Goody_Ouchless

Depending on the particular court, mediation appears to be required. It used to irritate my lawyer that my particular court insisted on it, while others would let it slide. If mediation happens before your MTC is ruled on, just attend and explain the situation, and suggest to the opposing lawyer that he dismiss the case in order save everyone time. The mediators are typically third year law students who probably will know less about this than you. It may be a nice opportunity to educate the meditator about this aspect of law. Anyway, AZ law, regarding arbitration is quite clear and I don't believe anyone has failed, even in the rare case where a bad ruling has to be appealed.

So how did the trial go?

Some things never change - I see you still play the Pied Piper of Ignorance, leading the blind off cliffs. Where do we begin... Well, so much for them dismissing. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to connect the dots on the "four" sets of hands.

The problem with these defenses is that they worked 15 years ago. Once all of these records became computerized, and the industry was cleaned up, challenging things like bill-of-sale is what we call the "dog-ate-my-homework" defense. The result is usually that the judge listens for 30 seconds and then holds up the credit statements, asks if it's your name and address, and rules for plaintiff. As @texasrockerhas shown, plaintiffs in Texas have a long history of folding as soon as an answer is filed. Since that didn't happen, in this case, I wouldn't hold out much hope. Just show up, hope they don't and request that the case be dismissed with prejudice.

Sounds like your DV request alerted them to the fact that you exist and need this resolved - two main ingredients for deciding to sue.

Discover tends to play hardball, so don't be surprised if they aren't inclined to make a deal.

Ha - yea, he hates arbitration because he and "Frank" don't make squat.

OK. They will probably dismiss. Usually when they plan on following they don't do a song-and-dance routine.

What is the status of arbitration? Was MTC granted? Has plaintiff paid any fees?

At this point have they paid anything toward the arbitration? As far as amounts being "off," what are they reporting to credit bureaus? FCRA claim may the way to go if the number are different everywhere. Typically suing for a lower amount is just them being careful and dropping any interest and fees they may not be entitled to.

I guess the first question is "were you late on payments, and for how much?"

I can't wait until the next lawyer uses the old "arbitration can be veeeery expensive line," and someone can now say, with total confidence, "yea - for your client, Bozo."

Thank you so much for providing an update! That has to be chilling news to places that keep trying to recoup fees.

That's awesome - is that first FDCPA violation we've seen sanctioned for taking action in court after MTC? It seems like we've seen other places try that, but I guess it's more common to seek MSJ with MTC pending.

That line just means that there is nothing else pending in that court. Now you appeal since the judge ruled in error.