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Hi all, I really wish I had come across this site sooner than my deadline (tomorrow) to respond to the interrogatories, production, and admissions because I would have been able to sift through more responses here. Would anyone be willing to review what I have answered (many from this site, thanks!) and help with some answers that I have left out? I lost some steam and ideas to respond with around #8. I've "beat" the rent a lawyer from this office once in small claims and had a case dismissed but this one is large enough to be in Civil Court and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot so to speak. STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT ) CIVIL DIVISION WASHINGTON UNIT ) DOCKET NO. Wncv ) Name ) Defendant, ) ) v. ) ) PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES, LLC ) Plaintiff DEFENDANTS RESPONSE TO FIRST INTERROGATORIES, REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS, AND REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS Defendant, (name), pro per, pursuant to V.R.C. P 33 and 34 responds to first request within thirty (30) business days of service. INTERROGATORIES Identify the person(s) who prepared and or assisted in any way defendant's answers to these interrogatories. Answer: Myself, (named) 2. State your full name, current address, and work address. Answer: Stated name, current address, OBJECTION: The information sought is improper as it goes toward post judgment remedies. 3. For each response to Plaintiff's request for Admission that is other than an unqualified admission, identify each fact to support defendant's denial or other response, identify each person who witness or otherwise has knowledge of such facts, and identify each document evidencing, constituting or otherwise relating to such facts. Answer: OBJECTION: Defendant's responses will be adequately detailed in the answer to the plaintiff's request for Admission. Defendant is not required to refute the plaintiff's claims; the plaintiff is required to prove them. 4. Identify all persons with whom defendant has communicated with relating to the subject matter of this litigation and the subject matter of any such communication. Answer: OBJECTION: relevancy to the litigation. 5. Identify any individual that the defendant is aware that has knowledge of the facts and circumstances of this case. Answer: OBJECTION: relevancy to litigation. 6. If you have lawsuits pending in which you are either a plaintiff or defendant, kindly state the following for each, name of lawyers, parties, nature of claim, date of incident, status of case where (name of court) suit is pending; any lawsuits against you personally, include all details; any payments to other creditors by defendant, details of dates and amounts, whether under other court orders and whether you have ever filed bankruptcy. Answer: OBJECTION: relevancy. Defendant is not aware of any lawsuits currently pending and has not filed bankruptcy. 7. Kindly list each and every address wherein you reside from Jan 1 2006 to the present. Answer: Defendant provides the following addresses: (listed) 8. Please list each and every person who you authorized to use with is the subject matter of this litigation, state whether you gave that person possession of your credit card Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522, list that date that you revoked that persons authorization to use the credit card account. Answer: 9. If you claim that you filed a written dispute with Plaintiff, about any items appearing on your monthly billing statements, please provide the date that you sent the written dispute; the address that you sent your written dispute to; a description of you dispute; the name of the person or entity that you sent your dispute to; whether you received a response to the written dispute; and what the outcome of your dispute was. Answer: OBJECTION: the lack of any objection by a defendant does not prove the plaintiff's case of Account Stated. 10. If there are any payments which you allege you have not been credited for, please list each payment by date, amount, and payee. Answer: At this time defendant is not aware of any uncredited payments. 11. If you claim that you are not responsible for the amount claimed in the Plaintiff’s complaint, please identify the person or entity that you feel should be responsible for paying the amounts charged to your credit card account. Answer: DENIED to the extent that payments to the original creditor, the ACCOUNT, are immaterial to the extent that it has no bearing on the instant action, the purpose of which is to establish that Portfolio Recovery now owns said account and is supposedly entitled to collect, a fact which is yet unproven. 13. Please state all the facts supporting each defense that you are not responsible for the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522 balance upon which the plaintiffs claim is based. Answer: DENIED to the extent that payments to the original creditor, the ACCOUNT, are immaterial to the extent that it has no bearing on the instant action, the purpose of which is to establish that Portfolio Recovery now owns said account and is supposedly entitled to collect, a fact which is yet unproven. 14. Please identify all documents,, correspondences business entries, or other writing that you will be relying on for you defense of this claim. Answer: DENIED, as stated, above, to the extent that payments to the original creditor, the ACCOUNT, are immaterial to the extent that it has no bearing on the instant action, the purpose of which is to establish that Portfolio Recovery now owns said account and is supposedly entitled to collect, a fact which is yet unproven 15. If you will be relying upon any verbal communication for your defense of this case, please provide concise statement of the substance of each such verbal communication and state the name and address of the person making such statement. In your answer indicate what that person(s) connection is to the Plaintiff and/or to defendant. Answer: Defendant does not have a record of verbal communication at this time. 16. If you dispute any of the charges to Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522, which is the subject matter of this lawsuit, please identify each charge, the amount of the charge, and explain why this is not owed to the Plaintiff for these charges. Answer: DENIED to the extent that payments to the original creditor, the ACCOUNT, are immaterial to the extent that it has no bearing on the instant action, the purpose of which is to establish that Portfolio Recovery now owns said account and is supposedly entitled to collect, a fact which is yet unproven 17. If you dispute the interest rate to Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522, which is the subject matter of this lawsuit, please identify the disputed interest rate, the first date that the defendant disputed the interest rate, why the defendant believes the interest rate should be different, and what the defendant feels the correct balance due is with calculated interest. 18. If the defendant disputes the over limit charges please explain, identify and itemize all of the over the limit charges that are to be disputed for the Synchrony Bank Walmart Credit card account ending in 0522 ending in 2183. 19. If anyone investigated this matter for you, state their names, address, and state whether such investigation was reduced to writing. If said investigator obtained any signed statement or recorded statement, identify the person who gave the statement and give a brief synopsis of the statement. 20. Do you receive any exempt income? 21. Are you employed? If yes please provide the average weekly or bi weekly salary. 22. Do you own real estate? If yes please provide the form of ownership (Tenants by the Entirety, Trust etc) 23. If the defendant owns real estate in any form please provide the amount of equity that the defendant has in the real estate. 24. Please identify each individual that you intend to call as a witness in this action and please provide a brief description of the nature of their testimony. 25. Please identify any and all expert witness the defense intends to call and please provide a brief description of the nature of their anticipated testimony. REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION Identify and produce copies of documents that show use of and payments made on Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available. 2. Identify and produce copies of documents that provide payments made on Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. If in the form of a check please produce copies of all checks used to make payments on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. If in the form of a money order please produce copies of all money orders used to make payments on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. If payments were made electronically over the phone and authorized EFT and /or ACH payments please produce copies of Bank Statements evidencing payments made on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 3. Identify and produce any documents that relate in any way to any dispute as to charges, account balance, over the limit fees, late payment fees, and interest rates on purchase and/or cash advances pertaining to the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 4. Identify and produce any documents relative to Request 3. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 5. Identify and produce all documents that are admissible to show that defendant is not liable to the Plaintiff for the amount of the damages the Plaintiff claims for Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 6. Identify and produce each and every document related to defendants source of exempt income if any. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 7. Identify and produce documents that relate in any way to any witnesses Defense intends to call to testify at trial. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 8. Identify and produce all documents that Defense intends to use at trial. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available 9. Identify and produce a copy of a Deed to any real property that the Defense owns. Defendant has no such documents in nirs possession at this time. Defendant reserves the right to amend nirs responses per the rules of civil procedure if such documents become available REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS That the defendant obtained a credit card from Synchrony Bank walmart credit card account ending in 0522. NO. 1: DENIED to the extent that no application was attached hereto for evaluation. 2. That defendant has not disputed having Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. NO. 2: DENIED to the extent that no admissible evidence establishing use of the unproven account was provided for evaluation. 3. That defendant currently resides at 182 VT. NO. 3: DENIED. The address provided in the request is not the defendant's address. Defendant’s address has been correctly provided in the Interrogatory. 4. That defendant previously resided at VT. NO. 4: ADMITTED. Defendant previously resided at VT 5. That defendant received the notice from the original creditor Synchrony Bank that Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522 was sold to Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC on 6/22/17. The notice is dated Jun 30 2017 NO. 5: DENIED. 6. That the defendant used and made payments on a Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. NO. 6: Admitted in part to the extent that no liability for any such payment has been established, therefore no payment is required. DENIED in part to the extent that Plaintiff has produced no admissible evidence establishing ownership or liability. 7. Each month received monthly billing statements credit card account for defendants Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending 0522 at the address of VT 05602 and (address). NO. 7: OBJECTION No admissible evidence was attached hereto which would allow defendant to make an informed response. 8. The monthly billing statements show a monthly credit transaction on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. NO. 8: OBJECTION No admissible evidence was attached hereto which would allow defendant to make an informed response. 9. The monthly billing statements also shows the accumulated balance due on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. NO. 9: OBJECTION No admissible evidence was attached hereto which would allow defendant to make an informed response. 10. The monthly billing statement shows the interest charged on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. NO. 10: OBJECTION No admissible evidence was attached hereto which would allow defendant to make an informed response. 11. That defendant never sent a written dispute to the Plaintiff concerning any items appearing on the monthly billing statements for the account Synchrony bank walmart credit card account ending in 0522. 12. Defendant did not protest any items appearing on the monthly billing statements for the Synchrony bank walmart credit card account ending in 0522 because defendant (is accused) to be responsible for the use of the account and the amount due and owing. 13. That there are no payments made by you or anyone else on your behalf for which the Plaintiff did not credit the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. 14. You were making payments, but at some point you stopped making your monthly payments on the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522. 15. Your last payment on your Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522 was on January 12, 2016 in the amount of $158 16. You never made another payment after January 12, 2016 17. That you owe the amount claimed in the Plaintiff's complaint, $6098.78 plus costs. 18. That there are no disputed material facts requiring a trial. 19. That you admitted being the card holder of the Synchrony Bank Walmart credit card account ending in 0522 in the answer to the complaint.

Bear with me if this appears incoherent since I am new to the debt lawsuit business. I will try to be a bit elaborate since I don't know what to make of the pre-trial conference. I have been lurking around the last week or two after being hit by a lawsuit to collect on an alleged chase card debt. Howard Lee Schiff is handling this on behalf of Midland funding. I appropriately responded to the summons with diagree and do not know answers to the charges. I then contacted the law office to provide proof of debt but did not receive anything. The pretrial conference today was very interesting (6/5/15 - my first!). The opposing lawyer was present and apparently a court appointed representative (possible the judge but just as likely some other lawyer) administered the conference. The opposing lawyer introduced the lawsuit and amount of debt in question. When asked I denied any knowledge of the debt and mentioned that I had repeatedly asked for proof of debt and had not received any evidence. The 'judge' inquired the opposing counsel who promptly forwarded me a stack of unsigned statements. The judge asked if there was a signed agreement to which the counsel referred to some past case and highlighted that the OC does not need to keep signed agreements beyond 4 years and that the statements printed were enough to prove the debt was owed. The judge did not object to it. She also turned to me to ask if the name on the statement was mine. I nodded yes. She then inquired if the address on the statement was mine. I replied with "cannot confirm" and will have to check records. I asked that I be given time to review the presented evidence. The judge asked if I was employed and whether I owned any property. Just when I thought this was coming to an end, the judge sought to talk to each party individually. He asked me if there were other lawsuits, suggested that it seemed the debt was owed and suggested that the best mode is to settle and be done with it. He een asked me to quickly review the pile to see if there were any signed documents - there were none. I told him that as long as I could affirm that I owed this debt, I was open to talk. After a few minutes of conversation with the opposing counsel, we were both called in. He admonished us again to talk and settle and proceeded to fill a form - the "scheduling order". He started aloud by calling out loud "written discovery" and the lawyer instantly and eagerly latched on to say "DONE". The judge agreed. I found that very odd and uncomfortable since I did not exactly know how discovery was complete! (Arn't I suppose to ask a bunch of questions regarding the lack of ownership and lack of proof of debt???) I tried to ask the judge to educate me on that and he duly referred me to the librarian on the 2nd floor . The opposing counsel seemed overly amused. Long story short, he scheduled a date for fact finding meeting - he also mentioned the word "deposition" which I still need to find the meaning for . We left the court house. This may be my gut but the lawyer seemed rather friendly with the people in the court house and the fact that the "judge" did not object to any (lack of) evidence presented seemed ominous - perhaps this wasnt the right forum for him, I don't know. Anyway, the lawyer wore a fake, almost condescending, smile all the time. The relevant portion of the order is pasted below: The questions in my mind are: How should I feel about this so far. Did I miss a trick somewhere so far? What should be my next steps now that I have a breather? Is CT a friendly state to debt collectors in general? Please advise so that I can bring my heart rate to normal Thanks FACTS: 1) there is no signed (or unsigned) agreement presented 2) there was no evidence showing that midland bought this specific account 3) there were almost a year worth of unsigned statements. _____________________________________________ The following order is entered in the above matter: ORDER: Scheduling Order Written discovery shall be served on or before: done Depositions of fact witnesses accomplished by: n/a Disclosure of plaintiffs experts by: n/a Depositions of plaintiffs experts by: n/a Independent medical exam accomplished by: n/a Disclosure of defendants experts by: n/a Depositions of defendants experts by: n/a Motions for summary judgment to be filed by n/a Motions for summary judgment to be argued by: n/a Other scheduling orders: