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Being sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates via Hunt & Henriques Law Firm here in Southern California. (Synchrony Bank est. $3500) Things have moved along quickly since initial filing just over a year ago. I am now 2 weeks away from trial. Answered summons and discovery. I sent my own request for discovery/ Request for Documents only a month ago. I'm sure there's plenty I could've done differently. Upside- I have 2 more of these things at early/ discovery stages. So, yay! I can use this experience to potentially help with the others. (Seriously, though. ? ) Back to the matter at hand. I just had a Trial Readiness Conference (Civil) and frankly, I'm in the dark at this point. Session was quick, but I had some questions. Perhaps, I was waiting for the judge to bring them up/ ask about them? • When does the Settlement Conference take place? Because, I'd like to settle. I've sent an offer of 10% twice in writing/ fax. No response. • I'm still waiting for Plaintiff to respond to my Discovery/ Request for Documents. • Neither Plaintiff/ PRA or H&H have been showing up in court. The attorney representing them seems to be a third party lackey that handles numerous cases like this for many clients. I'd really like to know what that guy does and who he is. Shouldn't the Plaintiff/ Attorney be in court for all of this stuff? At the end of the session I was given an Advance Trial Review Order. What's that? Do I need to file it back with the court? I can see the Plaintiff already has. Thank you, #Fumbling in The Dark

Hello everyone. I am working on a Demand for Arbitration through JAMS against Portfolio Recovery for a synchrony bank/amazon card. They sued me for $973 in small claims in Indiana. The small claims court judge granted me 60 days to file arbitration after I filed a motion to compel arbitration. I am choosing to file with JAMS even through the lawyer responded to my motion with a response citing AAA and attaching AAA Rules and asking judge to order me to initiate arbitration with AAA within 60 days. The judge responded with an order for me to commence arbitration within 60 days or consider my right to arbitration waived. He did not specify I needed to file with AAA (or any specific company) and my card agreement states I may choose JAMS or AAA. So, I am going with JAMS and assume this is ok and within my rights per card agreement and that said lawyer was trying to manipulate. I did read the arbitration post by Fisthardcheese and have a couple questions. 1. I'm not sure what to put in the "Nature of Dispute/Claims and Relief sought by Claimant" section. I have no evidence of violation of laws or fair debt collection practices. Should I just put, "Billing dispute"? and then put the $973 (amount of original lawsuit) under "Amount in Controversy"? 2. Where do I put the request for PRA to pay my JAMS filing fee? And is there a example letter I can use? Do I type it into the form or attach a separate document? Should I also cite the "Waiver of Arbitration Fees" for being within 300% of federal poverty guidelines (I am not sure if my state participates in this, JAMS rep told me there are only 3 states that do this, but would not say which states) or just wait and mention that later if PRA refuses to pay? I'm probably going to leave this out for now. I am planning to send everything both by email and certified mail to both JAMS and PRA lawyer. Any help is much appreciated!

Bench trial held in February 2020. Sued by PRA to collect $8107.11 for a CapOne Cc. Just received the judgement, case dismissed with prejudice. Such an amazing feeling it is to learn the law, apply new complex knowledge and defeat PRA. Absolutely could not have done this without the advise, information and experiences found here. Especially thankful to BV80 for suggesting specific Idaho Supreme Court case law. It was a hard confusing battle...it wasn't until I beat their summary judgment that I began to actually understand what I was doing. Object object object because...in the end the court ruled evidence offered by Portfolio Recovery was inadmissible hearsay and lacked foundation. I think what really sealed the deal was "The billing statements offered in Exhibit 1 lack foundation and are inadmissible under the business records exception". Turns out that even with 902 (11) you cannot upload someone else's business and call them your own. At least in Idaho. Big 'ol hug to Bv80 and Harry Seward for donating your personal time here, answering my questions and pointing me to the right direction. I will certainly Pay it forward. My husband was wrong, big bad attorney's don't always win.

I just got served on 8/26/20 by a debt collection company called PRA and their attorney is Hunt & Henriques. My original creditor was PayPal Credit/Synchrony. My total debt as stated on the summons is $3,364.95. My account was opened back in 2016 and I stopped paying sometime in 2018. I’ve got 30 days to answer but how do I answer? The summons paper says I can find the form online but what form is it? And should I also file an arbitration now? If so, how Do I get a hold of my agreement contract to see if I do JAMS or AAA? I’ve done a ton of reading on here on cases that’s been dismissed but damn, I’m feeling really really scared at the moment. It’s all I’ve been thinking about. Any and all help you guys can provide me would be great. And what are my chances of getting my case dismissed? btw, I’m from California.

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Me 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) HHL 3. How much are you being sued for? >$2000 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Synchrony Bank.. 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Served 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) In Person 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? FL, Yes. Process Service Requirements by State - Summons Complaint 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? DV'ed them. 9. What state and county do you live in? FL 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 2018, not outside of SOL. 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? 2017 12. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 5 years I believe. Statute of Limitations on Debts 13. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). No court date established, attorney for PRA has filed Motion for Summary Judgement. 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No to either. 15. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request before being sued, it likely won't help create FDCPA violations, but disputing after being sued could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). Yes. 16. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? 20 days. Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. DV Response included several OC credit card statements as well as a Bill of Sale. Initial Suit Complaint for Account Stated included once OC credit card statement. Motion for Summary Judgement included an affidavit by a PRA employee custodian of records and one OC credit card statement. 18. How did you find out about this site? Have posted here before. You helped me tremendously on my first PRA suit with a different card and I am very appreciative of that. This is a different card/suit by a different law firm. So I received a letter from PRA, I sent them a debt validation letter which was responded to by PRA's law firm. I didn't do any follow up and was served a few months later. The pre-trial conference/mediation occurred a few months ago via zoom and I chose to not settle/admit/deny anything and asked for a court date. I still have no court date at this point, due to COVID, and it has been over 3 months ago now. I received a letter from PRA's law firm that included a MSJ (Motion for Summary Judgement) they have filed and I need to respond. So I've done some searching for "MSJ" and "Summary Judgement" etc. and haven't really found anything that I felt absolutely confident would help me format my response hence my asking for help. So my questions relate to answering their MSJ (Motion for Summary Judgement). Is the MDSJ (Motion to Dismiss Summary Judgement listed here, Motion to Dismiss Summary Judgement still a good template to use? The MSJ include 3 points, 1. There are no genuine issues as to any material fact and Plaintiff is entitled to a Judgment as a matter of law based upon the pleading on file herein. 2. More specifically, Plaintiff would show unto this Court that all of the factual allegations contained in Plaintiffs Complaint are undisputed as a result of the pleadings on file herein. In addition, see Affidavit in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment attached hereto as Exhibit "A". 3. It is respectfully submitted that Plaintiff is entitled to a Summary Judgment. If it appears to the trial court that an asserted claim is without merit under law and nothing could be accomplished by submitting immaterial issues to a jury, then a Summary Judgment should be granted. See Reflex, N.V. vs. Umet Trust, 336 So.2d 473 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), Connolly vs. Sebco, Inc, 89 So.2d 482 (Fla. 1956), wherein the Court held that mere paper issues will not avoid a Summary Judgment when Plaintiff states a cause of action and Defendant(s) is/are unable to rebut the allegations contained herein. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Court enter a Summary Judgment in its favor and against Defendant(s) xxxxxxx xxxxx in the principal sum of$xxx.xx, and court costs and any other relief which this Court may deem just and proper. If so, I believe their point 1 answered by Template point 1, is this correct? Is their point 2 answered by Template point 5? I'm not sure how to answer their point 3 as in their debt validation response, they provided OC statements and the Bill of sale. Does Template point 8 still apply though since they did not include any of that in their MSJ? If not, is there a more applicable MDSJ template out there that I should be using? Or how should I answer their MSJ 3 points? Thank you so very much` for all of your help.

I just got served on 8/26/20 by a debt collection company called PRA and their attorney is Hunt & Henriques. My original creditor was PayPal Credit/Synchrony. My total debt as stated on the summons is $3,364.95. My account was opened back in 2016 and I stopped paying sometime in 2018. I’ve got 30 days to answer but how do I answer? The summons paper says I can find the form online but what form is it? And should I also file an arbitration now? If so, how Do I get a hold of my agreement contract to see if I do JAMS or AAA? I’ve done a ton of reading on here on cases that’s been dismissed but damn, I’m feeling really really scared at the moment. It’s all I’ve been thinking about. Any and all help you guys can provide me would be great. And what are my chances of getting my case dismissed? btw, I’m from California.

Hello, I was sued last September by PRA in Arizona for slightly over $2K for a Barclay's Card account. MTC Arbitration was granted by the Justice Court in December, and I went ahead and filed an arbitration case with AAA (per the CC agreement) this January 24th. After a couple of requests by AAA to PRA in Febuary for the $300 filing fee and $2500 arbitrator's deposit, PRA paid up the $2800 and I received the initiation email from AAA on March 9. Currently AAA is awaiting an "Initial List of People, Firms, Companies, and/or Groups Involved in the Arbitration" form from both parties due the 16th. PRA has not paid the $1400 case management fee as of yet. Here's the catch: after I filed the arbitration case on Jan 24th, PRA went ahead and filed a motion to dismiss the case WITH PREJUDICE in Court Feb 11th, and the motion has been granted and the court case dismissed. My copy of the motion got temporarily lost in the mail (by me), and when I saw it the other day a light bulb went off in my head. Can't I simply drop the arbitration case at this point and walk away from the matter with my hands clean? I saw a post by Harry Seaward in another thread (2nd post down) stating that the court retains jurisdiction in AZ after a granted MTC (per ARS 12-1502 ) to confirm the arbitrator's award. But does this apply when the plaintiff drops the case and the court dismisses it? My hunch is that it doesn't matter and the court matters are finished, though I could be wrong. Here is the thread referenced: https://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/330238-arbitration-question-in-az-regarding-lawsuit-by-pra Thanks in advance for your replies and all of the help received thus far on this great forum!

First off, I have to thank @ASTMedic @calawyer and everyone else on the forums for helping me win this! I couldn't have done it without your knowledge! I just received the form CIV-110 stating that Portfolio is filing for a dismissal without prejudice. I have a year left on the SOL. Is there a way, at this point, or should I even try and get the case dismissed with prejudice?

So...as of recently I believe the debt (disputed) a JDB...Portfolio Recover Associates...has been trying to collect is time-barred. Periodic correspondence over the past year (!) has requested PRA provide proof of origination of claimed debt, a full payment history, etc. Each communication has stated clearly that the debt was in dispute and not acknowledged as valid. At one point a complaint was also filed with the CFPB for misleading correspondence from PRA. It was also made clear that the response to any type of filing would be a request for arbitration per the alleged agreement. Whatever has been happening on the other end of this...the clock appears to have run out. I'm curious about tactics from here. I assume PRA is likely to still file an action...and I'd need to respond. Based on what I've read I'd assert an affirmative defense that the debt is is now time-barred. But would I first respond that court was an improper venue and the action should be taken to arbitration...then point out that the debt is time-barred there? It seems like I'd want to do that, to get into the venue the agreement they contend I'm party to stipulates as the proper forum, then call out the time-barred status there. Comments/thoughts? TIA!

MY ANSWERS TO THE STANDARD QUESTIONS: 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? PRA 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) listed for Norfolk, VA 3. How much are you being sued for? $1000.00+ 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Synchrony Bank/Amazon (I have copy of agreement with JAMS clause) 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Court verified 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) Notice on door on August 21st | Mail rec'd August 22nd. 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Yes 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? No 9. What state and county do you live in? Indiana 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 2.2015 11. What is the SOL on the debt? 6 yrs 12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). Court website has status as SERVED AUGUST 21st. 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No 14. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request, don't bother doing this now - it's too late. No 15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? (listed below) I have 20 calendar days to respond. Which means Sunday, September 10th is my 20th day. 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. Included in the summons packet are the following documents: PAGE #1 Summons - Must answer the complaint in writing to be filed with the court within 20 days from date you received summons. PAGE #2 Affidavit of Debt - Unpaid balance $1000+ on account ending in XXXX. This account was opened 2011. Last payment received 2015. Type of acct: Credit card (Synchrony Bank/Amazon) Plaintiff is not seeking attorney fees PAGE #3 Complaint: Account of NAME, account number ending in XXXX is in default Original creditor is Synchrony Bank Obligation is past due. Amount owed $1000.00+ Plaintiff demands judgement against defendant for the sum plus court costs. PAGE #4 Bill of Sale: September 2016 - There is no identifying info at all on this document. Document indicates forward flow covenants and conditions in purchase agreement - no purchase agreement included. PAGE #5 Summary of Account Activity from Amazon. PAGE #6 & #7 Appearance by Attorney in Civil Case PAGE #8 Certificate of Service

Hello. I hope I am in the right forum. I am currently unemployed and I REALLY need some help regarding my issue. I am currently located in Dallas, TX (Dallas County). I received two letters in the mail today from two local attorneys. The first letter is from Rausch Sturm and the second letter is from Heston Law Firm LLC. The letter from Rausch Sturm has my name, the Creditor (Portfolio Recovery Associates), case# filed with the Dallas Co. court (precinct 1), account balance ($2,954.47) and account #. The letter from RS is dated September 16, 2019. Briefly, the letter says: "Dear <my name>: If you have any concerns regarding the resolution of your account, please let us know by calling......We want to understand your situation and work with you to agree on a reasonable payment arrangement to resolve your account." The back of the letter has the firm's contact info and the amounts needed to setup a payment arrangement. The letter from Rausch Sturm has my name, a Case # filed with the Dallas Co. court (precinct 1), account balance and account #. The letter is dated September 16, 2019. The second letter from Heston states the following: "We learned from the Dallas County Clerk's office that Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC filed a lawsuit against you on 8/26/2019 for an unpaid debt. We want to help you with the lawsuit. Over 95% of our clients never appear in court......" I called the court this morning and a lawsuit was filed, but I cannot see it online. I logged into credit karma and the original creditor is Comenity Bank, account may have been opened around 2014/2015. The statue of limitations in Texas is 4 years. As of right now, I have not been served. I didn't know a lawsuit was filed in the court until today. I have no info regarding a court date or any other court details. Should I seek free legal aid regarding this issue? As stated, I am currently unemployed and looking for a job. There's an option for a low monthly payment plan in the letter, but funds are VERY tight right now. I would hate to have to borrow money from family members because they have their financial obligations also. But, I haven't been served yet so I wanted to be proactive and figure out what my options are at this point. Any assistance would be helpful. ,

Hello everyone, I am from Texas. I will ask my questions first and give you specifics further on. Is it unlawful for PRA to sue me over the same alleged debt over and over again even if they don't have all documentation and have no real intent to win? Isn't this act alone a violation of the FCDPA? Does PRA suppose to delete the tradeline of the alleged debt from all credit reporting agencies (CRA) after they loose each suite, but they don't? What is my recourse if any? Specifics.... Lawsuite #1 brought by PRA. 1. Plaintiff's (PRA) representatives, Rausch Sturm. 2. Alleged debt $3,400+ from CitiBank card. 3. Venue and service was correct. 4. My answer was sent timely and proper. 5. Sent amendments to my answer properly 6. I sent a Motion for Pretrial Conference (MFPC) and was granted. Date set for conference. 7. I show up for conference, PRA is a no show 8. Trial date set. 9. PRA sends Motion for Continuance (MFC) and is granted. 10. Trial date set again. 11. I show up for trial, PRA is a no show 12. JP is perturbed at PRA because he just received a 2nd MFC from them 2 days before trial date. 13. He denies their MFC and rules in my favor, Dismissed for Want of Prosecution. 14. I won Lawsuite #2 brought by PRA 1. PRA's representatives are Rausch Sturm 2. Alleged debt $3,400+ from CitiBank card, same debt as before. 3. Venue and service was correct 4. My answer was timely and proper 5. Trial date set. 6. PRA submits a MFC and was granted (sounds familiar) 7. Trial date reset 8. I show up for trial, a local representative that was hired that morning by PRA and she shows up, out of breath and obviously unprepared. 9. I questioned her credentials and if she was a lawful representative for the plaintiff. The JP verified her credentials. 10. She called me out of court to discuss if I wanted to admit to the debt, etc. I said no. She said she had proof of the debt in her briefcase. I told her that this "proof" was a surprise, I object to it, and it better be accompanied by proper Chain of Custody and affidavits from each record keeper involved. 11. She got up directly and walked back into court, with a scowl on her face. 12. She immediately told the JP that she had no doubt I owed the debt, but due to her client lacking proper documentation and proof that they move for a Non-Suite at this time. So by her own motion her "lack of doubts" became completely irrelevant. 13. I won again 14. When I get home, I received a copy of a 2nd MFC that evidently was filed too late by PRA. I am a practical person. If someone, especially a large law firm, were to sue someone they would be prepared and have every little bit of proof and documentation at the ready. Rausch and Sturm and PRA are unprofessional, abusive with no intention of showing proof and documentation for their suite, and just plain buffoons. I don't think their cornbread ain't done in the middle. Even though they loose cases they will still keep their tradelines on your credit reports even if a judge rules against them or they choose not to prosecute (non-suite). I am sure they will do this again. Thank you and God bless from Texas.

Portfolio Recovery Associates in Dallas Texas, suing on debt from WebBank (Dell Preferred Account). Suit is in Johnson County Precinct 2, and attny is from Rausch Sturm. Amount is for $2,430 for debt less than 3 years old. I was served yesterday 9.17.19 at 8:00 pm Suing for breach of contract seeking damages for full amount I forget what all else I need to do. I will attach copies of the suit, and my documents for review. This will include a copy of the debt agreement. Here's my plan, based upon my reading and research on this site: 1. Initiate a JAMS claim, and notify the Plaintiff of my election of an arbitration. I have attached copies of what I'm sending) This includes a cover letter, the demand for arbitration filled out, copies of the agreement, and a notification that the Plaintiff is responsible for all fees. The letter to the Plaintiff states arbitration, and I will include a copy of the the demand for arbitration. 2. When my certified letter is confirmed received, I will file my answer with the court (also attached) that contains both a motion to compel arbitration and a general denial of the points brought forward on the suit. This includes sending a certified copy of the answer and MTC to the Plaintiff and Attny. Once this is done I think I just sit back and wait for them to withdraw the suit? How do my documents look? I understand there's a chance they will allow this to continue, and in which event JAMS will require a complaint. I am building that as we speak, but I'm hoping that they don't make it that far. I don't see them spending what JAMS will cost to secure a $2,400 debt that they probably spent less than $200 on. ADDITIONALLY, I've seen several posts making an affidavit and exhibit of the original credit agreement. Is this a good idea? Should I include that in the MTC answer? Or is my citing of it in the answer enough? Thoughts, corrections, comments, concerns? thanks so much 20190918_130028.heic SuitAnswerPublishable.docx NoticeOfMTCPublishable.docx DPA_Terms_Conditions.pdf 20190918_130028.heic 20190918_130036.heic 20190918_130042.heic

I tried my best to search threads with similar cases but the more I read the more overwhelmed I get. I have learned a lot and the arbitration route I should try and go, but I have a few questions of my own, as well as things I would like to confirm. I really don’t want to mess this up. I don’t know how different New Mexico laws are regarding this compared to the other cases I’ve read like from Texas and Georgia. 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Machol & Johannes LLLP 3. How much are you being sued for? $3,803.04 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff): CITIBANK, N.A. 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) I was served. 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door): In person to my roommate. I was not home. 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Yes. 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? None. 9. What state and county do you live in? State of New Mexico. County of Socorro. 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations): According to them my last payment was September 6, 2016. 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? 2015 12. What is the SOL on the debt? 4 years 13. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). Suit Served. 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?): No. 15. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request before being sued, it likely won't help create FDCPA violations, but disputing after being sued could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). No 16. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? I have 30 days from the date I was served. According to the summons the date I am considered served is determined by Rule 1-004 NMRA. They gave this to my roommate on April 9, 2019 and I received it that evening. However, the summons is dated March 26, 2019. I did not receive a questionnaire. The only claim I see that they mention is "FIRST CLAIM OF RELIEF (Breach of Contract)" which says I entered an Agreement with CITIBANK, N.A., and they fulfilled it. On November 7, 2016 balance came due and/or charged off due to my failure to tender payment as agreed, the account was assigned and/or sold to PRA, and plaintiff demands judgement in the amount of $3,803.04 plus court costs and such further relief as the court deems proper. 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. They included an affidavit, bill of sale and assignment, one statement from citi, and a card agreement. 18. How did you find out about this site? Google search. Regarding filing my written response, I couldn’t find anything on my court’s website about rules on how to answer a complaint. I did find an Answer to Complaint form on the site that I’m planning to fill out, but I don’t exactly know what I should agree and deny. I’ve read to deny everything and I’ve read to deny everything but your name; should I deny everything except the first statement that states my name, address, and last 2 digits of my ssn? It makes the most sense. Are there any consequences in me denying anything? They say the balance came due and/or the account was charged off on or around November 7, 2016. However, the bank statement they provide states that the payment due date is 12/03/16. Can banks charge off an account before the due date of that last statement? Is this something I should point out in my answer? Maybe in section 3 of the form “I am without sufficient information or knowledge…” or should I just include it with the rest of my denials? There’s a section on the Answer to Complaint form that says WHEREFORE, Defendant respectfully request that the Court: Dismiss the Complaint, or in the alternative; Set the matter for a hearing; ___________________________________________, and; Any other equitable relief that the Court deems appropriate. What am I supposed to fill out on C? Regarding filing my Answer and MTC, I’m reading that I should file a Motion to Compel Arbitration WITH my Answer. Is that still a wise choice? Is it ok for me to edit a form taken from the court’s website to add a “Affirmative Defense” section? Is there a sample of this section that I could reference? For the affidavit that needs to be filed along with my MTC, can I reference the card agreement that the lawsuit provided or would this go against my denying everything? I don’t believe I have the original card agreement anymore. Regarding arbitration, The summons says district court and not small claims court, so I should be able to file an arbitration, right? It says on the card agreement whoever files the arbitration pays. Does that still mean that the max I would have to pay is $250 and PRA still might have to pay $5,000? I apologize for any repetitive or similar questions and I really appreciate any help I receive. Thank you.

Hello, I just found out from my mom that two different process servers have been to her house to serve me. I moved out about 3 months ago ( I have not done a change of address) so she tells them "No one by that name lives here". So I can only assume that may be the reason they do not leave the court papers at the door, and it may also be that she answers the door through the RING doorbell. I live in Little Rock, AR, so I was able to find the summons and complaints online. I found out that Midland and PRA are suing me for two credit cards I defaulted on when I was laid off my job. I just checked my credit report, and all it states is that it was "Charged Off" and not sold. The evidence that they submitted is a bunch of card statements with NO account numbers on them, and also some notarized document stating that, and i am paraphrasing "Someone who works for PRA is a record keeper, and is telling the truth that I OWE them this debt" So I am needing some advice on what to do, I do want to answer the lawsuit, but I am at a lose on what to do. Don't they have to prove that they really bought this debt? Oh also want to add that my sister is being sued by some lawyers who claim to represent Capital One. She also looked at her credit report and it states that it is charged off.

Hi All, The details of my suit is as follows: 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Rausch, Sturm 3. How much are you being sued for? $3,XXX.XX 4. Who is the original creditor? Capital One 5. How do you know you are being sued? Papers served 6. How were you served? (Mail, in person, Notice on door) In person 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Yes 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? Phone calls, voicemails and mail from Portfolio Recovery Associates, but did not actually speak with anyone. 9. What state and county do you live in? Texas, Harris County 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? Not sure. Claimed to be September 2017 in Complaint. Sounds accurate. 11. What is the SOL on the debt? 4 years in Texas 12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? Suit Served, have not filed an answer yet 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No 14. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? No 15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? 14 days 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? None I have been reading a bunch on this website and will sending my initial response to the suit by the end of this week hopefully. I have taken the advise of @texasrocker on filing a general denial answer.

Good Day All, After receiving mail from bankruptcy lawyers about a pending lawsuit I thought to Look Up Cases / Balances in my district. Lucky me own case number and register of actions. Never having been through this I want to be as proactive as possible. This suit will be within the SOL unfortunately. I am being sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC (“PRA” [took forever to figure that abbreviation out]). The attorney listed is Michael J. Olcese. The ROA only lists a few things thus far: · Summ & Comp filed · Summ & Comp By Plantiff Issued · Filling Fee Pad · Check tendered ROA shows a date of 11/9 and as of 11/28 I still have not been served. When can I reasonably expect this to occur, and is there anything that I can do between now and being served? I found a thread with some outstanding content started by bmc100, “Those being sued in Michigan by a JDB, step by step in Defending” but 2012 was years ago. Combine this with the thread, “My experience losing in court (pretrial)” I am left with an unsettling feeling. I must protect my family’s assets to the best of my ability. Last thing I want is a debt from surviving college to set my household back. With that being said, outside of, https://www.bsdd.com/sitefiles/7887/new-guidelines-on-to-draft-the-answer-and-affirmative-defenses.pdf what information can I delve into to start preparing for this. What threads what case law, where do I start? My assumption is I will not have the luck that ‘not_me_ok’ had in obtaining an outright dismissal. In recent history, how often is success realized by the defendant in these cases? I have seen mention of arbitration. Are the courts so favorable to plaintiffs / hostile to defendants that this is the best course of action? My wife went through something like this in 2010 and simply said, “she had no knowledge of the debt” and the case was dismissed. Is it still as simple as saying this? Also I just found this section of the forum and at a quick glance there seems to be some great information that I am completely ignorant to. This will be resolved on the weekend. Also for those of you that made it to the end of this post, thank you for your time and attention. Any and all input is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, OD

Hello, I am new to this forum and so glad I have found. I have been reading through the board but havent been able to go about filing my arbitration. I was served papers back in April for a court date of 8/3/2018. I decided to call the company and settle. I wish I didn't after finding about this information later. I have made one payment to Portfolio recovery for this account from Synchrony bank. Am I still able to file arbitration? When i check the court records online it says a copy of the judgement was sent to both parties but I never received it. How do I go about this. I also have another account with portfolio recovery services for synchrony bank/walmart. I haven't been served papers for this as yet. Can I go ahead and file arbitration for this? Also, how do I find a copy of the consumer agreement? I do not have any old statements. Is it possible to do so online. Any information would gladly be appreciated. Thank you

Please if anyone can help me, I have searched in this forum quite a bit and I know there has been others with PRA on here, but I just don't understand any of the legal terms on what to do, they all seemed to have some knowledge on the matter and I'm entirely clueless, if anyone can help me... 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Hunt & Henriques 3. How much are you being sued for? Less than $5,000 but more than $2,000 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Synchrony Bank 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) My Mom was served 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) My mom was served while I was out 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? I'm not sure Process Service Requirements by State - Summons Complaint 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? None 9. What state and county do you live in? California, USA 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) According to the paperwork, around the end of 2015 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? I don't remember 12. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 4 years Statute of Limitations on Debts 13. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). It says Open - Initial Filing, and at the end Improper/No Service 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No 15. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request before being sued, it likely won't help create FDCPA violations, but disputing after being sued could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). No, Don't know what this is 16. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? I have 30 days to respond, They are claiming two actions, the first cause of action is Account Stated saying that within the last four years, an account was stated in writing between myself and the plaintiff and on the account a balance of $****.** was stated to be due by plaintiff. Defendant expressly or impliedly agreed to pay that balance. They are claiming to have purchased the debt but have nothing to prove so. The Second Clause of Action is Open Book Account. Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. They have two exhibits of evidence, Exhibit A is supposedly the most recent billing statement from Synchrony Bank prior to charge off, and Exhibit B is another billing statement from Synchrony Bank showing the balance that PRA is asking for.

Hi all, Thank god for this forum. I received a summons from Portfolio (via bike messenger at 9pm) on behalf of my fiance in Oregon. She's being sued by PRA for 1500 dollars that she owed to Citibank. It does appear on her credit, and has for some time. At this point, she has 30 days to respond or they get a default judgment, which seems to be their entire business model. Here's my problem: we have no idea how to respond. Do we need to fill out standard forms/paperwork? Do we need to draft our own letter and file it with the county clerk? Do we need to copy the listed PRA attorney on said letter or form? And despite Googling madly, I've only got the vaguest of ideas how to fight this. It seems like JAMS is an option, but I've heard that Oregon has strange arbitration laws, so I'm unclear on that. It also seems that PRA has to validate the debt in order to legitimately collect, and I'm also unclear as to how to go about forcing them to do this. I've been looking for attorneys in OR, but at the rates most of them are charging, it seems more worthwhile for her to set up a payment plan with PRA than to fight it. I'm at a loss, and trying to help her out as best I can. Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you in advance for responding!

Getting sued in Wisconsin by PRA for a Synchrony BP card and just when I thought I had my answer ready to go, I read on here not to include any affirmatve defenses. I've been reading everything I can on how to answer this complaint and most of what I have written has been copy and pasted. Hoping someone can take a look at it and let me know if I should add or delete anything.

Background Moved out on my own about two years back. I had assumed all of my important mail was forwarded to my new address. To my shock, after a visit to my old residence, a member of my family hands me a packet of papers informing me that I'm being sued. This totally sucks... I'm lost and unsure of what steps I need to take to ensure I can resolve this. I've never been sued before so this a bit daunting to me. I have been reading a few forums on here and while it has been helpful I must say the information overload is very real and overwhelming. If anyone one has any advice on how I can proceed with putting this behind me my ears and mind are open. Additional Information 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? - Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) - Cooling & Winters, LLC / Cooling and Winters LLC 3. How much are you being sued for? - $1,200 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) - Synchrony Bank / Amazon.com 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) - I received papers from a family member. 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) - A family member was served and I received the papers from them. 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? - Yes 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? - None, as far as I know, I had no idea who they were until I did a little bit of googling (more information below) 9. What state and county do you live in? - Georgia, Habersham County 10. When is the last time you paid for this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) - 2012-2014 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? - 04/ 11 /2012 12. What is the SOL on the debt? - 6 years 13. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). - I was unable to find my case online but it says Suit on Account on paper. I've attached scans of the papers I received below blanking out personal information. 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) - No I have not disputed the debt with the credit bureaus both the original and current collectors. 15. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request before being sued, it likely won't help create FDCPA violations, but could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). - No I have not requested debt validation. 16. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? - I was given 30 days to respond. I’m unsure if it’s from the 21st of March or the 23rd. I will include a scanned copy of the paperwork that I received but I’m going to assume the 21st since to be on the safe side. Also, there is an affidavit dated much earlier on the 9th of March would that actually be the deadline? If so I’m totally screwed… I am unsure if I received an interrogatory. What would that be? The “Charges” are: The Plaintiff says the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff as follows: Default on Account. That said claim is in the amount of: SEE ATTACHED COMPLAINT ( Complaint ) 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. - The Evidence I was sent are as listed: - An Affidavit - A Statement of Claim - Exhibit 1 A Statement from 11/15/2012. - Exhibit 2 A Statement from 05/15/2012. - Exhibit 3 The Credit Card Agreement. - Exhibit 4 A Bill of Sale between Synchrony and PRA. - And for Reference the first page out of all the others in the packet with the serving date being 03/21/2018 0r 03/23/2018, but I'm going to assume the 21st. ( Serving ) My Questions 1. What actions should I begin to take? I have not filed an answer in fear that I may end up doing something wrong that is irreversible. 2. Please, If you anyone can point me to other threads with a similar situation as mine that can give me some kind of guideline on how I should go about this I'd greatly appreciate. 3. Would it be best for me to just go ahead and pay this off if I currently have the money or would I be better off fighting the case? 4. Is this just a hopeless effort in a losing battle? I'm totally drained. I really am kinda lost right now. If anyone's got any actionable advice I'm all ears. Thank you for taking a look. If any more information is needed on my side to help in understanding my situation please let me know. I work the graveyard shift but will do my best to respond as promptly as possible. Once again thanks for taking a look.

So I've been doing some research into the PRA debt collection cases in my State and looking at the court records of events to possibly get some tips on how others are fighting them if they even contest it at all, which most don't. Well I really haven't found anything more helpful than what I've learned from the fine people of this site. But I did find out that last year PRA filed over 5,000 lawsuits statewide and as I'm typing this a single Attorney has over 900 open cases! I just think that's crazy! That should be illegal. Every case is filed electronically, signed electronically and in almost every case the Attorney never had to show up in court, even if they were required to, they would ask the court if they could appear via phone and were usually allowed to.

Hey everyone, I am looking for guidance on next steps. I opened my first credit card living in South Carolina with Capital One in college, it had a $10,000 limit (I'm not sure how, I knew nothing about money) and maxed it out and forgot about it. I can't remember when I started receiving calls and letters about collections, but eventually I told my mom about the debt and she suggested I ask for a hardship thing which I did. Interest and late fees stopped, and again I forgot about/ignored the debt. I checked my credit score a couple months ago and saw that it had jumped like 300 points overnight, and found that the Capital One account was no longer on my report, and naturally I was elated, thinking I was forgiven and that I had gotten out of this alive. A couple months later when I checked my score, It was down like 100 points and the new account on my credit score was Portfolio Recovery Associates to the tune of $11,383.67. I began receiving letters again a few months ago, now living in Virginia. I received a letter dated 3/26 that my account has been transferred to litigation department, "at this time, no attorney within the litigation department has personally reviewed the particular circumstances on your account." It appears PRA has purchased my account because Capital One is listed as "seller." I have not responded to any letters or spoke on the phone to anyone regarding this account in years. My guess is that this is within the statute of limitations (6 years for both South Carolina and Virginia), however I don't really know when I stopped paying the credit card bill, probably sometime in 2014. I make very little money (working on it though), have no property except a car which I still make payments on (Capital One Auto Finance), and cannot realistically even settle, their offer for a one time payment of $7,968.56 or monthly payments of $758.91 (I know that it is not advised to make payments to a collections agency) as I simply cannot afford these rates. I don't have a record of these letters (simply threw them out) or of the original credit card details (when I opened it, when I stopped paying, etc.). This is my only debt- no student loans, outstanding bills, etc. aside from my car loan (which is in good standing). Can I even send a debt validation letter? Initial correspondence was a long long time ago. Would they sue me? I don't think I'm a good candidate for wage garnishment or property seizure. I had a rough couple of years in college and after and have been working on cleaning myself up. It would super suck to get sued or have to pay a lot of money, mostly because I don't have any. Do South Carolina or Virginia laws apply? Thanks so much in advance for any guidance.

Can someone please answer this question? If the proof of service documents say that I was personally served but wasn’t served at all, grounds to have a judgment vacated even though I still resided at the address? Proof that I wasn’t personally served is in the documents they filed. Forged signatures. I was sued by PRA and Asset Acceptance/Midland Funding several years ago. Default judgments awarded to both of them because I didn’t appear in court. I wasn’t personally served like the proof states. Both PRA and Asset Acceptance filed proof of service, using the same process server. The signatures on the filed documents are obviously different. One even has a date a month after the day the server claimed I was served. The signatures, spacing, font, and dates are clearly suspicious are my proof that I was never personally served. I had lost my son, was laid off due to the recession that caused many Americans hardship, was losing my house, and had exhausted all my unemployment benefits. I didn’t care to be alive then. I suffered major hardships that turned my world upside down. I was judgment proof. Judgments were entered in 2012. I understand timing is an issue but I still want to try to have them vacated. It wouldn’t be hard to prove that the documents are forged,false affidavits were submitted, no valid documentation showing proof of a contract, and other violations. I finally started to pull myself together and started working again May, 2014 and since then my wages have been garnished by PRA. Asset is patiently waiting and getting bigger every day. Can someone give me hope? I can and will upload the documents if I need to.