So I came home yesterday to find a stack of legal papers from Pettibone Law sitting on my kitchen table. My heart honestly dropped when I saw “lawsuit” and “summons” on the envelope. I’ve been dealing with some financial struggles over the past year, and I guess one of my old credit card debts got sold off and now they’re coming after me.
I’ve never been sued before, so I’m kind of freaking out. From what I’ve been reading online, it looks like Pettibone Law is a debt collection firm that files lawsuits for creditors, and they don’t mess around. They can get a default judgment if you ignore it, and then they can go after your wages or bank account.
I called the number on the notice and spoke to someone there, but honestly, I felt like I was being pressured into agreeing to a payment plan I can’t really afford. They made it sound like if I don’t settle right now, they’re going straight to court and getting a judgment against me. Is that true, or are they just trying to scare me?
I’ve been doing some research and found a site that explained my rights under the FDCPA, like they can’t threaten me with jail time or harass me, but I’m still not sure what my best move is. Part of me wants to just ignore it and hope it goes away, but I know that’s probably the worst thing I could do.
Has anyone here dealt with Pettibone Law specifically? Did you fight it, negotiate a settlement, or get a lawyer involved? How did it turn out? I’m trying to figure out whether I should request a debt validation letter first or just try to work out a payment arrangement before it goes any further.
Really stressed about this whole situation, so any advice from people who’ve been through something similar would mean a lot. Thanks for reading.
https://consumerlawfirmcenter.com/legal-notices-from-pettibone-law/