Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
two days ago I just received a SUMMONS for a CIVIL case. What should I do now? I have no money and the over due credit card debt has now moved to court action. I am only hanging on by the good graces of family members. I have been out of work for years now and haven't had an income in about five years. Just very recently I was able to bring in some boarders into my home to help with my finances but I am still drowning and still don't have enough to cover all my bills. When I used my credit card to pay my bills, I was under the impression I would pay them back within a couple of months. I never had the intention for it to go this far for so long. I have no money, it's a struggle to cover the mortgage alone. I still need others to cover the rest and that might stop at any moment. I have read on the SUMMONS that I can file paperwork on my own, but is there a way I can have a lawyer help me at all for free? I do owe them the money, but I am just bobbing in the water and not yet have the funds to pay much more then twenty to fifty dollars a month. I am shaking in my skin right now and I don't want to face this alone. Can I walk someplace and get a lawyer for free to help me and make sure I don't do something stupid or hurtful to myself? I live in Wilmington California. I just got these boarders here and I just got in a position to pay these people a small fee to repay them, or at least to show I am trying. But then this SUMMONS came and here I am. Please Please I really need help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
I am very sorry, but you are not going to find an attorney to do this for free. We earn our living handling legal matters and can not spend a great deal of time on a matter that you probably can not win. Legal Aid likely will not help you because you won a house so have too much in assets for them. Filing an answer will cost you $355 unless you can get the court to grant you a fee waiver because of your economic situation. You can drag the sit out for several months and try to get them to reach an installment plan with you, but most of these legal collection firms are heartless.
Call the law firm up and tell they your situation and you are willing to make what payments you can but they have nothing you won that they can go after as your house has no equity [do not mention you have tenants]. I am handling a similar matter so may be able to give you some forms you can use to fight them. You have 30 days to file a general denial [answer]. After you try the above you can give me a call at 510-441-2684 and I can see if I can give you anymore help.
Like Mr. Shers said, if you can prove financial hardship, you won't have to pay the court fees to file an answer. If the complaint was not verified (this means if it was not signed by a representative of the company suing you), you can file what is called a "general denial."
A general denial is a single page "answer" where you are denying all the allegations, and you prevent the other side from getting a default judgment against you. As Mr. Shers said, you have 30 days from the date you were served to file.
Call me and if you can make it to my office in Sherman Oaks, I'll help you prepare the General Denial for free. After that, I would follow Mr. Shers' advice. Good luck! (818) 783-7998
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