Goody_Ouchless

Never, Batman! I was going to put it under one of the Joker's lines, but couldn't be bothered. @Clydesmom got it!

Part of the problem is the other board way over estimated the costs of arbitration. We just had someone here go through appeal with Amex and it didn't take that long. Logic would seem to dictate that best time to settle would be prior to them paying arb fee - that is when the math is in your favor. But, that being said, if they are willing to pursue arb in every case, then they are unlikely to be cave pre-arb. Like Discover - it's about having a zero-tolerance policy. We've had people discuss settlement terms with Amex and it's always the same - full amount unless you can prove genuine hardship.

Good catch. Only one I ever got was from a settlement. Nothing on the dozen or more that were charged off, sold, and never sued on.

Something seems to have changed - I can't recall the last time we saw an actual trial. Even the names of the law firms look different. A few years ago it was reported that there was a glut of lawyers and that those without jobs were taking $20 gigs off Craigslist. Perhaps this has led to another change in the model - competent lawyers have left the market, because there's no money, and debt buyers have adjusted to paying bare minimum on a "Default Judgment -> Settlement -> Dismiss" model. It's like they have all the evidence they need, but rock bottom legal fees don't allow any time for the plaintiff's lawyer to even review that evidence. Anyway - you won and they won't come after you again. They have hundreds more default judgments to process. Congrats! EDIT: I agree with Harry on being mystified why they wouldn't just take a shot, unless it really is a case where they are unable to put any time into the actual case and maybe have been warned about showing up in court totally unprepared.

Didn't Discover start as a card that targeted slightly higher risk customers, which they balanced with a very aggressive in-house collections arm? 61% does seem like a gift, considering that we've seen them pursue arbitration for tiny debts. Perhaps they'd take your 5K and do a stipulated judgement with a generous no-interest payment plan for the balance. Hard to see them taking less, but worth a shot. At least you called - we see many people not even take that step to find out where they stand.

They stay pending compliance. Midland won't comply. If they don't dismiss then we will destroy them there. Now you need to word an answer that can be reviewed. Tiny steps.

Every Synchrony agreement that I have seen contains language to the effect that they will initiate arbitration once an MTC is granted. Since they won't, they are then in violation of the court's order to arbitrate if they just try to come back to court. Fist can elaborate on that, as I believe he has experience with that argument. In this case, their contract says that they will initiate arbitration, if compelled. Their only argument against it would be "well, we pick and chose what parts of the contract we like." The danger with fighting it in court - even with favorable rules - is that those rules were put in place because of sketchy behavior in the past. These guys have upped their game and have all the evidence they need to prove their cases. Trojan makes an excellent point, which we alluded to earlier, about understanding what is required in an answer. It sound like in NY you need to mention the existence of the arbitration clause that you may invoke it, in your answer.

Local sports-talk guys where talking about same thing, yesterday, in reference to NBA - as in "if you don't want to be 'traded,' then don't go into a profession where you can be traded." One guy said "it's like if I took a job as a school janitor and, on day three, said 'I'm not cleaning THAT up.'"

Any idea what it cost them, in the end?

Can't recall when, or where, but I think there was a case where an appeals court had a problem with them listing things like "attachments" that aren't included in their evidence. Not sure how asking for that at trial would work, though. I suspect a lawyer would have sought, in discovery, everything mentioned in that b-o-s that wasn't already provided and argue that the record is woefully incomplete, as is? Would take some serious skills, but would it be possible to act all serious, thumb through through the evidence, and say things like "can you help me here, I can't seem to find the 'forward flow' agreement that's mentioned in bill-of-sale."

This ^^^. If you don't qualify for "good" BK (Ch 7?), the other one is way worse than settling. They put you on a Raman diet for 3 - 5 years.

This should be a teachable moment for those that think what they paid for the debt has any bearing on what they expect to collect. Perhaps someone who still believes that would be willing to call them (recording it, of course) and make the "pennies on the dollar" argument. EDIT: And a lesson for me to not be so careless. I see this in an OC, not a debt buyer. My bad...

This appears to be the arbitration section of the NY Rule of Civil Procedure. A quick reading makes it look very "friendly" for our purposes. NY Civil Arbitration If you follow that link back up the chain, there should be stuff about answering a suit, motions, etc. Also check any rules local to your court - who knows, maybe one court house will only accept things in a certain font, etc. Best to be safe and do things the way they want them. Here some highlights from the arb statutes: This would seem to indicate that all of the typical arguments about cost, or "bad faith" should fall on deaf ears - if there's an agreement to arbitrate, that's where it's going, even if it's a joke.

Assuming NY's arbitration rules follow Federal standard, if the judge messes up then you need to appeal. First steps are to determine how to answer and compose your Motion to Compel. Each locality seems different in terms if how to answer. In some places, how you answer can have ramifications, while in Texas, for example, a "General Denial" appears to cover all bases. (I seem to recall a case from NY last year where someone did all of this, but I could be mistaken.)