Sued By Gurstel Law Firm? Here's Help.
You have about 30 days from the day you were served to file a written response, and that's usually enough time.
Miss that deadline and the plaintiff can take a default judgment against you. Respond, and whoever they're filing for has to prove the case, which is harder than it sounds. Here's how, and how I can help.
Gurstel Law Firm is not the company you owed money to. It's a collection law firm, headquartered in Minnesota and filing across several Western states including California, that brings consumer collection lawsuits for its clients. Those clients are the actual plaintiffs, and they run from original creditors to debt buyers that bought your account for pennies on the dollar.
So the first move is to read the caption on your summons and find out who Gurstel is filing for. That name decides what kind of case you have. If the plaintiff is a debt buyer, the load-bearing question is usually whether it can prove it owns your account at all, through every hand the account passed, with evidence a court can actually consider. If it's the original creditor, the bank still has to prove its records and its numbers the legal way.
Use the thirty days
From the day you're served, you generally have thirty days to file a written response with the court. If nothing gets filed, the plaintiff can ask for an automatic judgment against you (called a default judgment), and with a judgment they can levy your bank account, meaning they take the money directly, garnish your wages if you have a job, or put a lien on your house. Responding is what makes everything above matter, because a defended case is where the proof gets tested.
Two reads that will help. Here's how to calculate your deadline, which is more particular than people expect. And the top five mistakes people make when they get sued is five minutes well spent before you decide anything.
Let it be my problem
If you'd rather hand this off, the consultation is free, it takes fifteen minutes, and you speak with me directly. No intake screener, no telemarketer. Although the outcome can't be guaranteed, you can offload the process, so you know that whatever can be done is being done while you go about the other things in your life. It's sort of like the alarm clock by your bed. Once it's set, your brain stops holding the time, because that's taken care of. Let me take care of this.