Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'small claims'.
-
Back in 2013 I had successfully defeated BoA and FIA card services in court over an alleged credit card debt that was and isn't mine. These guys will not correct my credit report even after their lawyers stated they would in their stipulation of discontinuance of their suit against me after I won the case. Now I feel like I have no choice but to sue them in district court. I'm not entirely positive whether I should file a civil claim or a small claim against them for violations of the FCRA/FDCPA... So any advice I could get would be completely appreciated. I have defended myself in court before pro se, so I'm comfortable with the process. I just want to know what would be the best way of building my case and having BoA removing their erroneous account information off my credit report for good.
- 10 replies
-
Hello, it's me again. I was just served by Stenger and Stenger (representing Cach LLC) on an account that was dismissed without prejudice last year. The last time they sued me I appeared in court and during mediation I told the attorney that I planned on filing a MTC arbitration. She was confused, and when we went to trial she asked for a continuance. The judge granted it, and we were to appear back in court 30 days later. Well when I came back, no attorney was present so the judge signed a dismissal without prejudice. I did ask him to make it with prejudice, and he denied the request. Here we are again, and the same law firm representing the same JDB is suing me again. I haven't sent in my answer yet. I was planning on using the same arbitration defense, but after further review of the credit card agreement there is a note about "ordinary claims," and I just went through another case with that clause and was denied my MTC arbitration from the judge! Btw, this is in GA. The amount is around $1300. It's for First National Bank in Omaha that was defaulted around Feb 2016, maybe earlier. I'm really afraid that my MTC arbitration will get denied again because the judge is a JDB friendly judge. Do I have any other options to file my answer? I mean I am going to try to proceed as usual w/ my answer and then present my MTC at court, but because this has no mention of small claims court, even if I was denied, and appealed to a higher court it seems like that verbiage would still stand. Thoughts? Help? Below is the verbiage from a Q1 2016 agreement. And the bold is what I'm concerned about. So many of you have helped me dismiss so many cases over the past few years... I need some advice on this particular circumstance to see if anyone has any success with arguing this. THANK YOU!
- 17 replies
-
- stenger and stenger
- ordinary claim
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
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? Weber & Olcese P.L.C. 3. How much are you being sued for? ~$3,900 + Court Costs 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Home Depot (by Citibank) 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? Yes 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? Received a letter prior to being served and I sent in a DV (that stated that I dispute this debt) 9. What state and county do you live in? Georgia, Forsyth County 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 10/15 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? ~12/2004 12. What is the SOL on the debt? Not sure? 13. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? Served 5/2019, Answered 6/2019 (denied w/ arbitration as affirmative defense), Court 7/2019 (prepared MTC Arbitration) 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) Yes, to the lawfirm only when I initially received a letter. 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. 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. They sent copies of statements from the OC from 2015 and 2016. A copy of a bill of sale to PRA. Well it finally happened, the judge denied my MTC arbitration because of the small claims verbiage below: He said that the wording was not ambiguous, and any statement otherwise or whether there was a clause in it at all did not matter. I tried to describe the other SCOTUS cases, and he would not hear it and said that this matter was brought to small claims, so now it is no longer subject to arbitration. He shut me down at every argument I had about the arbitration clause, and asked if I wanted to mediate w/ the attorney. I asked for a continuance, and the plaintiff said I see no reason for a continuance and the judge agreed so he denied the continuance. I did create an AAA case AFTER I was served, so when I told him that I even had an arbitration case started, he said it did not matter. At this point I was lost and did not know what to do. So I went to the attorney and said that I could write a check for $1000 right now the settle the case, and he said his client refused. I told him that’s really all I had, so then the attorney requested a continuance and it was granted for him. Should I have just gone to trial and let the judge find for the plaintiff after denying my MTC for arbitration? I was scared to do that because what I’m ultimately trying to do is avoid a judgement on my record. I’d rather try to settle than have a judgement. I was thinking maybe I could appeal, but I’ve never gone through that process, and wonder what would happened if my appeal was denied or if I lost there too? Any advice? I go back to court next month. I’ve attached the CCA both current, and the one while my card was active and both do contain that “small claims” verbiage. arbitration-2016.pdf arbitration-current.pdf
- 41 replies
-
- arbitration
- small claims
- (and 4 more)
-
Looking through the forums, it seems that PRA is on a roll this month. 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.) Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 3. How much are you being sued for? $6071 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Capital One 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? 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? - none 9. What state and county do you live in? - Indiana, Hendricks 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 2016 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? 2013 12. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 10 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). Pending 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 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? 20 days after service- have about 2 weeks left. 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. Summons, e-file appearance paperwork, complaint, very generic bill of sale from Capital One, a page of a statement from 2016, an affidavit of debt. I have two questions on this one: 1) There was no cardholder agreement included in the court papers. I'm having a hard time even finding one online for Capital One in 2013. If I do find one, can I include that in my response, as well as a motion to compel arbitration? 2) The Indiana state website took me to a small claims court page, which lead me to a handbook page. ( https://www.in.gov/judiciary/files/small-claims-manual.pdf ) The handbook says that small claims can only be filed up to $6,000. Should I do anything about the fact that I'm being sued for more than the maximum amount?
-
Need help! I am being sued by midland funding and need advice. I have no assets and I am still in school. No real source of income. 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Midland Funding LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm? Midland funding LLC 3. How much are you being sued for? $749.38 4. Who is the original creditor? Citi Bank 5. How do you know you are being sued? My parents were served with papers at home where I no longer live. 6. How were you served? 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? I receved some mail every now and then but I never answered it. 9. What state and county do you live in? Alabama, Limestone county but I live in Florida now with a Alabama drivers license. 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) It does not say on the paper and I’m not sure. 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable) I am not entirely sure but I think 2015. 12. What is the SOL on the debt? 3 years I think. Is this when I first opened it? 13. What is the status of your case? Suit has been 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? No. 16. How long do you have to respond to the suit? 30 days I have 14 days. No questionaire. Charges are as follows: Midland is the successor to the original creditor. I made purchases using the card. I failed to make the proper payments. The card was charged off. 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. see attached picture.
- 8 replies
-
- small claim
- small claims court
- (and 7 more)
-
HELPPPP!!! okay, ill try to keep this short and detailed! Accident occurred 2 years ago. Insurance adjuster insists I am the 100% responsible party. I disagree. I had several conversations with the insurance adjuster and got her to "reduce the total cost by 15% for possible lack of attention and possible speed being a factor for the other driver". After I got her to admit that much, I knew I had to stick to my guns and not agree to take 100% responsibility. Fast forward to not being able to afford a lawyer (I have 3 small kids, 2 working parents, cost of living is through the roof in NH there was very little wiggle room in our budget) and not being able to find anyone willing to accept pro-bono once hearing the details, I was left to fend for myself. Now here we are 2 years later and I have finally received notice that the lawyer representing the original insurance company has filed in small claims court HERE IS THE KICKER! the paperwork I received states I owe $92,226.75 + filing fees of $145.00 bringing the total to $92,371.75?!?!?!? WHAT IN THE %^#%#$ the original amount back in 2016 was a little over $10,000 After speaking with a representative at the law firm, she confirmed it was in fact a typo. The actual amount should say $9,226.75 HERE IS THE QUESTION! Can I get this whole thing dropped because of this typo???? Small claims court is only supposed to accept charges up to $10,000...... what can I do?!?!?! any help appreciated! TIA
- 5 replies
-
- nh
- new hampshire
- (and 9 more)
-
Served with a small claims summons, $600 to midland funding. They attached an affidavit and a couple generic looking bill of sales that do not have my name or any identifying information that could be traced back to me on them. Midland funding is the 3rd debt collection company to be assigned this debt, and I’ve never been notified of the prior assignments. They also included billing statements from the original creditor. I feel that the affidavit, and the statements are hearsay and I should be able to get them dismissed, but would like some advice before I answer the complaint
- 5 replies
-
- small claims
- midland
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi everyone. I received a letter from Midland Credit Management saying that they are taking legal actions on a credit card originally owned by Credit One Bank, N.A. and was purchased by Midland Funding PLC. The amount they say that is owed is $615.45. Midland states that I applied for credit with Credit One Bank back in August of 2016. I only learned about this account this year when I received that letter and requested for my free credit reports from the 3 credit reporting agencies. I never applied for any credit in 2016 and I wrote to Midland Credit Management for variable proof that this account was indeed mine. They sent me a billing statement with my printed name and address as variable proof but nothing with my signature. I did have credit with Citibank but I closed that account in July of 2017 for fraudulent charges being made and on my credit report I got this year it showed that I have had addresses in Florida and also Michigan. I have written to all three credit reporting agencies about that and they still have not corrected the information or checked the Credit One Bank for actual proof that this credit card was mine and that I was a victim of identity fraud. I have written to all three credit reporting agencies, Credit One and Midland Credit Management to correct the problem but Credit One Bank and Midland Credit Management keeps appearing on all three credit reports. My credit reports do not show that I have an ongoing dispute with Credit One Bank or Midland Credit Management. I live in Hawaii and I know that Midland Credit Management uses a lawyer from Honolulu but I did not get the letter saying that he will be taking legal action against me but I got the letter from Midland Credit Management located in San Diego, .CA. I want to take Midland Credit Management to small claims courts here in Hawaii for several violations of the FCRA and failure to send me variable proof that this account was ever mine and for some other violations such as willful enablement of identity fraud and for emotional stress since this has lowered my credit score so that I have been unable to use my VA home loan guarantee to purchase a home with no money down and with low interest rates. I found out by looking up on Hawaii Secretary of State that Midland Credit Management has an agent in Honolulu in the name of (CBC Services of Hawaii, Inc). Should I send them the small claims notice with both Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding LLC as the defendants. It seems to me that Midland Credit Management will not do anything to correct this problem and I also believe that they know that this debt is not mine at all and are unwilling to correct this problem. I have kept all letters that I have mailed via verified mail, signature required, all copies of letters sent to me saying that this account has been verified by a billing statement and all copies of my credit reports that I have been getting each month now. I know that Midland uses a Lawer from Honolulu and his name is Marvin Dang. Since he did not send me the letter saying that Midland will be taking me to court, I do not think I should send any legal documents to him. I rather file a small claims case here on the Island that I live on and have Midland spend money to fly this lawyer from Honolulu to my Island and have Midland spend more money on trying to collect $650 from a debt that was never mine to begin with and hopefully my credit report will improve so that I can purchase a home soon but so far have lost out on 4 homes due to a low credit score that has effectively hurt my chances of using my VAhome loan guarantee with no money down. My credit score right now is between 600 and 620 and I need 720 if I want to use the VA home loan no money down. Am I going at this the right way or should I be doing something different. I am tired of writing letters every 30 days only to get the same results.
- 3 replies
-
- small claims
- midland
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
I'm debating whether to defend a small claims suit for $4321 for an Account Stated Claim with a law firm claiming to represent Discover Bank, or at my final hearing next week motion to compel Arbitration. The law firm filed into the case the credit card agreement with the Arbitration clause, however, I can defend the Account Stated claim by disproving their element that we agreed to the claim's balance of $4321, citing a dispute letter I sent the firm disputing the amount. Which strategy would possibly be more successful?
- 37 replies
-
- small claims
- final hearing
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
I just got back form court and I got what I wanted. I was being sued by Discover, they used the firm blitt and gaines pc. I showed up early, prepared, and wore a suit. The only thing I had to say to the judge was "yes". the plaintiff's lawyer just motioned a stay or continuation(?). I had requested card agreements that they did not provide. Because of that she didn't try to get a judgment. I was planning to motion to compel arbitration but it didn't even come up. They wanted $3700. I made a initial settlement offer of $1400. The lawyer said she would try to convince "them" to that offer. So I big win in my book. my only question was she told the judge that I had made a settlement offer, then the judge asked me if that was true. What is the best way to handle that question? Thanks to Everyone one this board who gave advice. @Clydesmom @BV80 @BackFromTheDebt @Brotherskeeper @Goody_Ouchless
- 1 reply
-
- 1
-
-
- court
- small claims
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
NH Small Claims suit brought by Midland Funding LLC. I can;t find a lot from NH for small claims This was a Synchrony/Amazon card and the amount being sued for is $2,995.08. There were absolutely zero documents attached to the complaint - how is that possible? I was served by mail (that's how they do it for small claims). I think I might be able to win this but the Rules of Evidence don't apply in small claims and and I am confused as exactly what this means. How am I suppose to know what Midland has for proof of ownership of debt/standing to sue me? Is this a normal thing for them to do? I would think that when I show up that I would be allowed to review what they have? I have to respond, and I will deny, but because I have no idea what they have, I am not sure if I should just file for arbitration or take the chance and ask for trial? I'm confused by the lack of any documents! I want to wait to file until the day before it's due to give more time to prepare. The complaint states: Plaintiff is the successor to the original creditor for the account described in the Statement of Consumer Debt. After the defendant established and used the account, the creditor sent statements of activity and balance. Defendant failed to pay the stated amount. Plaintiff sues upon account stated to recover the outstanding balance. The Statement of Debt reads: Statement of Consumer Debt: Basis for this Statement: Information provided by my client Basic information for cases arising from the extension of consumer credit: Account number: last 4 Date of last payment: July 2014 (within the NH SOL of 3 years) Amount of last payment: $70.00 I did receive notice from law firm in November 2016, that they were hired to collect on behalf of Midland. I sent a debt validation; no response other than to be served with Small Claims suit. Thank you, very much!
- 68 replies
-
- nh
- new hampshire
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
I received a summons to appear in small claims court from capital one regarding credit card debt for a card I had years ago. I remember this acct only had a limit of $550 because we got it after my wife and I had to file bankruptcy due to the medical cost for our son who has cerebral palsy. Later we cut this card up because the interest rate was so high. I am now being sued for $3000 and the only information attached to the summons is a statement dated 2015. What should I request during the first court appearance? I'm totally lost with this and have never been sued before and have no idea what all is involved with this. I can't not afford an attorney due to the cost of care our son receives. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time
-
- small claims
- debt collection
- (and 3 more)
-
I think I may have found some important information for those dealing with JDBs in Wisconsin. I've been reading the boards for a while and recently read a Marquette Law Review on responding to admissions, interrogatories and documents. I was hoping for some feedback on my answers with this new information. First questions: what is the criteria for determining the "specificity" of the denial? Are the denials that I give in the following post considered "specific"? Many users on this board have cited lack of information or belief in refusing the admit or deny. I am assuming that in states other than Wisconsin this is an acceptable response. In my following post, you can see that I have not used this phrase. I have, however objected to some of the requests, please see the following information Second question: Are the objections I raised in the following post sufficient? Third question: I put my defenses after all of my responses. Are my defenses formatted correctly? I would like to use the defenses that TrueQ pointed out in Midland Funding / Kohn / Wisconsin Mainly WI 425.104 & 105, WI 425.109, and WI 422.409 Fourth question: Considering that we are in Discovery now (I think), is it prudent to elect arbitration or JAMS? Fifth question: Considering that we are in Discovery now (I think), should I file a MTD? And if so, on what grounds? I hope this information is helpful to anyone dealing with JDB in Wisconsin, and any information would be most helpful!
-
Very simple I am being sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates in Texas and I don't know what to do. 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC assignee of Wells Fargo bank 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Attorney in Texas (about 200+ miles from where I am located) 3. How much are you being sued for? Roughly $5,900 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Wells Fargo Bank 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Person came to door and handed me the citation (processor I guess) 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) In person at my door 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Do not know, woman just handed it to me and left 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? Never spoke with them....EVER. 9. What state and county do you live in? Texas, Bexar County 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) Through the credit card company, 2012 Collection agency, NEVER 11. What is the SOL on the debt? 4 years in Texas I believe 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). I dont know. 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No, for fear of resetting SOL 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 I did not speak or respond with them ever. 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? 14 days. I received no questionaire.
-
- collection
- lawsuit
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
On sept 8th I was served for a suit filed by Suttell and Hammer for plaintiff Midland Funding LLC for a debt they bought from Citibank (South Dakota) - Home Depot. The account was charged off and sold some years ago and my best records indicate a last payment to HD in February 2010. Suit filed in Pierce County District Court. Case no. 752497. The cover sheet says amount of suit is $5142.53, but summons said $4942.53 is the sum for the judgement. I need to respond to the summons and complaint within the next 8 days, but am having a hard time finding an attorney that has the time, so I have 2 questions. 1. Since the amount sued for is less than $5k, can I force this into small claims court, and if so, would that benefit me? 2. Since I am running short on to to respond to the complaint and summons, is it OK to simply file the notice to appear and not the Answers, or will that cause problems down the line? I'm afraid of putting in defenses that could get me in trouble or not listing some I should and thereby keeping myself from using them in the future. As an aside, what is the defense called where they are asking $1,000's for a dept they likely paid 100's for. I read it elsewhere but cannot find it now.
-
I have a credit card debt that was last paid 9/2009 and was closed 4/2010. Asset Acceptance bought the account 6/2012 and last updated 8/2013. I just happened to be searching on the county's circuit clerk site today and noticed that Asset filed a small claims case with a first appearance in 4/2013. It appears there was another apperance by Asset 7/2013 with the following wording "Proof/representation the service of the summons was not found. Alias summons to issue." Finally, it appears there is another first appearance date set for 10/22/2013, but nothing written. The case includes my old address. I'm taking it they are having troubles finding me since they have not found me since April. Anyhow, the debt is no where close to the statue of limitations. I do not want to be sued. What should I do? Should I attempt to contact Asset and try to settle before they get any further in court or is that useless and I should wait until I receive a summons? Thank you for any advice!
-
I've been reading this forum for the last couple months, and very much appreciate all the great advice on here. Even though I didn't win my case, this forum has been a tremendous resource. So I was sued by Resurgent Finance/LVNV for an old Citibank NA card. By way of background, the last time I used the card was in May 2004, and the last time I paid on it was around the same time. I had a balance of around $4500, and Citibank themselves sued me in June 2006 and received a default judgment against me. I filed Chapter 13 the day after my garnishment hearing. Lost my job in July 2009, and stopped paying the Ch 13 trustee, so of course my case was thrown out. If I had been smart, I would have just turned my 13 into a 7 and been done with it all right then and there. But I didn't, for reasons that don't really matter. Anyway, first I heard from any of the creditors from my Ch 13 was in September 2013 when I was served by LVNV (Weltman, Weinberg & Reis). I was served in Marion County (Indianapolis) Small Claims Court of Lawrence Township. In Marion County the small claims limit is $6k, so debt collectors file there to take advantage of the liberal rules of evidence and burden of proof. The standard in Marion Co small claims court is "preponderance of evidence," which I've learned basically means creditors don't have to actually prove anything. They just need to make a more convincing argument than the debtor, and the judge will rule in their favor. Furthermore, the township small claims courts compete with each other for the high volume collections claims, which means certain judges are more sympathetic to JDBs, and also results in forum shopping. More about that can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303365804576433763597389214 The courts have conference rooms within the courtroom that the JDB attorneys use for pretrial conferences (without a judge present). If you didn't know better, you'd think the JDB attorneys actually worked for the court. Anyway, I had my pretrial conference back in December. When I was served they included the robo-signed affidavit from someone at Resurgent, a copy of an old Citibank statement, and a generic LVNV account statement that showed payments received from the Ch 13 trustee. I figured I'd challenge their ability to prove I ever owned the debt with Citibank (which would have been fairly easy, given the previous judgment). I'd further challenge LVNV's standing, ask them to prove they owned the debt, demonstrate chain of custody, provide a bill of sale, prove how they calculated the amount I owed, etc. So at the pretrial conference I rattled off a few of these defenses (in Marion Co small claims court, you don't have to file a response or affirmative defense). Rent-a-lawyer said ok, let's set it for trial. Trial was set back in December for today 2/19. Mid-January I sent a request for production of documents to the court and the plaintiff's attorneys (clerk said it was fine to mail filings, just to make sure to send a copy to the attorneys). Got a response from the court acknowledging it had been received and filed, but no yay or nay on my request. Never heard from the attorneys. Went to court today and found that the attorneys had filed a motion for summary judgment back in December. News to me. Figured I'd have received a copy of that from the court (or the attorney). Shame on me I guess for not checking it out. The judge asked the opposing attorney if he was prepared to try the case, because he wanted to hear all the facts. Attorney said yes, so they just brushed off their MSJ. Judge mentions he sees I've requested production of documents, but I didn't do it more than 30 days prior to trial, so he couldn't grant it. Couldn't for the life of me find this 30-day rule, but again, shame on me. I should have sent it the day of the pretrial conference. So things get started, and the opposing attorney presents exhibit 1, a stack of Citibank statement copies. I told them I didn't recall this card, and the statements didn't prove anything or jog my memory. But they had my name and address on them. I was willing to concede at that point, because I thought I had other defenses that would be more effective. However the attorney and the judge kept asking open-ended questions that never really put me in a position where I had to admit anything. They had me basically cornered, but never went in for the kill. So then they moved on from that point (judge and atty were seemingly working together by now). Plaintiff atty admitted the affidavit of debt as exhibit 2. I objected and explained how Resurgent/LVNV's affiant couldn't testify to Citibank's business records. I learned in Marion Co small claims court, you don't object, and then wait for the judge to rule on an objection, like you might see on tv, or in, you know, real court. You pretty much just say what you have to say, and the judge hears you, and everyone moves on. I'm not sure how else I could have attacked this affidavit during the trial. Not sure it would have mattered anyway. Anyway, I was shocked that the plaintiff atty rested after that. To me they'd presented a bunch of paperwork that showed I may have had a credit card with Citibank at one time. And that's it. The judge gave me a chance to speak my peace, and I explained how even if the Citibank card was mine, I didn't think LVNV had standing to sue based on not proving they owned the debt. I also challenged the amount they said I owed, and pointed out they hadn't shown how they calculated it. Finally I said I thought this debt (which I do not acknowledge) had to have been beyond the Indiana SOL (6 yrs). Now, that's a point of contention, to be sure. But as I had not used or paid on any credit card since May 2004 (which is true), I figured it was worth a shot. The plaintiff attorney didn't seem to know anything about the previous judgment, nor my Chapter 13. Chapter 13 payments don't seem to restart the SOL anyway, although Indiana case law seems to be ambiguous about that. Other states are pretty clear and cite federal law in their rulings. Basically, they state that the SOL is tolled in Ch 13, but the SOL doesn't reset. What blew my mind is that the plaintiff's attorney didn't object to my SOL bit, and the judge just kind of blew it off. He didn't say I was wrong, or question or dispute anything I said. Just asked if I had anything else. I said no. Seemed to me the plaintiff hadn't proven anything, and I had raised multiple defenses. Ah, but back to the old preponderance of evidence. Evidently I didn't make a compelling enough case that I didn't owe the debt. The judge didn't rule right there, and just dismissed us. I left not knowing what had happened. But a few hours later I checked the court's website and found the judge had ruled in favor of the plaintiff for the full amount. Seemed like kind of a chickensh*t move by the judge to not just tell me right there he was ruling against me. Anyway, if anyone's still reading, sorry for the novel. It's been cathartic to write all this out and share it. If anyone has any comments, suggestions, advice, etc., I'm happy to hear it. If anyone who knows Indiana law cares to comment, I'd especially appreciate that. I haven't found a lot of info on here about fighting a JDB in small claims court. It's a much different procedure than what I'd been preparing for based on reading these forums. I knew the rules were a little different, but there's a reason JDBs use small claims court in Marion Co. Thanks for reading. Best of luck to anyone with action pending or forthcoming.
-
My name is nowhere on the account they are suing over! My 2nd (continued) pre-trial is scheduled for the end of Feb. I am pro se and I want to have it dismissed without going to trial if there is any way possible. I cannot believe there is no way to do so when he can provide NOTHING with my name on it. I don't believe they could get this far with it! Guess I am naive. I have answered the forum's suggested questions below. I have been researching many threads (esp FSUgirl07 since she is also in FL dealing with a JDB), but I haven't run into any where they actually have the wrong name. Hope you all are willing to help me out - your responses have been amazing. Thx. If you are inquiring about a lawsuit in which you are the defendant (ie you are being sued), you need to answer the following questions (as much as possible): 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? CAM1 LLC dba CAM1 LLC of Georgia 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Law Offices of Andreu, Palma & Andreu,PL of Miami, FL 3. How much are you being sued for? about $4800.00 plus int. and atty fees 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) US Bank National Association ND 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Served at home to husband. 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) In person to husband 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? Pinellas County Florida 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) Never 11. What is the SOL on the debt? 5 years 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). Attended pre-trial conference as per summons. Explained it was not my card. Showed atty statements with the account number he identified in my (adult) daughter's name. 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) Disputed with OC through a letter from my attorney in which he told them to cease and disist ,disputed with one credit bureau verbally. 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? i attended the pre-trial as per the summons. No written answer is required in FL. First cause of Action: Account Stated. 2nd cause of action - Unjust Enrichment. I told court officer it was not my cc. She asked if I wanted to see the judge, I agreed. Attny & I went before the judge. I told her it was not my card. I showed her my copy of dispute to US Bank as well as their response which included cc statements from 3/10/06 to 3/10/10 - ALL addressed to my daughter (same last name at the time). Judge noticed the lack of account number. Judge directed attny to send me copy of cc application with my signature and copies of statements with my name on them within 30 days. I have not received them - he has untl 2/6. But the atty sent me notice and copies of 2 Bills of Sale and Assignment of Assets referring to each of the assets identified in a list as Exhibit A. Of course, the list was not attached to my notice. (He also sent me requests for Production, Admissions and Interrogatories. I have been writing an objection to his requests for discovery because I am pro se and he is not allowed to initiate discovery without permission of the court, unless I have already done so. I have a second (continued) pre-trial end of February. 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. No evidence sent with summons. There was not even an account number on the paperwork, but I knew which account they were referring to from prior collection attempts from a number of different collection companies. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - I FIND IT ASTOUNDING