Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

The sheriff just does not want to have a nice chat. The sheriff has a summons. Nothing except a bit of time is to be gained by ducking service. It is not your responsibility to help the creditor do its job. So no, you do not have to go and get the summons. But the sheriff is going to deliver it at another time. Failing that, an alias and pluries summons will be issued and the sheriff will try again. If service still cannot be effected ,the creditor can apply to the court to serve you by other means. So there will be service of some kind. All you are doing is make this more difficult and potentially add to the costs of the lawsuit which will be added to a judgment.

Depending on your situation, it may make infinitely more sense to accept the papers so you can see who is suing and for what. In that way, you can prepare to deal with it.

You say its an "old" debt. How old? A creditor has 3 years to sue you in NC. Has it been 3 or more years since you last paid? If so, then it will be worthwhile to hire an attorney to file an answer on your behalf and get this dismissed.

If it has been less than 3 years, then the lawsuit is timely. The issue is then what you want to do about it. What credit card would this be? How much do you think is owed? Most creditors will settle a debt for less than what is owed. Do you have that much available to settle? If not, when will you have it? Is the debt ober $10,000? Is bankruptcy a consideration? If so, have you consulted a bankruptcy attorney? If so, what kind of bankruptcy can you file?

So a creditor sues. Big deal. That is not the issue. The issue is whether a creditor can collect on the debt. What do you own? How is it titled? Is it covered by the NC exemptions? Many clients' assets are exempt from execution provided that they take the proper steps to protect their assets (like by consulting me or another attorney to make sure that all assets are protected). If your assets are protected, then maybe you do not need to file bankruptcy and can save the funds to resolve the debt later.

I can help you deal with the debt for a reasonable fee in a non-bankruptcy/non-litigation context. Please contact me at [email protected] if interested.