So bmo just sent me a letter that they will be taking me to court

I'm sorry if this is a little off topic, doesn't appear to be a financial forum here. I'm curious if anyone here is familiar with our laws in this situation. I have an outstanding amount that I owe, been out of work for 7 months, but I have applied to like 50-60 jobs or more in 2011, nobody has hired me.

What will come from this? I don't own the property I live in, and I don't own any assets.

Looking for some advice on what the process is like, I cant really seek legal council since I have no money, what are my options here?

The letter tells me that they already requested a court filing and that a judgement could be made against me which would include leans on property, assets and wage garnishes.

If BMO were taking you to court, you would be served with From 7A, informing you of a claim against you in small claims court. You would then have an opportunity, within 20 business days to file a defense (form 9A). At that time, you can either dispute the charges, or propose payment arrangements. If they dispute your financial arrangements, they may take you to court and try to have a judgment filed against you on their terms.

I'm not sure if they sent you these and you just ignored them for 20 business days. If that is the case, then you are pretty much at their mercy.

If you would like actual legal counsel, there are options. I would suggest getting in touch with the CFW Group Their rates range from free to reasonable, and they will help sort you out.

1.) Get one thing through your head. At this point, your credit is already trashed for 7 years. There's not much more they can do at this point. The best thing you can do is start on the road to repairing it.

2.) If they haven't filed for a judgment, then you still have time to file a defense. Download the form here

3.) If you file a defense, there is still a 6 month waiting period before you would have a pre-trial. This gives you time to get a job, or work out some payment arrangement.

4.) I've taken the liberty of preparing a defense for you. You are going to have to edit it a little. See here

Now let's take a look at your defense, and why we're taking this angle.

1.) Notice that we're not denying that you owe them money. It's important that you agree to the sum claimed in your form 7A. A small claims court judge is going to look more favourably on a David & Goliath case like this, where David is actually taking responsibility for the money he owes.

2.) We don't want this to go to pre-trial, and neither does BMO. If it goes to pre-trial, they have to spend a few hundred bucks on a lawyer to show up and waste a judge's time. Then, if it continues going to trial, and you actually lawyer up, they could end up spending thousands, all in an effort to get a few thousand. It's in their best interest to settle.

3.) I understand that you have no money. Feel free to move the date of the first payment forward (but don't get too ridiculous) by a couple months, if you need more time to find a job.

4.) GOING FOR SUSPENSION OF INTEREST IS KEY. While you are admitting to monies owed, you will save thousands of dollars (I believe BMO charges 13.xx%) over the 30 months that you are making payments. Also notice that we are not agreeing to pay interest while the loan is in litigation. Makes sense, right?

5.) The reason I've numbered the first entries in the defense, is because if you look at the charges, they will be numbered. In your defense, you should reply to each charge that you are in dispute with, using the same numerical system as they used.

6.) Make sure where it says "NAME OF DEFENDANT" to use the exact syntax that they use in the form 7A to name you. If you go by Chris, and they call you Christopher, then your name should be Christopher.

7.) The other stuff you might erase. The reason I included the stuff about charge slips and credit limit, is because BMO tends have an opt-in process for receiving credit slips, and before Jan 1, 2010, it was legal in Ontario to raise the credit limit of a card without informing the creditor. It's my hope that a small claim's judge will recognize this.

8.) The point of this defense is not to get out of paying the money, it is to suspend interest, take responsibility for the amount owed, and come to an amicable payment arrangement that will save both of you the headache of court costs and lawyers.

Once you've filled out your defense, print it in triplicate, and take it down to the courthouse mentioned in the 7A lawsuit you received. You will need ~$45 to file it.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.)