Filing your response with the court in order to negotiate a lower payoff when sued.

It is not necessary to file an answer or response to a lawsuit you were recently served with in order to call and negotiate a payoff. It can prove to be a motivator for the plaintiff to settle for a more favorable amount, or at all. Filing the answer can also lead to more cost in a settlement if they never intend to settle, but instead have every intention of taking the case through to judgment (due to attorney fees etc). Many creditors and collection attorneys have softened from that practice shortly after the economy took a dive.

Filing your answer and response for a better settlement payoff or payment plan.

It is always best to work with your own experienced collection defense attorney when you are involved in a legal action. But I understand doing so can be cost prohibitive, and even make no sense at all if the balance you are being sued for is fairly small. Your balance being as low as it is, unless you can qualify for low income legal aid or some other form of pro bono legal support, it can make more sense to settle now, before letting this progress any further.

You can call the attorney suing you and open up a conversation about settling the case for less. Just be prepared for less flexibility on a debt this size.

What state do you live in?

Who is the attorney suing, and who do they work for (the name of the plaintiff)?

Who was the original creditor and was your last payment made in May 08?

Post answers to my questions using the comment box below. I will have some additional feedback to offer from there. It may indeed be a good strategy to file an answer to the complaint first, before making any call to negotiate the pay off amount.