Search the Community

Hey All! Seriously need help! So stressful with this situation on top of having one lung (hot weather is tough!) and a 93 year old father with dementia that I advocate for - he just got out of the hospital yesterday, after being there for two weeks for emergency surgery. I have to answer the pretrial statement by Monday. I have been reading about a motion to dismiss, but with Covid, everything is short staffed at the courts. The courts told me not to do a motion to dismiss. Is anyone familiar with FIFTH THIRD, Jefferson Capital Systems, Trak America and/or Stillman Law Offices? Years ago I had a credit card with FIFTH THIRD BANK. I kept in close communication with FIFTH THIRD during difficult times. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had no choice but to default. I called Fifth Third Collections - they said they cannot settle anymore; my account went to Jefferson Capital Systems. I called Jefferson Capital Systems, they said my account went to Trak America. I am not sure who owns my debt at this time. I have court scheduled for July 2, and have to submit a Pretrial Statement 10 days before court. Need to drop off at court Monday, June 22, 2020 and mail to the Plaintiff. * I received a letter from Stillman Law Office, LLC last night, Friday, 6/19/2020, after the offices are closed until Monday. Letter says "Our firm is interested in speaking with you so that we may discus you in resolving your account." It states, "This communication is from a debt collector. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose." **** I AM EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE WITH STILLMAN LAW OFFICES **** ORDER OF EVENTS: Had a credit card with Fifth Third. After life crisis events (cancer, had right lung removed, abuse from husband with a son with special needs (mentally 2-4 years old) who has medical issues, had to leave with three children, daughter with epilepsy, let marriage home foreclose,...) I fell behind. I explained this to Fifth Third. The minimum I had to pay was too much. Credit limit was $10,000. My balance was $8126.32 when I defaulted. They continuously offered amounts to settle. The final offer was just over $1,500. I communicated with Fifth Third that I wanted to pay this offer but could not. There was nothing I could do. TIMELINE: 6/2/2014 - My last payment posted to the account Fall 2018 - I received a notice from Jefferson Capital Systems stating I owe $8971.87. I sent the the notice back stating I needed more details/information. My balance was $8126.32 when I defaulted. 6/24/2019 - I received notification from Stillman Law Offices stating they are a debt collector re: Jefferson Capital Systems. 7/16/2019 - I sent a certified letter stating: This letter is sent in response to a letter received by you on June 24, 2019. I am requesting that you provide verification of this debt. Send the following information: The name and address of the original creditor, the account number, and the amount owed. Verification that there is a valid basis for claiming I am required to pay the current amount owed. Details about the age and amount of the debt including a copy of the last billing statement from the original creditor; a detailed explanation of any interest added or payments made since the last billing statement and the legal authorization for this interest; the date the original creditor claims this debt became delinquent. Whether this debt is within the statute of limitations and how that was determined. Details about your authority to collect this debt: whether you are licensed in my state, and if so, provide the date of the license, name on the license, license number, and the license number, and the name, address and telephone number of the state agency issuing the license. I need more details about what you claim I owe so that I can make an informed decision. 9/9/2019 - I received a cover letter with a copy of a Bill of Sale between FIFTH THIRD and Jefferson Capital (The Bill of Sale said “see file attached” with nothing attached), and some copies of statements. I did not respond since they did not answer my many inquiries - I thought it was over. Then, on March 17, 2020 (lockdown now in effect) - I received a summons that had very few papers included. The paperwork stated that I was avoiding them (not true). The paperwork said “see attached affidavit,” only thing included is an excel spreadsheet. I then looked more closely at the statements Stillman sent to me 9/9/19. He sent a year of statements excluding one month, and duplicates of two pages. Forty-Six pages as follows: Cover letter - “This communication is from a debt collector” Copy of Bill of Sale (says “to those Accounts identified in the File attached…) nothing attached Page 1 Statement dated November 18 to December 28, 2014 Page 2 Boilerplate Page 3 dated October 18 to November 17, 2014 (Note date different from #3, same as #9) Page 4 dated October 18 to November 17, 2014 (Note date different from #3, same as #10) Page 1 Statement dated October 18 to November 17, 2014 Page 2 Boilerplate Page 3 dated October 18 to November 17, 2014 (See #5) Page 4 dated October 18 to November 17, 2014 (See #6) Page 1 Statement dated September 18 to October 17, 2014 Page 2 Boilerplate Page 3 dated September 18 to October 17, 2014 Page 4 Header only dated September 18 to October 17, 2014 - Blank Page 1 Statement dated August 18 to September 17, 2014 Page 2 Boilerplate Page 3 dated August 18 to September 17, 2014 Page 4 Header only dated August 18 to September 17, 2014 - Blank Page 1 Statement dated July 18 to August 17, 2014 Page 2 Boilerplate Page 3 dated July 18 to August 17, 2014 Page 4 Header only dated July 18 to August 17, 2014 - Blank Page 1 Statement dated June 18 to July 17, 2014 Page 2 Boilerplate Page 3 dated June 18 to July 17, 2014 Page 4 Header only dated June 18 to July 17, 2014 - Blank *****NOTE DATES ***** MONTH MISSING ***** 27) Page 1 Statement dated April 18 to May 17, 2014 28) Page 2 Boilerplate 29) Page 3 dated April 18 to May 17, 2014 30) Page 4 Header only dated April 18 to May 17, 2014 - Blank 31) Page 1 Statement dated March 18 to April 17, 2014 32) Page 2 Boilerplate 33) Page 3 dated March 18 to April 17, 2014 34) Page 4 Header only dated March 18 to April 17, 2014 - Blank 35) Page 1 Statement dated February 18, 2014 to March 17, 2014 36) Page 2 Boilerplate 37) Page 3 dated February 18, 2014 to March 17, 2014 38) Page 4 Header only dated February 18, 2014 to March 17, 2014 - Blank 39) Page 1 Statement dated January 18 to February 17, 2014 40) Page 2 Boilerplate 41) Page 3 dated January 18 to February 17, 2014 42) Page 4 Header only dated January 18 to February 17, 2014 - Blank 43) Page 1 Statement dated December 18, 2013 to January 17, 2014 44) Page 2 Boilerplate 45) Page 3 dated December 18, 2013 to January 17, 2014 46) Page 4 Header only dated December 18, 2013 to January 17, 2014 - Blank ***** TAKE NOTE: ALL ACCOUNT NUMBERS ON PAGE 1 of STATEMENTS listed above, ARE BLACKED OUT WITH A HEAVY BLACK MARKER (as opposed to the paperwork sent to court, which are blacked out neatly and professionally with black tape) PAPERWORK STILLMAN SENT INCLUDING SUMMONS, 17 pages as follows: Order Regarding Alternate Service Second Summons Motion for Second Summons and Order; States “See Attached Affidavit” **No Affidavit attached 4. Summons 5. Copy of Complaint 6. Page 1 Statement dated November 18-December 28, 2014 7. Page 2 Boilerplate 8. Page 3 Statement dated November 18-December 28, 2014 shows “clearing offset” and “client service fees” **Please see #3, #4, #5 and #6 of the 46 pages he sent to me. 9. Page 4 Statement dated November 18-December 28, 2014 - Blank 10. Page 1 Statement dated May 18 to June 17, 2014 **Missing statement in the 46 pages above - last month I made a payment 11. Page 2 Boilerplate 12. Page 3 Statement dated May 18 to June 17, 2014 13. Page 4 Statement dated May 18 to June 17, 2014 - Blank 14. Copy of Bill of Sale (says “to those Accounts identified in the File attached…)” 15. Excel spreadsheet p. 1 of 3, titled “Excerpt from Sale File Assigned to Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC Pursuant to the bill of sale dated 9/7/2018 **Shows 23 redacted lines. One line with my name, ss#, acct #, Seller acct#, date act opened 16. Excel spreadsheet p. 2 of 3, titled “Excerpt from Sale File Assigned to Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC Pursuant to the bill of sale dated 9/7/2018 **Shows 23 redacted lines. One line with charge off date, charge off amount, purchase balance, last payment date, last payment amount 17. Excel spreadsheet p. 3 of 3, titled “Excerpt from Sale File Assigned to Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC Pursuant to the bill of sale dated 9/7/2018 **Shows 23 redacted lines. One line with Original creditor The papers included by Stillman were the papers missing in what they sent me. Also, no mention of attorney in paperwork sent to me, just “Stillman Law Offices.” Attorney name, Stuart Lebenbom, is listed on summons in court papers. He is one of the partners. I called his office and was told Jefferson Capital has a very large volume of debtors and that a staff attorney will be handling my account. ON PAPERWORK TO ME: Stillman appears to be a debt collector. ON PAPERWORK WITH THE COURT: Stillman appears to be representing Jefferson Capital I am a single mom on a very low budget... Had kids later, and was forced to retire early to be with them. Child support also just got cut in half... very small pension. HELP!! ** Have paperwork to share, not sure how to attach here

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Bank of America 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Stillman law office 3. How much are you being sued for? 7k 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) BofA 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) yes, 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? Only stillman saying that BofA may invoke its right to sue you - I called stillman to talk about it - i said I could pay later after my disability cleared - they sued anyways 9. What state and county do you live in? MI, Wayne county 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 2013 SoL is not applicable 11. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 6yrs Statute of Limitations on Debts 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). suit served 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? Did not receive a questionnaire. 1. That the defendant herein is indebted to the plaintiff upon open account or pursuant to contract, and defendant accepted same. 2. Plaintiff has completed performance and defendant agreed to pay the account, copy attached. 3. There is presently due and owning, over and above all legal counter claims, the sum of $6917.91 4. Plaintiff requests judgement for $6917.91 plus court costs. Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. Attached is a form from BofA simply stating my name, account number, amount owed, and the last interest charge. Is this worth it to fight since its BoA directly not a JDB? I have just been cleared for disability (is that any kind of defense?) - i was in a bad car accident and that's why I couldn't pay it...I called stillman and told him i could pay after i got cleared for disability and he sued anyways. Very scared I dont know what to do!!!

Hi All, I had been fighting Midland and Stillman for a few months when I discovered this forum today. I had my motion to strike their bogus affidavit denied in court today and I'm wondering what my next steps should be. 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Midland Funding LLC Assignee of GE Money Bank 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Stillman Law Firm 3. How much are you being sued for? Around $900 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) GE Money Bank 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Received a noticed of default judgement forwarded in my mail 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) Was never served, although a process server provided an affidavit to the contrary 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? No, the process server stated he served me personally, but I moved from the address two weeks prior to when he said he served me. Not so coincidentally, it was supposedly on the very last day the summons would have been valid. 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? Michigan, Wayne County -- Oakland at the time of Summons and Complaint 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 2009 11. What is the SOL on the debt? 6 years 12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by 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). Default judgement granted, motion for dismissal of default judgement granted "process servers lie" says the judge, he also said I had 21 days to answer, I did and also filed motion to strike affidavit of MCM employee attached to complaint, motion to strike denied today, now going to pre-trial. 13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) Yes 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? Already answered, waiting for pre-trial notice. 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. Summons and Complaint, affidavit of MCM employee claiming to have personal knowledge of MCMs accounts.In response to my motion to strike, they sent a brief stating that the affidavit was not evidence, but merely an attempt to establish a prima facie case and without it they would just have to prove their case in the usual way. During my hearing today the judge said that he liked where I was going when I told him that I wanted to strike the affidavit because they had no standing to sue, but that they were right about the affidavit not being evidence and that he would have granted my motion to dismiss if I had filed one instead of that motion. Now I'm wondering if it's too late to do that now that it's going to pre-trial. I was all prepared to request discovery knowing that they don't have squat from the original creditors when I 'discovered' that Michigan doesn't allow discovery in small claims until judgement or at the judge's discretion (I asked him about this in court and he basically said no, that comes later). I've done so much research, but now I'm not sure what to do next. Advice anyone? Thanks in Advance

I've received a "verification of the debt in question" letter from the Stillman Law Offices. In the letter I received: A signed contract from Jan. 23, 2006, with my signature and SSN on it. 4 months of billing statements from Feb 2011 to May 2011 with nothing but late fees and interest listed on them. This is my reply to their letter. Dear Ms. Wyman; This letter is in response to your correspondence of December 26, 2013. Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, § 809(, 15 USC 1692g, please provide ALL of the information to validate the above-referenced alleged debt. This is NOT a request for “verification” or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section and Fair Credit Reporting Act § 611 (a)(1)(A) [15 U.S.C. § 1681i]. I respectfully request that your offices provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you. Please provide me with the following: 1) Provide proof of what the money you say I owe to you is for; 2) Explain and show how you calculated what you say I owe; 3) Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe; 4) Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable; 5) Identify the original creditor; 6) Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account; 7) Provide proof that you are licensed to collect in the state of Michigan; and 8) Provide proof of your license numbers and Registered Agent. At this time I will also inform you that if your offices have reported invalidated information to any of the three major Credit Bureau’s (Equifax, Experian or Trans Union) this action might constitute fraud under both Federal and State Laws. Due to this fact, if any negative mark is found on any of my credit reports by your company or the company that you represent I will not hesitate in bringing legal action against you for the following: 1) Violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act; 2) Violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; 3) Defamation of Character If your offices are able to provide the proper documentation as requested, I will require at least 30 days to investigate this information and during such time all collection activity must cease and desist. Also during this validation period, if any action is taken which could be considered detrimental to any of my credit reports, I will not hesitate in bringing suit on against you. This includes any listing any information to a credit reporting repository that could be inaccurate or invalidated or verifying an account as accurate when in fact there is no provided proof that it is. Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act § 611 (a)(5)(A) [15 U.S.C. § 1681i], should your offices fail to respond to this validation request within 30 days from the date of your receipt, all references to this account must be deleted and completely removed from my credit file and a copy of such deletion request shall be sent to me immediately. It would be advisable that you assure that your records are in order before I am forced to take legal action. This is an attempt to correct your records; any information obtained shall be used for that purpose. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned via the USPS at the address listed above should you have any questions or concerns. Very truly yours, Lostboy38 P.S. Ms. Wyman, you failed to sign the cover letter dated December 26, 2013 bringing into question the validity of your notice. I assume that it is an over sight and you will provide me with a signed copy as soon as possible. Failure to supply a signed copy within 10 days will be taken to mean that this is a JDB chasers illegal means of threatening an innocent consumer. Any advice?