Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
Sued by collection agency, settlement offer
I am being sued by collection agency. Have already filed a response with court.
Today i received an offer of settlement from the lawyer of the collection agency. The amount that they say I owe them is different than the amount they are sueing me for (almost doubled). Anyhow, I am not interested in settling with them because I don't think this is a legititmate debt.
My question is do I have to respond to the settlement offer in writing? If I don't respond will it hurt my case?
Thank you.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Sued by collection agency, settlement offer
No, you don't have to respond and it won't hurt the case.
Re: Sued by collection agency, settlement offer
No, there is no requirement to respond to a settlement offer, though you may want to make your own settlement offer, which may simply be for them to dismiss the case. You may want to do discovery to determine what information they have to show their claim that you owe and the amount they claim you owe.
Re: Sued by collection agency, settlement offer
Generally no. I would not be at all surprised if the plaintiff cannot prove the legitimacy of this debt. Often times, a collection company cannot prove you owe this debt. They cannot prove you signed for the debt or obtained the items or services for which you were charged.
What you might want to do is make what is called a "998 settlement offer" to the Plaintiff's attorney. In this situation the Plaintiff would have an obligation to accept the offer within 30 days. If it does not, you could obtain an award of costs and attorney fees if the plaintiff loses at trial.
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