Spikey

The only thing I would caution @laundryqueen on is that members of the bar always get the benefit of the doubt. Even if their excuse is just as flimsy as last time, there's a reasonable possibility that the judge will allow the case to continue. Even if the case is dismissed, I would still expect a new suit to be filed.

@BV80 If you can force them to provide the entire ownership/assignee chain that's even better.

Even states that allow assignees to sue have rules on what needs to be provided to prove they have the right to sue. Just because we say so is not a valid assignment.

Since this seems to be your goal, you need to get leverage on them to push for a quicker resolution rather than wait out the 10 months which is easy enough for them to overcome.

No, a FDCPA violation has no impact on the underlying debt. @ArtVandelay's advice is a way to take care of that.

The big challenge with a FDCPA claim is that you're dealing with Federal Court. It's a whole new level of complication. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable trying it Pro Se.

@ArtVandelay I think small claims is a bit different, but anything over $10k has strict timelines attached. You answer the claim, then a trial (it's technically mandatory arbitration) date needs to be set no more than 6 months out. That date dictates the discovery time line and pre-trial motions. The opposing attorney in my case my no effort to try and talk to me to settle. The JDB that owned the debt kept trying though.

The best FDCPA attorney in your area is Edelman, Combs, Lauttner & Goodwin. Give them a call and see if they can help you. @ArtVandelay There's really no push for settlement in Illinois at least from my experience. The judge stays out of that stuff.

SSI can not be garnished in Illinois, so she's safe on that account. I don't know what happens if she can't make the court date since unless she hires a lawyer no one else can represent her. I'm not sure she should even worry about it since they can't collect.

Could you post the complaint? That's what you need to respond to, not the affidavit.

If you're going to use SOL as an affirmative defense, you're going to need proof other than a credit report which isn't admissible in court. You'll need to pull your banking records, most banks keep all that information electronically. Bank of America will email you the records for free, although you have to wait 2 days.

Is the discovery period over? If not, make another request for it. It's not necessarily detrimental, but if they have more evidence that you didn't ask for, then you're going to be at a disadvantage come trial. I would suggest trying to keep your information in a single thread rather than a new thread for every question. It makes it a lot easier to follow your case and where you stand.

I'm assuming that they are suing you on that card in particular? Defaulting on the card means that you're responsible for the debt. It's not the end of the world, they still need to prove that they own the debt.

I wouldn't call your MTD a bluff, it's a tactic. A rather valid tactic but unfortunately you happened to run into a JDB that's savvy to it. Had this not been a small claims case you would have had better results. I think you could still win this court. It's not about matching wits, it's about hammering them over their lack of evidence which proves they have ownership of the subject account (aka standing).

Probably because someone else signed for them. It's not uncommon.