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First off, thank you to everyone who provides info on this forum. I never would have gotten to where I am with my defense against Midland Funding. I'm being sued by Midland Funding in MN civil court. They filed a motion for summary judgment and the hearing is next week. I did not file anything during discovery and instead elected to elect arbitration with AAA (alleged contract with Citibank NA states AAA is only option). At the same time I filed a motion to dismiss/compel arbitration. Anyway, the firm representing Midland was served properly and with enough notice and the motion hearing was this morning. No one from the firm showed up. The judge was not too happy obviously, and said that the date originally for the summary judgement next week will now be used for my motion, she will discuss what happened with the judge scheduled for that hearing and also mentioned the possibility of a default judgement in my favor due to no one showing up. So, they are in trouble. My question is what should I do to keep the boot on the throat, so to speak. I believe I have some momentum in my favor, I want to be able to take full advantage. At a minimum, they wasted my time and the court's time -- how do I hold them accountable and demonstrate to the court I respect the court's time, unlike the firm suing me. Thanks in advance.

In MN. Received pocket summons (no court file yet) from debt collector law firm representing 1st creditor. I understand I have to respond to summons to avoid default judgment. I would like to push this to arbitration with JAMS since it was part of the original contract that either party could request. I am hoping debtor fee for arbitration will make them rethink settling or dropping it. Or if neither, level the playing field a bit since I can't afford to hire an attorney. I am a cosigner on account. We are both listed on the pocket summons. Can we respond with one set of answers with both our names on it? Do I include in my answers that I am invoking my right to choose arbitration? If yes, where/how do I do this in the response? Do I need to actually initiate arbitration (ie contact JAMS and initiate) before sending in answer? Do I need to send letter to debt collection attys and creditor re exercising right to use JAMS for ADR before I send in answers, or can I do it at same time (ie attys for creditors would receive both ADR and answers at once)? This is involving a subprime car loan. I surrendered the car because it never worked right and supposed "warranty/service agreement" they charged me for never fixed the problem (inconsistent starting). I was never informed of time/place of sale of car. Nor was I informed of sale price of car and given an accounting of my "balance owing" - even after several requests to car dealer, creditor, and creditor's attys. My understanding is that this is required and could be cause for dismissal of suit. Do they have to give proof of sale price of car (w VIN on it so I know it refers to the car in question)? Can I argue these failures as an affirmative defense in my answers or do I just say I don't know actual account balance so I cannot admit owing anything? I don't know how aggressive to be with this in answers or how to say it. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I need some help on next steps in Discovery phase of lawsuit. Here's a snapshot of where things are at: April 2014: Via Pocket Docket in Minnesota, was served by Gurstel Chargo, representing Autovest as JDB for Wells Fargo Financial on Consumer Debt. With interest it's around 25k. I responded within the 20 days required, basically said insufficient information to be able to admit or deny claims. Asked for plaintiff to prove claim. Requested lawsuit be dismissed, etc. May 2014: Gurstel sends robo letter to discuss discovery plan, gives settlement offer. Discovery plan states they will provide Required Disclosures on or before June 27, 2014 and proposes I do the same as soon as possible. I respond via certified mail by June 27 that basically I no longer have any documents. With regards to the Discovery Plan, I sent a revised plan that read: (1) Plaintiff and defendant (via attachment) will provide its 26.01(a) Required Disclosures on or before June 27, 2014. Plaintiff proposes Defendant provide his/her 26.01(a) Required Disclosures as soon as possible. Plaintiff and Defendant will respond to the discovery requests by July 27, 2014. So now it is July 9 and I haven't received anything from Gurstel. No discovery documents. Nothing. The SOL should be running out within a few months however I haven't been able to get the exact date verified from Wells Fargo. Here's my question: They never sent any type of Discovery so can't I get this officially dismissed? If so, how? What are my next steps? Help!

Hi there, thank you for taking the time to check this out, Last week I received a 'summons' from Midland Funding LLC by a courier for a debt they say I owe them. Just today they sent another copy of the 'summons' in a letter that came through the mail (USPS). After quite a few Google searches which linked me to a lot of posts on this forum I decided to start my own thread since I believe my issue may be a bit different than the others I've read through. If it isn't something totally 'new', I apologize but I could use help still! Some more of the story: Last week (April 7th) a courier delivered a few documents stapled together (not in an envelope) to my father and after looking through it, it appears to me to be a fake summons. My father told the courier that I was here but that I was sleeping and accepted it himself. I'm not sure if it matters, but my father and I share the same name, is that something I can use in my favor? After looking things up, it seems that that may have been a big no no for them to give the document to anyone but me, or am I mistaken? I also say 'fake summons' because after checking ( https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_4 ) I noticed a few things missing on the 'summons'. There are no signatures anywhere except Midland's attorney, nor do I see a court seal. It also doesn't state the time I must defend myself, so there are at least 3 things missing that supposedly MUST be on it. After some more researching, I've realized that this may just be them showing me their intent if I do not follow their 'plan'. It also seems more like a bully tactic to scare me into calling them, confessing all of my sins while they record it to use it as evidence to collect on this figure they've come up with which is larger than the limit on any card I've had. So now, I guess what I'm asking is what should I do next? So far, I haven't done anything. I've read through these documents and quite a few similar issues on here, and now I'm here looking for help! The documents say I have 20 days to respond (so, from April 7th, which would give me until the 27th, 11 days from today) if it IS legit. Should I try to get free legal help? I cannot really afford an attorney let alone the debt Midland says I owe them, but I've heard Minnesota courts are some of the worst for the consumer (IE: me!) in the country. I don't want to have the deck stacked against me when I'm trying to get my life back in gear. I'll save the full sob story, but I've dealt with addiction and I'm starting up school this fall and this issue is really distracting me from continuing on with the next stage in life. I really hope this isn't as big of an issue as my mind is making it, but trying to stay positive is getting very difficult. Anyway, any help at all would be greatly appreciated! If there's anything I've left out that could be of help, please let me know so I can provide it. Thank you again for taking the time to read this, Jeff -

Can anyone help me with objecting to plaintiff's initial disclosures? Specifically, the form of the document, basically is it just a doc titled response to plaintiffs initial disclosures, followed by my, objection(s) to their request. Also, they attached billing statements and a B.O.S. Should I be objecting to these as well basically challenging their admissibility as evidence? How would I phrase the objection?

Hello, First of all thank you to everyone that has contributed so much to this forum, the more I read the more valuable all this information becomes. I am very new to this and have been served and preparing my answer. Ihave a couple questions, really hope someone can help. My first question pertains to the SOL. My suit from a JDB with original debt from BofA was filed in my state of residence, MN. The debt however originated from when I lived in CA. Being that the SOL is different for the two states and would make a huge difference in my case which state's law is the court going to use? Second question is regarding lack of standing. Since this is a JDB and several years old and likely sold a couple times would using a lack of standing defense be a good idea in my answer, or as I have read in a couple of threads should I save it for later? Lastly, if I do use it in my answer how do I phrase it, I know that is a basic question but I can't seem to get an answer? Thanks in advance for any and all help.