If you live in Garden City and have received a summons and complaint regarding your home, you are not alone. Due to various circumstances, many people get behind on their mortgage payments and end up with the threat of foreclosure hanging over their heads. For some people, it is an unexpected and expensive medical emergency that has put a serious dent in their finances. For others, it might be a downsizing at work or another reduction in income. No matter the reason for the change in your finances, you can still take steps to manage the situation.

Once you receive a summons and complaint, you may be wondering what you should do next. The one thing you should not do is to ignore it.

Make sure it is real

Before you respond to the summons and complaint, the first thing you should do is make sure it is real. Many collection agents that are less than honest will send people letters that closely resemble a summons and complaint. They do this to scare people into making a payment, sometimes for a debt that is not even real. There are certain characteristics that legitimate summons and complaint letters tend to have. For example, a process server may have delivered the letter and it should include your court date and which judge will preside.

Answering the letter

The summons will more than likely include a date by which you must respond to the letter or the number of days you have from the time of receipt. In general, you can acknowledge the debt, deny it or claim that you do not know anything about it in your response. If you deny the creditor’s claim, then you must also include your reasons for doing so. Before you compose your response, check with the court that is hearing the case for any formatting requirements. If your response does not meet those requirements, the court might rule that it is unacceptable. Once you have prepared the letter properly, check over your answer, include the filing fee and submit the letter to its proper recipient.

Stay on top of the dates

When handling a summons and complaint, it is vital that you strictly adhere to the dates for responding and attending the hearing. If you miss these dates, you risk the court automatically ruling against you.

If you have received a summons and complaint and you are facing foreclosure, do not panic. Do everything you can to follow the legal requirements of handling the summons and complaint and argue your case.