BackFromTheDebt

Warning: you are in Florida. Arbitration is different. It is easy to waive your rights to arbitration in Florida. If you are sued, file a Motion to Compel arbitration instead of an answer. Otherwise you can lose your rights to arbitrate.

I am not one of those people who say never to do a preemptive arbitration. I have done three, and all 3 worked out very well. However, all 3 of my preemptive arbs were very special situations. I don’t see anything special about your situation. You seem to have a rosy colored view of what arbitration will be like — that you will avoid pay the fees and Midland will remove all trade lines. I would be very surprised if that actually happened. It would be a pleasant surprise, but very surprising. If you really want to do a preemptive arbitration, you need to know the risks. What if Midland just ignores you, and neither you nor Midland ever pay the fees? What then if Midland sues on the account and challenges your MTC on the grounds that you filed in arbitration but never paid, therefore waiving your rights to arbitration? You were wise to ask before pulling the trigger. I don’t think you have this all planned out very well. You need to have a very well planned strategy in advance. BTW, here were the reasons why I did preemptive arb 3x: 1. Two accounts with Citi with the same law firm. One was already in court. I filed for both, combined the cases, hoping they would make a mistake and file in court after I filed in arbitration. They did. 2. I had very, very strong banking violations by the OC. It was my wife’s account. I could represent her in arbitration but not court. So I filed a preemptive arbitration. They folded after discovery, when I showed their lawyer all the violations 3. The case was SOL by Delaware law but barely within the SOL in my state. By filing in arbitration it raised the issue of whether Delaware SOL or my state SOL should be used. They folded while we were scheduling the hearing.

I remember back when I was massively in debt, finding, buying and reading a remaindered book about fighting the creditors. The methods did me no good. Then I found CIC. I was able to get rid of over $100k in credit card debt. Granted, some of the methods I used are out of date. Racking up tons of violations, then taking OCs who no longer have arbitration agreements to JAMS and getting a mutual walk away doesn’t work as well as it used to. But in the long run I was able to get through the process getting more in settlements from bad actors than I paid in debt settlement. Not much more, but enough to pay for part of a family trip and get some new appliances. This fellow talks about how he has a degree in language. What does that have to do with anything? Not a lawyer. I have a PhD in another area completely unrelated to law. That and $5 will get you a latte at a Starbucks around the block from the courthouse. Since I have 3 degree, I must be 3 times as smart. Or something. I may be misinterpreting him, but he seems to say he read articles by law professors. Whoop de doo. We read laws and cases here. The collective wisdom of CIC is well over a decade of fighting creditors in a changing environment. It is about what has saved debtors millions of dollars. We are not making a penny off of it. (*) We are here to pay it forwards. To help others the way we were helped. Folks on this site, and on the deceased sister site, have spent countless hours researching laws, fighting debt collectors, and finding out what has worked for others Yes, we have made mistakes. But we learned from them. Many of us have tried the bad strategies and tactics which can be found floating around the internet. We have seen how they work. Not well. What we haven’t done is make money by putting together a compilation of strategies and tactics, good and bad, and sell them to unsuspecting dupes. I am not accusing anyone, but if the shoe fits... This author wants to whine about how people here are picking on him. Well, some of the people here can be really tough. Some do not suffer fools gladly. Perhaps the author would get a better reception if he addressed some of the specific attacks on his work. For example, the author was attacked for saying defendants can win a case by demanding a signed credit card application. I don’t think I signed any applications since the 1990s. If this actually worked, the author should be able to refer us to case law showing where it actually works. As in case law within the past few years. (*). Not making a penny refers to the individual posters, not anyone who advertises on the site or runs the site.

Relax. You are normal. Who was the OC? Is there an arbitration agreement that applies? Did you write up a good MTC? If so, you can win this. I used to debate in HS. What we used to do is spend time practicing speaking. What our opening statement was. Make it very fluid. I have also given presentations at a few meetings. Again, I would practice. I would suggest mapping out what you want to say. Keep it short and simple. You may be able to get your arguments down in under a minute. Anticipate any objections. How will you know their objections? Because if they object they will have to file a motion in advance. If they don’t file a motion with objections, the judge will just award the MTC.

Step 1. Open the letter. Step 2. Read the letter. Step 3. Get back to us on what the letter says. Step 4. Figure out a strategy. The earlier you start dealing with a problem the better.

You generally do NOT get a better deal if you wait until after being served unless there are special circumstances. For example, an arbitration agreement. Do a Google search on Consumer Financial Protection Board credit card agreements. They have ALL the agreements. Find the agreement that matches your card. Q1. Does this card agreement have an clause? If so, you may with to copy and paste the agreement in a reply to this thread. Q2. Can arbitration be used in whatever court this was filed in? We need to know the state and county, and what type of court this is Some arbitration agreements can’t be used in small claims. Others can. Or this court may or may not be a small claims court. If there is an arbitration agreement, and if the agreement can be used in your case, you can probably beat this.

That is why they will probably run away from arbitration. The idea of getting a judgment against you is maybe sometime in the next decade or two you will have money, and then they can go after the judgment plus interest. It is not worth them spending thousands or even tens of thousands to chase after hundreds of dollars they may never see. You are aiming for a mutual walkway. At some point you will need to negotiate with them on the terms. That might be a good time to point out you are what is often called “judgment proof”, which really means they can’t collect on a judgment.

I once talked to the leading consumer lawyer in my state. He learned about the arbitration strategy from people on CIC. That lawyer was skeptical at first, but now recommends the strategy for some of his clients.

Fantastic! Here are your next assignments. 1. Search this site for arbitration in general. See how people have filed motions to compel (MTC) arbitration. Also search for Ohio and Crown Asset Management. When you are finished, you should know how to write a good MTC. 2. Read up (this should be on the internet) on the Rules for Civil Procedure for Ohio. In addition, check out your county's court site to see what particular rules they have. You may need to talk to a clerk for certain things. For example, in my state, in every county except one if a party is filing a motion of any kind, that party will (a) file a Notice of Motion, (b) file a Motion, and (c) schedule the motion hearing with the court clerk. I live in the one county in which partied do (a) and (b) but the judge's clerk schedules the hearing and notifies the parties. These are the kind of things we can't tell you. You have to ask at the courthouse. 3. File your MTC the proper way for your state and county. There are several things that can happen when you have filed the MTC, sometimes more than one of these. I have no idea which will happen. Luck of the draw. A. The plaintiff will walk away and agree to dismiss the case on the spot. That happens occasionally. Great if it happens, but don't count on it. B. The plaintiff will object to your arbitration. If you have the MTC written correctly, you can point to a Supreme Court case which establishes your right to arbitration. You will almost always get arbitration from the magistrate or judge or whatever. If not, appeal. NOTE: They may claim this arbitration agreement has a small claims exemption. It does not. The agreement says THEY cannot demand arbitration in small claims, but YOU CAN. Read that part carefully, and be prepared to argue that in court. C. The plaintiff will agree to arbitration, but won't pay their fees and won't follow you into arbitration. In that situation, you will need to file in arbitration. Don't pay the fees at first. Wait. Eventually the arbitrator will drop the case, and the case will be dismissed in court. I won a case this way. D. After you have filed in arbitration, (remember not to pay your fees at the beginning) you and the plaintiff will agree to a mutual walkaway before anyone has to pay the fees. I won a couple of cases this way. E. They will fight you in arbitration. It is highly unlikely that a debt buyer would spend thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to chase this small a debt in arbitration. It almost certainly will not happen. Realize there is a very small chance this could happen, probably less than 1%, but it COULD happen.

All credit card agreements are on file with the CFPB: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards/agreements/ 1. Find the appropriate agreement for your card. 2. Download it. If you use this in your court case, you will need to print out at least 3 copies. 3. Check the agreement to see if it has an arbitration section. 4. Get back to us on this. You may want to copy and paste the arbitration agreement (if any) into a post on this thread. You have some homework to do to fight your case. Your first assignment is above.

Motion To Compel Arbitration

You need to find out more about South Carolina procedures. Realize, you are NOT "requesting" arbitration. You are DEMANDING arbitration. You are moving the court to grant you your rights, guaranteed by the US Supreme Court, for arbitration. In some states, such as Florida, you would ONLY file the MTC. In Florida, if you file an answer along with the MTC, you are deemed to have waived your rights to arbitration. In MOST states, you are permitted to file certain motions INSTEAD of your answer. You could file a Motion to Dismiss, or a Motion to Compel arbitration INSTEAD of your answer. In MOST states, it is permissible to file both the answer AND the motion. You need to find out what the rules of civil procedure are in your state. If you are in a state which permits filing a dispostive (not sure about that word) motion instead of an answer, that is the way to go. If not, file the motion along with a general denial. Having the card agreement is a great first step. What you need to do now is look at the various threads on this forum about arbitration. These threads will tell you what you need to do to file your motion. If you want, you could post your REDACTED MTC on this thread to see if anyone has any comments. Or, you could find a post with someone else's MTC, making sure it references the ATT/Concepcion case, and copy that motion with a few changes. It may take you a few days to go through the threads, and to check what others have done, esp. with PRA and Synchronicity. It is a lot better to spend the time to learn the proper way to do things, and then do it. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. The wheel (the arbitration strategy) was invented by creditors who posted on this forum, and showed everyone else how to do things. I can't show you what I did, because my filings were many years ago and I don't have the motions I filed. Not only that, but things have changed a lot in the past decade. The motions people file now are much better written.

I don't know much about the peculiarities, if any, of South Carolina law. But you are right about arbitration. In all 50 states you could file a Motion To Compel (arbitration). Synchronicity has an extremely favorable arbitration clause. Use it. Go to the internet and find the appropriate user agreement for your card. I think they are in the CFPB web site. You may have to do a little homework. Look around on this site. See how others have handled the situation. Then file. I hope you can join the multitudes who have beaten PRA on Synchronicity accounts this way.

What is the point of continuing this argument? A completely new poster comes in, and starts giving very dangerous advice. This is someone who has never posted anything on this forum with useful advice. All I will say is this: Every case is a little different. What works for one person in a very particular situation may not work in other situations that are different. For example, I beat both AmEx and Discover in arbitration. Almost every post anyone will find will say you can't beat AmEx or Discover in arbitration. The thing is, I realize my situation in both cases was very unusual. Not long ago, I ran across a poster who had a similar (but not identical) situation to the one I had for Discover. So I gave that person advice tailored to that particular unusual situation (the account was past the Delaware SOL but NOT past the SOL in the poster's home state). That was fairly recent, and I have no idea how that case will turn out. The thing is, I don't ever expect that anyone whose situation is even slightly different from mine will have identical results. If AmEx hasn't done anything really horrible, they will win. They did something amazingly bad, illegal and stupid for my wife's account, so they lost. If Discover hasn't done anything stupid, and the account is within 3 years (the Delaware SOL), they will win. They waited almost 6 years for my account, and there were a number of possible violations and accounting errors. As for the situation the OP is in: If Citi keeps the account, our newbie's advice won't work. If Citi sells the account to one of the vast majority of JDBs that refuse to deal with a PFD (for example, PRA), the newbie's advice won't work. If Citi sells the account to one of the few JDBs that will do a PFD, and the OP somehow manages to get into exactly the same situation as the newbie, then the newbie's advice MIGHT work, Or it may not. In effect, the newbie did the equivalent of drawing to an inside straight flush to win a big pot. That doesn't happen very often. It happens occasionally, but generally isn't the best plan.

Someone with two posts, but tons of misinformation. Alas, there are plenty of people in this world who will believe an armchair general who has never faced battle over seasoned veterans of the credit wars. The methods I learned mostly on this forum, and to a lesser extent on the “other” board, personally saved me over $100,000. The cases I know of in my state, including those who worked with a consumer attorney recommended by someone on this board, add up to over $1 million saved. Or, you can listen to some internet quack who tells you he has all the answers.