Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Not really much. They have a right to make collection efforts as under the law. Keep persist in negotiating with them by explaining your financial situation. Offer a payoff of the debts at a discount. If they eventually sue you, there is no defense to a lawsuit for failure to pay a credit card debt when it's simply the debtor does not have money to pay. Sometimes, bankruptcy is the only option. If you're serious about bankruptcy, that will get the law firm to take notice and they might offer a lump sum settlement on the cheap.

If you are represented by counsel, they cannot legally contact you any more. If the law firm in San Jose is sueing you in Southern California, this is a good sign that the law firm may not be really serious about taking you to trial. You may have several defenses including Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, statute of limitations and unauthorized charges. If you do not want to incur the costs it will take to defend a case like this, you may want to consider bankruptcy options.