My wife and I were recently exonorated in small claims court from a shady collection agency called Sunwest Financial located in Portland, OR (I'd link to their site or yellow pages entry but I can't find either).  My wife goes into detail on her blog about our ordeal with this company.  If you or someone you know who has a less than perfect credit past and is summoned to small claims court (by Sunwest Financial or not) know that you HAVE RIGHTS and you don't have to take this kind of scare tactic from a collection agency.

We won our case because Sunwest Financial was banking that we wouldn't even show up to our initial hearing, thus giving them the right to start seizing our assets.  We did show up and we fought back.  After rescheduling because the plaintiff had to pick up her kids (likely story) they failed to show up again, causing the judge to dismiss the suit.

My wife and I feel that they didn't have a case and we were prepared to fight and WIN.

You have rights as a debtor.  Don't let some company like Sunwest Financial push you around.

Side note: You know you're dealing with a shady company when their representative shows up in court in jeans and a T-shirt playing scratch-it lottery tickest!  Dumbass!