How to Deny a Debt in Court
It has happened quite a few times that a debt collecting company accused a wrong person for repaying a debt which he hasn’t taken. Imagine if it happens to you that you are summoned to court to answer for a debt you haven’t taken at all. You will certainly fall in an awkward situation and might not know what to do exactly. You will have to make an adequate paper trail to prove that you haven’t taken the alleged debt and then appear before the court to deny the liability.
Instructions
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1
The summon letter from the court is not to be ignored at all. You have to response to it in the prescribed time. You should specifically mention in your response that you haven’t taken the stated debt and you are willing to appear before the court to prove your denial.
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It has also been witnessed that when you reply to the summon letter of the court, stating that you haven’t taken the debt and will appear in court to prove it, the lawsuit is dropped. If this happens, your time and effort will be saved easily, otherwise, you have to appear before the court to face the lawsuit.
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You have to response to the summon letter within 30 days from the day you received it. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have a due right to ask the court to provide you the proof that the mentioned debt belongs to you, the name and the contact information of the creditor.
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Send your reply via a certified mail and remember to keep its receipt as a proof. You better also keep a copy of dispute letter to the company being responsible for the collection of debt.
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You should now wait for the response of the collection company and you will receive the details of your name, the information of the original creditor and the amount of debt they think you owe to them.
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Once getting the information of the original creditor, you should make a phone call to that organisation. Explain the entire situation to the original creditor, telling him/her that you were never their customer in the past and you can easily prove your point in the court.
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Appear in front of the court and explain the scenario to the judge, emphasising on the fact that the alleged debt doesn’t belong to you.
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Present all the written evidences you have to the judge and tell him/her that you never held an account with the original creditor. Provide the court with your Social Security card, date of birth and a list of past addresses, which the judge will compare with the information provided by the collection company. Obviously the two pieces of information won’t match and the court will let you free of the charge!
