Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

Re: Served papers to appear

You have been served with papers and that means that you must appear in court and defend or face a "default judgment." In a default judgment you not only wind up paying the original $600, but you'll wind up paying an attorneys' fee too.

On the form will be the name of the attorney who filed the lawsuit, and it will have his office telephone number. Contact him to see if you can work out a "consent judgment" so that you can arrange payments. If you don't, the next thing your served with could be an "execution" where the sheriff takes your car for sale at auction. I know you want to avoid that.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact the Legal Aid office near you. There are offices in Columbia, Jefferson City, Kansas City, and St. Louis to name just a few. They can help you with this issue.

Whatever you do, DO NOT LET THE COURT DATE PASS WITHOUT SHOWING UP OR CONTACTING THE OPPOSING ATTORNEY PERSONALLY.