Being summoned for small claims case unpaid oop loan

Hello. Need advice. Got a loan with ayala coop via the company i used to work for. The arrangement was if employee resigns the final pay will be applied to the balance of the loan. So I resigned, got cleared by the company, and did not think about the final pay anymore. Years after, i am summoned to appear in court for small claims to settle unpaid loan. Attached is a copy of the loan application form that I signed stating the in case of resignation the company is authorized to deduct the balance. Now I am planning to attend that hearing (which I think I should), and bring with me my clearance paper from the company clearing me for any liabilities due to the company. My intent is not to run away from the obligation. But to lessen the amount being claimed, since I feel that something went wrong here. My understanding was that since I got cleared then my final pay was used to pay for the loan. And as advised by HR then, that if it is not enough I will get notified. But I wasnt. So I assumed it was done. Do I have a point here? At least even just a little bit of chance? I cant afford to bring a lawyer. Im worried as hell as to what will happen next. So, can you share some insights on this? Just need some sort of advice on how to approach this. THANK YOU.

If may balanace pa or if somehow hindi na deduct from your final pay then wala kang chance. Only way you win is if makita na bayad ka na talaga and wala ng pagkakautang

Yes there is a balance and lumaki na through the years. Wala ba fighting chance na ma revert to the original balance after leaving the company? Kse policy nila na to deduct pero they cleared me. Im willing to settle pero without sana yung amount as a result of penalties and interest since may fault din ung company. With other employees with loan and resigned they dont issue the clearance kapag may balance. Anyway will there be a public lawyer there to help out? Cant afford to get one pa.

Good day, i have loan sa home credit na gadgets and it so happen na hndi ko na po nabayaran because i gave birth and resigned para sa anak ko.wala pong income.may tumawag po sakin na may nag file po sakin ng case estafa daw po at will issue daw po ng warrant of arrest dahil hndi daw po ako nag attend ng 3 hearings..wala naman po ako nttnggap na letters or emails regarding po sa hearing or whatsoever..may binigay po sakin na number and tumawag daw po ako kay atty para mapagusapan daw.ano po dapat kong gawin

For the sake of those who has no idea what happens in cases like this or similar to mine then here is my share to help out. We dont always get a reply here when we needes it most so i hope his might give some light to someone out there.

So my story is stated above. I vot a letter to attend a bearing for small claims. I was stressed out and needed some light in this situation. I was afraid because i had no clue what to expect let alone what the outcome would be. I just knew i have to face it. Fight if you will. And so i did. I attended the hearing, no lawyer cause i cant afford one, i just had with me documents that would support my claim. I went early hoping that it was all just a threat or bluff that i was even schexuled for a hearing. But i found out that indeed i am. Saw the schedules for the days hearing and my name was there. So i waited until they call in those scheduled inside the court room. It does look like a court room. Only in the movies it is more neat. This has a ton of paperwork all over. Boxes and piles of papers. I sat in front and waited. More people came in. I secretly tried to take a peek on what other people are holding wondering if they are just like me or not. And indeed some were there holding the same kind of summon paper that i had. Some were lawyers or representatives of companies. We all sat there and waited for another hour and a half from the scheduled time. Then a man started addressing the group that we are about to begin. He asked if all parties are present and who are defendants and claimants( not sure of the term). There were those that both parties were present. When i got called, only i was present and the other party wasnt there. And so the judge arrived and the proceeding started. There were a number of cases before mine and one by one i start to see the pairs that i could identify. But the one who filed my case still wasnt present. At this point i was hoping that again it was just a bluff to scare me to settle. Although i also entertained the thought that he wouldnt show up and i can plead my case and win it so as to get this all behind me. But no. An old man and a lady sat beside me. They brought out a folder and me being still curious of course discreetly looked at it. And there he is. I saw my name written on the folder this old man brought out. Turned out he is the lawyer filing a case on me. And so i told him, hello that's me you have there. He was ok. Old lawyer type who i guess because of the proffession and title wohld try to intimidate who they talk to. But he was ok. I was calm and just told him that i am willing to settle but i have something to say too and let the judge decide.

And so my case number was called. Judge asked the story behind the case. The lawyer told his and i told mine. The judge was for a moment on my side. He questioned why i was given clearance. Where did the money go? And the lawyer just said that the company i worked for closed but they have all payments i made before i left which was not enough that is why there is a balance. The judge then said that i cant be liable for the penalties. And the lawyer obliged. But still i am liable for the balance. The lawyer would need to get a final computation and find out what happened to my final pay, bonuses, withholdin tax, and 13th mo pay that was supposedly used to payoff the balance. So our turn with the judge was done but we will be called back to see if there are updates and agreement. The lawyer then started texting who i assume was his boss or their client. Then after several minutes approached me with a computation. It was far less than the amount on the summon paper and he is giving me two years to settle.the amount was reasonable. He gave his explanation on where the final pay was applied, i gave an amount how much i can pay in a month and with that it was settled. Our turn is up once again with the judge, we both gave our versions of what we agrees on. Judge agreed. Done. We were asked to fill out a paper documenting the agreement. And that is it.

So thank you still for this site for letting me know that there is nothing to be afraid of in small claims hearings. And one post here did say what to expect during these proceedings. And that it is important that you attend so you can be heard. I often wonder what wouldve happened if i didnt show up. My assumption is that i would be billed with the penalties and interests as claimed by the loan company. Judge wiuldnt have heard my side of the story. Which is i guess is the whole point to these kinds of hearings.

To skyler - i am no lawyer. But, if you have a chance to attend a hearing, maybe it will be a good idea that you do so. It might turn out to your favor as well. Now i am not sure what happens in your case after missin three hearings. So ill let others respond to that. Come on lawyers or aspiring lawyers out there, help us out here. Were postin here to somehow vet some answers. You benefit from this too anyway. Any form of advise would help ease the stress of being in the dark and not knowing what to do.

Sorry admin if this post is long. I just hope that being this detailed may help someone out there.

Thanks.

(Please excuse the typos or grammar errors)

Hello there how much is involve in your cases? i have problem with a bank loan. And like you i am willing to settle. but they asked me too much po di ko kaya yung amount. 63k one time payment.

mine was way more than 60k. lumaki with all the penalties and interest. I tried to deal with the collections agency and the loan company but they insisted the full amount with everything else. I pleaded my case kse there is also a mistake by my former employer and not just mine. but yun nga they did not listen. So I pleaded sa judge during the hearing, to my surprise, he heard and actually understood my case. kaya rin ang result ... nabawasan ung amount. I guess the difference was I was able to plead my case sa judge and not with the loan company or collections company. kung sila lang they will insist on the full amount. I hope that helps you in your situation. Maayos rin yan.