Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
A summons was dropped off with my tenant at my house I rent to them, not served to me. It says I'm being sued by CACH, LLC (3rd party debt collector) who bought my debt from Bank Of America. The upper right corner of the summons is stamped with Superior Court of Los Angeles with the date March 11, 2014. It says I have 30 days to deliver an approved written response. It says "30 days after this summons was served". It really wasn't served to me, it wasn't signed for, the deliver date is sort of loose, around April 1 to my tenant. Do I have to get my written response filed by April 11, 2014 ??
2 Answers from Attorneys
The process server will give the plaintiff's attorney a declaration called a proof of service that will show the date they claimed to have served you with the lawsuit. You might be able to get a copy from the court if the attorney filed it or the opposing attorney might give you a copy.
The deadline to respond is 30 days from the date service was complete. As you have observed, determine the date of service can be tricky. March 11 seems to be the date the lawsuit was filed or the date the court issued the summons, so April 11 is too soon for the response to be due. However, you should retain legal counsel ASAP to address this lawsuit.
You should consult with an attorney as to how to handle this. Many law firms like our offer a free consultation and have special rates for these kids of cases. You must file a timely written response and you should consult proper discovery. If you do owe this money you can usually work out a settlement, but you should have an attorney call on your behalf. I would never suggest that you call directly. If you have questions please feel free to call my office 818 345-0123
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