I am a clerk at a local city court. I am the civil clerk and I feel that debtors are treated extremely unfairly by debt collection laws. The Court cannot give legal advice so it is saddening to have to try and explain and console upset litigants who have no idea what they are in for. I think there should be more avenues for pro se litigants who cannot afford to retain a private attorney (which is 95 % of the litigants in my city). I can say that most people do not answer summonses because they either were not properly served or they just straight up do not care, or most often, do not understand the legalese. BUT, I do have to say that I get many litigants who call and ask what they do now that they are served. On the occasions that people do file answers, most of them are in letter form, not a "legal" verified answer. Most debt collection attorneys jump right on that and request a summary judgment. Our Court does not turn away letters, and we send a copy to the attorney and set the matter up for a pre trial conference with a judge or court attorney to help try to get both parties together to come to some sort of resolution. The Court does have to adhere to a scheduling policy for these conferences, but we are very flexible if a defendant has a scheduling conflict we try to accommodate them as best we can. When summonses are filed with the court, half of them have tons of information about the debt, others only have the amount due! I find that sometimes it's hard for litigants to obtain further proving documents from attorneys, even with the court telling them they have to. When entering default judgments, I take my time and examine the whole file, like comparing the contents of the summons/complaint and the default judgment submitted, re-checking the affidavit of service of the summons (to make sure the defendant had the legal time to answer the summons), and ensuring that attached to the default judgment is the proper documentation as to purchasing the debt, a non-military affidavit, etc. I also make sure that they are being charged the proper interest rate and court costs. The bottom line is that the debtors still do not have enough and/or sufficient laws to protect them, and the Court's hands are tied based on these laws, even if they wanted to help, they couldn't. I know the Court is to remain impartial, but in a small city, everybody knows everybody and sometimes it's hard to see these practices occurring.
Thank you for that site. Well, I get at least one call per week from a litigant saying "I was served with a summons today, and it says I must appear within 10 (or 30) days to answer this complaint, but there is no court date on the papers for me to appear", and I have to tell them the procedure (and point out to them the blurb about you not physically having to come to court to answer). I'm not sure how much clearer the wording in the summons has to be, I understand them fully, and not just because I'm familiar with the forms, I'm just smarter than the average litigant I have to deal with I guess. The complaints do state that they have the rights to the debt, under verification that is notarized, at first... but they cannot enter the default judgment unless they provide the affidavit signed by both parties who owned and now owns the debt, which is generally attached to their judgments.
lovem2013
1
I am a clerk at a local city court. I am the civil clerk and I feel that debtors are treated extremely unfairly by debt collection laws. The Court cannot give legal advice so it is saddening to have to try and explain and console upset litigants who have no idea what they are in for. I think there should be more avenues for pro se litigants who cannot afford to retain a private attorney (which is 95 % of the litigants in my city). I can say that most people do not answer summonses because they either were not properly served or they just straight up do not care, or most often, do not understand the legalese. BUT, I do have to say that I get many litigants who call and ask what they do now that they are served. On the occasions that people do file answers, most of them are in letter form, not a "legal" verified answer. Most debt collection attorneys jump right on that and request a summary judgment. Our Court does not turn away letters, and we send a copy to the attorney and set the matter up for a pre trial conference with a judge or court attorney to help try to get both parties together to come to some sort of resolution. The Court does have to adhere to a scheduling policy for these conferences, but we are very flexible if a defendant has a scheduling conflict we try to accommodate them as best we can. When summonses are filed with the court, half of them have tons of information about the debt, others only have the amount due! I find that sometimes it's hard for litigants to obtain further proving documents from attorneys, even with the court telling them they have to. When entering default judgments, I take my time and examine the whole file, like comparing the contents of the summons/complaint and the default judgment submitted, re-checking the affidavit of service of the summons (to make sure the defendant had the legal time to answer the summons), and ensuring that attached to the default judgment is the proper documentation as to purchasing the debt, a non-military affidavit, etc. I also make sure that they are being charged the proper interest rate and court costs. The bottom line is that the debtors still do not have enough and/or sufficient laws to protect them, and the Court's hands are tied based on these laws, even if they wanted to help, they couldn't. I know the Court is to remain impartial, but in a small city, everybody knows everybody and sometimes it's hard to see these practices occurring.
View this comment in the discussion thread
lovem2013
2
Thank you for that site. Well, I get at least one call per week from a litigant saying "I was served with a summons today, and it says I must appear within 10 (or 30) days to answer this complaint, but there is no court date on the papers for me to appear", and I have to tell them the procedure (and point out to them the blurb about you not physically having to come to court to answer). I'm not sure how much clearer the wording in the summons has to be, I understand them fully, and not just because I'm familiar with the forms, I'm just smarter than the average litigant I have to deal with I guess. The complaints do state that they have the rights to the debt, under verification that is notarized, at first... but they cannot enter the default judgment unless they provide the affidavit signed by both parties who owned and now owns the debt, which is generally attached to their judgments.
View this comment in the discussion thread