft these documents for you without the supervision of an attorney. I know that because I am a paralegal and I would never do that for anyone except under the direct supervision of an attorney. I my state it is a misdemeanor to practice law without a license and drafting motions would be considered practicing law. Please consult an attorney about your legal case immediately. You need to answer the complaint and depending on the laws in your state you may have anywhere from 20-30 days to do it. There is a legal and proper way to answer a complaint and if you don't do it on time or don't do it correctly, the other party will be entitled to a default judgment. Get your advice from a lawyer instead of the internet. Good luck!

Scott, You must first respond to the summons as I stated earlier to both the court and the lawyer for the plaintiff. Then you file a motion for discovery. This is where they must provide you with everything they have to support their case. If you recieve the discovery and it is deficient, you then file a motion to dismiss, based on insufficient evidence. The things they MUST be able to prove in court are: 1. That they are legally entitled to collect on the debt. This would involve a written contract with the creditor they are representing, and/or proof of ownership of the debt including chain of title back to the original creditor including purchase contracts, proof of payment, AND amount paid. Keep in mind that the original creditor is totally out of the picture, so if they just produce a statement from the original creditor, that is not acceptable proof. Also, the laws in the state in which you originally incurred the debt apply for purposes of determining statute of limitations issues. This will cost time and money if you expect to win. I suggest paying an attorney or paralegal to at least draft and file your motions. Good luck.

Thanks Steve. So, what motions do I file? And, I don't request proof of them owning the debt, ie., cancelled check or contract with how much they paid for the debt? Or did I miss this opportunity when I did not respond to their initial demand letters? And when I send the response to the court do I just address it to the court with case no. and all other info that was on the actual summons? As a matter of record the petition was dated Oct. 11, filed Oct. 17, and the summons served on Nov. 7. Debt ocurred while living in another state. And with the other case, in which a summons has not been issued I guess it is not too late to send a letter requesting debt validation and proof that they own the debt-cancelled check, contract, etc. Is this correct? Thanks again, Scott

Scott, Signatures are not required in the service of a summons. It can be left at your doorstep or handed to any adult in the house. No problem here. NEVER speak to any debt collector on the phone. It is too late to be writing letters now that a lawsuit has been filed. You will have to file motions. The only letter to write now is a response to the summons as required by law that goes to the court and the plaintiff. Just state your name and the case # and acknowledge receipt of the summons, and deny the debt completely. Never reference or Acknowledge any previous debt in your letter. They are not suing on behalf of Capital One, they bought the debt or represent the JUNK DEBT BUYER that did. Make them prove everything, and volunteer nothing. Do not fill out any "interrogatories" they send you. Good luck.