If you are being sued by Hunt and Henriques, you have a short window to file a written answer with the court, and missing it lets the firm take a default judgment that can reach your wages, bank accounts, and property. Hunt & Henriques, LLP is a San Jose–based debt collection law firm that files a high volume of consumer collection lawsuits in California state courts on behalf of creditors like Capital One, Citibank, and Discover, and debt buyers like Midland Funding and Portfolio Recovery Associates. What you do in the first 30 days matters more than anything else in the case.
How Long You Have to Respond
In California, you generally have 30 days from the date you were served with the summons and complaint to file a written answer. If you were served by substituted service, meaning the papers were left with someone else at your home or workplace rather than handed to you directly, you have 40 days.
The clock runs from the day of actual service, not from any date printed on the documents. Dates on the summons often reflect when the firm purchased a case index number, which can be weeks or months before you were served. Do not use the paperwork’s date to calculate your deadline.
What a Default Judgment Lets Them Do
If you do not answer in time, Hunt & Henriques can request a default judgment as soon as the deadline passes, even if a later hearing has already been scheduled on the court’s calendar. A default judgment gives the firm the ability to garnish your wages, freeze your bank accounts, and place liens on your property, all without further notice to you.
California law caps wage garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable income or the amount exceeding 40 times the state minimum hourly wage. Bank levies are not capped the same way and can freeze the full balance of an account. Property liens attach to real estate and must be resolved before you can sell or refinance.
Defenses Worth Raising in Your Answer
Several defenses come up regularly in cases filed by this firm. Which ones apply depends on the age of the debt, how you were served, and what documentation the firm actually has.
- Statute of limitations. Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 337, the limitations period for credit card debt and most written contracts is four years from the date of the last payment or account activity. A debt older than that is barred, and the expired statute is a complete defense.
- Lack of standing or documentation. You can demand proof that the plaintiff actually owns the debt. If the firm cannot produce the original signed credit agreement, account statements, and a complete chain of custody, the case may be dismissed. This matters most when the plaintiff is a debt buyer rather than the original creditor.
- Improper service. If you were never properly served, a default judgment already entered against you can be vacated. In one federal case, Moriarity v. Hunt & Henriques, the defendant said she only learned of the lawsuit when she received a request for entry of default, after paperwork was found on the windshield of a vehicle on her property. The magistrate judge allowed her FDCPA claims to proceed and noted that filing a lawsuit “to which there appears to exist a complete defense, without first making a reasonable inquiry” could itself violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- Debt validation. Under the FDCPA, you have the right to request verification of the debt within 30 days of receiving the initial collection notice. If the firm fails to validate, that failure supports both a defense and any counterclaims.
Disputes about specific charges are also fair game. In Ruiz v. Hunt & Henriques, the defendant alleged that the firm continued trying to collect charges she had disputed as fraudulent and disclosed information about her debt to her son. The California Court of Appeal’s Fourth Appellate District found she had shown a sufficient probability of prevailing on her FDCPA and Unfair Competition Law claims and let those claims move forward.
Settlement Ranges to Expect
Filing an answer that raises real defenses and demands documentation usually creates leverage. Cases involving debt buyers generally settle for 20% to 40% of the balance. Cases involving original creditors like Capital One or Discover typically settle between 30% and 60%.
Get any settlement in writing before you pay anything. The written agreement should say the case will be dismissed after payment, so the same debt cannot be pursued again.
Who Hunt & Henriques Represents
Hunt & Henriques is headquartered at 7017 Realm Drive, San Jose, with an additional office in Concord. It is registered with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation as a debt collector. Its named clients include Capital One, Citibank, Discover, Wells Fargo, Midland Funding, Portfolio Recovery Associates, and Cavalry SPV, with Capital One described as one of the firm’s most frequent clients. The firm does not generally purchase debts itself; it acts as outside counsel for whoever owns the debt.
Collection efforts usually start with letters and phone calls. When those go unanswered, the firm files suit and serves a summons and complaint.
Complaints and Prior Conduct
The firm has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2012 and holds an A+ BBB rating, though its BBB customer review score is 1 out of 5 stars. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s complaint database contains hundreds of complaints against the firm. Common grievances involve phone and letter practices, disputes over whether debts are valid, whether adequate documentation was provided, and post-judgment collection through wage garnishment and asset seizure.
The firm has also been sued by consumers alleging violations of the FDCPA and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. A 2016 proposed class action in the Southern District of California, Smith v. Hunt & Henriques, alleged that the firm’s collection letters told consumers they had to submit written disputes by mail, without disclosing that disputes could also be submitted through the firm’s website or by other written means. Cases like Smith, Moriarity, and Ruiz are useful context when evaluating documentation the firm produces in your own case.
What to Do This Week
Confirm the date you were actually served and count forward 30 days, or 40 if you were served by substituted service. File a written answer with the court before that date, raising every defense that applies. Send a written request for validation of the debt if you have not already. If a default judgment has already been entered and you were not properly served, you may be able to move to vacate it. A consumer protection attorney licensed in California can review the complaint and the documents the firm has produced and tell you which defenses are strongest for your case.