BackFromTheDebt

In order to prevent a motion for summary judgment, you need to show that there is a point of fact in dispute.

When you first hear from a CA or JDB, the first step is almost always to send a DV letter. In this case, a DV letter should include a demand for proof as to who actually owns the debt. You can demand proof of ownership of a debt without admitting to the debt.

Not legally, but it has been known to happen, either accidentally or intentionally.

To answer, or rather avoid answering, a question asked earlier about what % I settled for -- 1. There was an NDA. I can't tell you. 2. My situation was completely different from yours. My Discover account had bounced among 4 different law firms, not all in the correct state. In the last firm, the only debt collection attorney quit the firm while handling my case, and it sat in a drawer for over a year. When they finally got a new debt collection attorney, the case was barely withing the SOL in my state, but outside the SOL in Delaware or wherever Discover is chartered. That created a very interesting choice of law issue. If the arbitrator used the Delaware law, I win. If not, Discover wins. And, Discover would have to win twice, since I could appeal to a 3-arbitrator panel. So Discover would have to convince 1 judge once, and 3 judges a second time, that they really didn't mean it when they said all disputes in arbitration should use Delaware law. 3. There were a number of problems with their documents. Discover doesn't make that kind of mistake anymore. To make a long story short, I got a better settlement than you could possibly get, because Discover didn't want to have to deal with these issues in arbitration, at great expense. Discover is willing to pay any price to win an arbitration case. When it is a case they might lose, they aren't as willing.

Discover really will fight to the end. This is not necessarily and either/or situation. If you don't work out a settlement, you will almost always lose the case, and be forced to pay everything. Your options are: 1. Settle now. 2,. Fight the case and settle later. 3. Lose Some people have used the tactic of filing for arbitration in order to try to get a better settlement. It works for some, but not for others. Generally, there are several good windows for settlement. Many of those windows have passed. Some of the remaining windows for settlement are: A. Right now. B. After you file in JAMS. You can *sometimes* get a better settlement between the time they get their first bill and when they pay the bill. Not always, but sometimes. C. Between the time when they get the bill for the initial hearing, and when they have to pay it. This is a bit further along the way. A number of people, including myself, have seen them accept settlements at this point which were the same as what they rejected earlier. D. After you lose the hearing, between the time you file for a 3-judge appeal and when they pay the bill. Again, they are looking at a large bill, so they are more apt to settle. E. Between the time they get the initial bill for the 3-judge hearing and when they pay it. F. After you lose the case in the second hearing. This will NOT be as good a settlement as the other times. This is your last gasp. My particular case won't help you at all. Discover and their attorneys made some serious mistakes along the way, so I was able to get a much better settlement than I have ever heard of anyone else getting from Discover. Be warned. Discover will generally go to the bitter end. They will spend unbelievable amounts of money to keep you from walking away from a $13k debt. I mean, they will spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You can sue for misrepresenting the legal status of a debt. This is not misrepresenting the legal status of a debt, unless they are going to claim the conversation somehow reset the SOL. As @LaneBlane said, email them to say the conversation never took place. If they are stupid enough to claim you reset the SOL in that conversation, or admitted the debt, etc., then and only then might you have a law suit.

That, of course, depends on how much you still owe. (Which is why she suggested talking to the attorney). There are SOME cases where the amount you owe will be close to what you would pay to file BK. Or else you don't really owe that much, and while it is more than filing for BK, what would be garnished is something you can live with, but the cost of filing BK isn't. So weigh your options carefully. If this is a big enough debt to really hurt, BK can be a godsend.

Good golly Miss Molly, that letter is HORRIBLE! Please try to forget you ever saw it. Step 1: Send the letter requesting validation of debt. That buys you time to plan your next step. Step 2: Plan you next step. A CEASE letter would probably blow up in your face. Don't do that. You would be forcing them to either walk away or sue. Your chances of settlement are about nil. INSTEAD, prepare proof that you are collection proof. As @Clydesmomsaid, there are SOME banks and SOME attorneys who will back off completely after you have submitted this evidence, but there are others who will sue in case they can collect something a number of years in the future. I used to live in NY, and I believe the interest post judgment is 9% simple (NOT compounded) per annum. Meaning if they win a $10,000 judgment, they tack on $900 every year. Step 3: Once you have the proof that they cannot collect from you, and you have heard back from them, send it to them. Ask them politely how they plan to deal with the situation. Step 4: If they are NOT going to just drop if, that is when you can try to negotiate a settlement. I have heard of cases in which BoA settled for 10%. It might happen. Step 5: If they plan to sue no matter what, read up on all the laws about making yourself collection proof. NOTE: You can find some truly bad advice out there. Some places will give you advice that will make things much, much worse for you. You will generally get good advice here. Remember, the clock is ticking, but you have time. You have up to 30 days from when you get the letter to get the response to the lawyer. (and yes, make sure it is sent certified mail return receipt requested). You will probably have a few weeks after you get the response to settle the case. In other words, don't sit back and do nothing, but don't panic. You have the time to work out your best strategy. Best of luck to you.

The first step is, within 30 days, to request validation of the debt. If this is already at an attorney, the odds are almost 100% he can validate. The first reason for demanding validation of the debt is simply to buy a little time while you work out your strategy. If you really, really are "judgement proof", there is SOME chance the attorney will accept a 10% settlement, better to get something than nothing. The second reason, since this is an old debt, is to see if it is still within the NY SOL. When you get the information, you should have your answer. HOWEVER, you really don't know what will happen. There are some likely and unlikely things, and both have happened. The attorney might not have anything to validate with (unlikely. This used to happen a LOT with BoA in the old days, but they cleaned up their data) Not likely. The attorney might stick it in a drawer for a while and forget about it until past SOL. (I know of cases where this happened, and it ALMOST happened to me). Not likely. The attorney and BoA might be willing to negotiate small settlement. In the old days, BoA would often negotiate small settlements. I have NO idea if they still do. Pretty likely, hard to say. They might sue. That is also a strong possibility. In that case, you need to figure out how to be judgment proof for sure.

I added the bold. Check your state laws very, very carefully. I faced Cap 1 back in the old days. My state had laws saying the documents had to be attested to by someone with firsthand knowledge of the case. I had perhaps the most consumer-friendly judge in the entire state for that case. Judge ruled that the litigation specialist or whatever the title was for Cap 1 did not have first hand knowledge of the case. Eventually Cap 1 gave up and let the case be thrown out for lack of prosecution. (I also took them to arbitration, which they ignored). What is the moral? Had it been a different state, or almost any other judge in the same state, that would not have worked. Because I knew the details of my state's laws, I was able to win the case. Which means -- you need to see if there is anything in YOUR state's laws and rules of evidence that would preclude Cap 1 from using the evidence they gave. If so, you have to know the law, and be able to convince a judge your interpretation is correct. If not, you WILL lose. @Clydesmom's suggestion of settling is correct unless you can find a way out in your state's laws AND convince the judge you are correct. Even then, there is a good chance they will come up with evidence that DOES pass muster, and you lose anyway.

Twice Citibank (which had an arbitration clause back then, don't know if it still does), RSIEH. Both went to arbitration, NDA of course. Later they contacted me about a third account. I called them up and asked if they really wanted to deal with me a third time. They didn't. They closed that account and sent it back. That third account bounced around from law firm to law firm for several years.

If you are in BK proceedings, I assume you already have an attorney, and you know the suit will stop cold as soon as BK is filed. If you are in doubt, ask your attorney. I personally don't see the upside of continuing to litigate a case that will soon be dead. Maybe I am missing something.

First, your Credit Karma and Mint scores are NOT your real scores. They are only an approximation. Second, sometimes they change the algorithm used to compute the credit scores without any notice.

At some point the case will be closed. You can either file a motion in the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, or else just wait for the judge to dismiss the case eventually.

Synchronicity has a great arbitration agreement. PRA generally doesn't follow into arbitration. Consider filing an MTC. There are LOTS of threads dealing with Sychronicity and PRA, often this particular law firm, and many of the threads are specific to Texas. For the record, I have taken this particular law firm to arbitration for two different accounts. When a third account was sent their way, they decided they didn't want to deal with me anymore.