Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Warrant of Debt

A warrant in debt is a lawsuit. If you do not appear either in person or through a lawyer on the return date, judgment will be entered against you.

Re: Warrant of Debt

You need to put a motion for a continuance on the docket and have it heard. A "motion" is a request that the court do something. "Continuance" means postponement. "Docket" is the court's schedule for case hearings. You file the motion in which you pick a day at least five business days from the date you file and appear on that day, tell the judge why you want the hearing postponed, and you'll probably get what you asked for. The court will probably defer to the attorney for the creditor in picking the date, but object loudly if the date picked is not good for you.

In Fairfax General District Court (only) the hearing will be in courtroom 2A at 9:30 a.m. You can file a "request for court action" form available at the clerk's civil division window, 2nd floor, Fairfax County General District Court, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax. (Ask the clerk whether the date you want to have the hearing heard is a good day for the Court (sometimes they're off on conferences, and some days are allocated to special kinds of cases.) Check the box marked "continuance request" - get a copy to mail to the creditor's attorney (that's a "must" - if you don't get him a copy, your motion will be denied).

I don't know what was said, exactly, but if the attorney told you that you did not have to appear at the hearing without telling you that if you fail to appear a judgment will be entered against you, that's both unethical and a violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. It's surprising how may attorneys engaged in the collections business routinely violate the FDCPA. Further, if your case arises out of a consumer transaction, you may have a right to file counterclaims against the creditor for violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, each count of which is good for at least five hundred dollars plus attorney's fees. (The amount of attorneys' fees recoverable is whatever the court thinks is "reasonable" - although in Fairfax, it's likely you'll have to take an appeal to win anything under the VCPA.) Note also that you have a right to have the case removed to the Circuit Court where you can engage in discovery procedures and have a right to a jury trial if the amount of the claim is over $4,500. You'll need a lawyer to do that, but if you can swing it, I recommend you take that route.