Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: Debt Settlement

You may have heard the saying that the man who argues his own case has a fool for a lawyer. In the strict legal sense, you don't "need" an attorney. You have the right to represent yourself. However, you really SHOULD have an attorney because having someone in your corner because $26K is a lot of money.

I suggest contacting the website for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys and using attorney search function. You can probably find an attorney in your area that will give you a free consultation.

Re: Debt Settlement

Once in litigation, I would definitely not use a debt-settlement company. They are (if at all) only useful prior to this point. I am going to suggest that an attorney is the only way to protect your rights adequately, however, the reality is that many cannot afford legal fees (otherwise, you probably wouldn't be in this situation). Your best bet is to give yourself a deadline of one week to resolve this yourself by calling the attorney handling the matter and try to get this settled. If not, contact an attorney immediately as you will then have only two weeks to file and serve a response the pleadings. Good luck.

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Re: Debt Settlement

Don't use a "debt settlement company," most are scams. Don't call the other lawyer without first consulting one yourself, maybe there are good defenses to the lawsuit such as the statute of limitations. Consulting a consumer bankruptcy lawyer is a good idea even if you aren't considering BK as this type of lawyer routinely handles consumer debt issues. If the debt is more than 4 years old I would very much like to hear from you.