You were sued on a collection lawsuit and managed to file a written response with the Clerk of the Court within 30 days. Congratulations, you have stopped the entry of a default judgement.
But now what? What is your plan of action after filing a response to the lawsuit?
The next phase is to get answers, especially if you do not agree with the creditor’s claim.
- They say you owe a large medical debt, but didn’t health insurance pay a large portion of the bill?
- Did the hospital forget to file a medical insurance claim?
- Did the credit card lender give you credit for all the payments you made?
- What is the interest rate on the contract?
- Was the contract written or verbal?
Collection agencies don’t like to answer questions. They are focused on filing lawsuits, obtaining judgments by default, and garnishing paychecks.
They don’t answer questions about why you owe the money, unless you make them provide anwers.
INTERROGATORIES:
Any party may serve upon any other party written interrogatories to be answered by the party served. Nebraska Trial Rule §6-333
Interrogatories are written questions you can make the other side answer. There is no special format you must use, but there are some guidelines to follow to make the process work:
- Mail the written questions to the attorney representing the collection agency.
- In the memo of the letter, write the work Interrogatories and reference court Rule 33.
- Advise the other side that they have 30 days to respond to the Interrogatories.
- Ask specific questions.
- Ask one question at a time.
- Number each question.
- Ask for a list of all persons having knowledge of the lawsuit, their address and phone numbers.
- Ask for a list of the persons they will call as witnesses at trial.
- Ask for a list of all documents they will introduce at trial.
- Request a list of all charges on the account.
- Request a list of all payments made on the account.
Lawsuits are your opportunity to finally get answers. Make them answer questions.
Image courtesy of Flickr and womencandoit