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Hello everyone, I am in the state if Michigan and I have been sued by a debt buyer in which I responded but I failed to support my answer with affidavits. The plaintiff has filed for Motion for Summary Disposition and I will be appearing for hearing on September 15th. I need help. I have attached the Mortion and Exibits to this post. I need a quick response on how to respond to this case. I am thinking of denying the amount. From the last statement and the bill of sales, the amount shown was $3094.09 but they are requesting for $3054.09. They are requesting this amount because they said after account setoff and all known counter claims but I did not make any payments on the account during the period it was purchased.

I provided the State of Michigan court (e.g., state district court) with an answer to a complaint brought against me by Midland Credit Management LLC. The answer to the complaint also stated my affirmative defenses which were: (1) Stale Affidavit pursuant to MCL 600.2145. I am relying on this affirmative defense because the affidavits provided by the plaintiff were over 200 days old which is beyond the 10 day timeframe in the state of Michigan pursuant to MCL 600.2145. (2) Arbitration Agreement Bars Bringing Suit. I am relying on this affirmative defense because after looking over the credit card agreement from the card issuer who sold the debt to Midland Credit Management LLC I noticed in the card agreement that there is an arbitration provision. I provided a copy of this agreement via Exhibit along with the answer to the complaint and affirmative defenses. (3) Failure to Establish a Claim for Breach of Contract. I am now waiting to have a pretrial conference in a week and wanted to know which of of the following should I file: (#1) Motion to Dismiss [or] (#2) Motion for Summary Judgment? The reason I am confused is because I read this https://get.courtroom5.com/the-motion-to-dismiss-or-the-motion-for-summary-judgment-know-the-difference/ article about the differences between motions to dismiss versus motions for summary judgment and when it is best to use one versus the other and I am in need of further clarification so that I can prepare things.

Hello all, I've been sued by Midland Funding LLC with the help of Kohn Law Firm in Outagamie County, WI and am at the stage where I need to respond to their Motion for Summary Judgement. They provided a 'Bill of Sale' and 'Affidavit of Sale of Account By Original Creditor' signed by SVP Sean Cooney of Citibank (the bank of the alleged purchased account) along with an 'Asset Schedule' where they blacked out information pertaining to them having 'sold a pool of charged-off accounts' as stated in the affidavit. They also included an affidavit of a MCM employee stating she reviewed electronic records showing they purchased the debt from Citibank. Lastly, they included a card agreement and credit card statements with a breakdown of charges/interest/late fees from Feb 2017-Dec 2017. Background: I received a letter from Citibank dated January 30, 2018 stating my account was placed with Midland Funding LLC. I then received a letter dated June 13, 2018 from Kohn Law pertaining to said account notifying me they were retained by Midland Funding to collect the debt. I never received anything from Midland Funding LLC directly from January to June. On November 20, 2018, I received notification I was being sued and court summons via mail. I attended pre-trial and made a spoken general submission to refute the claim on grounds Midland Funding didn't have enough evidence they owned the debt. A trial was set and then pushed back a few months at the request of Kohn. They then submitted Motion for Summary Judgement on Feb 28, 2019 and a hearing was scheduled for this Monday, April 1, to meet in front of a judge with my answer. I have consulted 2 lawyers regarding my case and didn't get much out of it so I'm hoping the experts here can lend a hand. The first lawyer told me to answer with two factual complaints - Firstly, there is no signed contract between myself and Citibank for the original debt. Secondly, there is the issue of standing Midland Funding owns the account in question - the bill of sale and affidavit presented does not list the specific alleged account. The second lawyer agreed with the second factual complaint but didn't have much input otherwise. I feel comfortable including the issue of standing in my answer but think I need a little more ammo than 1 factual complaint if I want to win a dismissal for summary judgement. I found a video on YT of a debtor who posted a video of his response in court (about 5 yrs ago) to Motion for Summary Judgement vs Midland Funding LLC where he won and am thinking of using some of his arguments. I will post what I have for an answer here - if anyone can provide advice/tips/critique/personal experiences it would be greatly appreciated! Factual dispute #1: In the card agreement provided by the Plaintiff, on Page 1 there is a strict definition of the terms ‘we, us, and our’ that refers specifically to Citibank, N.A., the issuer of the account. On page 7 under the Assignment clause, it is stated: ‘We may assign any or all of our rights and obligations under this Agreement to a third party.’ While the concept of assignment is generally understood, the definitions in this contract concerning the parties are explicit – when Citibank refers to themselves solely as ‘we, us, and our’ they neglect to mention a further signing or third party. While this contract may or may not have been assigned by Citibank to Midland Funding LLC, according to the definition of this contract in the underlying portion: ‘To the extent permitted by law, you are liable to us for our legal costs if we refer collection of your account to a lawyer who is not our salaried employee. These costs may include reasonable attorneys’ fees. They may also include costs and expenses of any legal action.’ I feel for that reason there is a question of material dispute, unless Midland Funding LLC is a subsidiary of Citibank. Factual dispute #2: ‘The Bill of Sale and Assignment’ and ‘Affidavit of Sale of Account by Original Creditor’ provided to the court by the plaintiff signed by Sean Cooney, Senior Vice President of Citibank, N.A. (CBNA), states “CBNA sold a pool of charged-off accounts by a Forward Flow Purchase and Sale Agreement and a Bill of Sale to Midland Funding LLC”. Also included is an ‘Exhibit 1 (Asset Schedule)’ and ‘Certificate of Conformity’ signed by Carolyn E. Huges. Regarding this paperwork, there is an issue of material fact Midland Funding LLC purchased a specific account under my name. Factual dispute #3: The copies of the credit card statements provided to the court and defendant are not covered by the affidavit of Latasha Wilson and are not mentioned in the affidavit. In Latasha Wilson’s affidavit, she describes herself as a Legal Specialist with access to pertinent account records for Midland Credit Management (MCM) under the assumption they are owners of the alleged account based on ‘electronic records’. I do not believe she is an employee of Citibank, however – therefore she cannot have first-hand knowledge of the account which I would believe would make her affidavit hearsay. Factual dispute #4: No signatures from myself and no witnesses as far of an oral contract, have been provided by the plaintiff in their Motion for Summary Judgement – to best of my memory, I have no recollection of this debt. Sorry for the long post, I would be forever grateful if someone can help out!

While out of work we got behind on our HOA assessments. The HOA Board (our neighbors) decided to file suit against us 4 months after a payment had been made when all that was owed were the 2013 assessments and a few late fees. The excessive collection fees, attorneys fees and late fees added up quickly. So we added fees (about $3000) into a Chapter 13 that was really filed just to get our mortgage lender to modified our loan. That strategy worked and this past August our mortgage lender modified our loan so we ended the chapter 13. At that time we also began trying to negotiate with our neighbors who are on the HOA board for a settlement payoff amount (like we had tried to do in the past). We suggested $1000 towards the junk fees (instead of $3000). They said $1200 but they demanded it be paid in 24 hours. We told them that was not enough time and to instead give us 30 days to get it in (as we knew we would have the money at the end of the month). they never responded and stopped answering our communication. In the past the collection attorneys (who are in Austin) that were handling the case normally always sent any notices to us in the regular mail and we always received them. But when they wanted the case to be re-opened (since the 13 was no longer holding them up) they did not send us notice of a hearing via regular mail. So unfortunately we had no clue that they were seeking a summary judgement. In November we received a notice from the court saying the case was closed but there was no other information. We thought ok great. Then for some reason in last month I decided to google my name. I saw that there was a "Sheriff Sale" (foreclosure) scheduled for February 3. Of course I panic. These collection attorneys did not contact my mortgage company about this and they did not contact me. It is my understanding they have to contact the 1st lien holder. WF says that they checked the title and there was no lien on the property...but it appears a lien was requested in November. So none of it makes sense. They also did not send us a copy of the lien they filed back in November. We looked it up. Since we had always received notices before it seems shady that the notices stopped. I contact these people about this and their response was we sent it certified and to your email address. Well I had never given them an email address. And they knew that I had not picked up any of the certified letters previously but did confirm with them that I got notices via regular email. Then come to find out they were sending an email to a family members email account. They were no longer willing to negotiate and refused a settlement pay off amount. So yesterday we filed a motion to set aside the default judgement and request a new hearing. The judge signed the order to set a hearing on the motion to set aside the default judgment. The judge also set aside the order of sale pending the result of the hearing. The judge said I cant tell you what objections to make...but you can go to the law library and research. I feel as though this judge is for lack of better words on our side in a way...by giving but not giving that advice. He also told the attorneys they could only get $500 in atty fess instead of $2500 like they requested in the default judgement. So I think we may be able to get this to be set aside. But I need to know how to do it and be pointed in the right direction. Is there a law or rule that can be used in this situation? At the time they got the summary judgement the amounts they requested were still questionable and being disputed. At that time we owed the 2014 dues and the disputed late fees. We have since paid the 2015 dues and have shown good faith all along to negotiate a deal. But these collection attorneys are not taking the offers - even the previous offer that the HOA suggested. It seems odd that our HOA would be willing to negotiate in August and now a few months later refuse to negotiate. I think it is the attorneys trying to get as much money in their pockets as possible as none of these excessive fees are going to the HOA. Any help, advice or direction would be so greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I've been pro se defending my case against one of the bigger JDBs, the turnip-squeezer. I entered a Motion for Dismissal after three failures by the JDB to provide the specific documents requested. I received a letter from the court a few days ago. The name and address on the envelope is mine.The name and address (and that of the lawyer) in the "Copies to" line is mine.The defendant listed at the top of the Summary Judgment is SOMEONE ELSE ENTIRELY.The case number is SOMEONE ELSE'S.The name and case number are not even remotely close to mine, nor are they anyone with whom I am associated.(They granted judgment to the Plaintiff, which given the volume of reasons included in my defense--most of which were researched here, thanks, third-party sale, hearsay, failure to comply with DV, not able to authenticate records as their own--leads me to think they're robo-signing these things, because anyone with half a brain who read my arguments would know it's in dispute and needs to go to trial. BTW, this entire thing has been done on the phone and on paper. Pre-trial conference by phone, all arguments on paper. NOT FAIR. I really doubt the judge is reading these things and I'm not sure how to get him to listen to my side of things.) Do I have grounds in Ohio to get this thrown out for breach of confidentiality, procedural error, incorrect service or anything like that? Do I contact the court to alert them to the error, or keep it mum until I enter a response? I looked up my own case online and it does show an SJ was entered against me on that date, but if I weren't smart enough to look it up or inquire, based on the name and case number given, I would really have no idea whether it pertained to me or not. Also, the person whose case is listed on the SJ sent to me may have no idea they have an SJ requiring a response. Seems to me, this is really bad procedure on the part of the court. I'm planning to respond within the timeframe (by the end of this week to be safe), but I'm unsure of whether to focus on the error, or resubmit a Motion for Dismissal, or do a Motion to Vacate or what. Help? Let it also be known, I'd happily pay back the original creditor, if an account with them still existed (I checked; it does not). I'm also willing, if it will shut them up and get them off my back, to reimburse the JDB for the specific fraction of the amount of their investment in the bulk portfolio of accounts that actually pertains to my alleged account, IF they can show me what that exact figure is and reasonably prove the direct chain of ownership. (I can swing 10% of the claim if it will shut them up, but no way am I going to be a party in legalized extortion.) It seems that verbiage to this extent might be best avoided in the next document I file, but I needed to say it out loud. THANKS in advance.

I just called the courthouse, and the "closed administratively" entry from yesterday was a granting of the MSJ. Now, I will need to appeal. Too upset at the moment to do anything but be upset, so will look up costs of appeal, and get funds out of joint account. EDIT: Jeesum. Just to file the appeal is $550. WTF.

NOTE: THIS IS LENGTHY, AND I'VE TRIED TO FIND ANSWERS TO THE ISSUES I'M FACING ON THIS FORUM TO NO AVAIL. PLEASE BEAR WITH ME! I PROMISE THIS WILL MAKE FOR GOOD READING Hello, I received a summons from Midland in December. Shortly after they filed the lawsuit, the notorious NJ DC law firm, I'll just call them "P", called me and told me if I set up a payment arrangement, the lawsuit would "go away." At the time, I agreed to the payment arrangement. A couple of days later, they sent me a letter, dated December 26, 2013, saying I had to sign and return the agreement BY MAIL no less, by December 29, 2013, or else they would "have to continue with collection efforts." Mind you this is only 4 DAYS from the time they MAILED IT, not from when I received it! When I got the notice, I decided not to sign it, because I had no idea what a consent judgment was at the time, and it that phrase didn't sound anything like the payment arrangement I thought I was agreeing to. I timely filed an answer with the court, and on the same day, hand delivered a copy to P a couple of days later. Someone suggested that I also mail a copy of everything to P just to make sure they got it. I did this, but a couple of weeks later (several weeks of bad weather). I should also note that I filed a FDCPA counterclaim based off of the payment arrangement/consent judgment, since they didn't tell me I was agreeing to a CJ on the phone, said that the payment arrangement would make the lawsuit go away, and tried to put me under "duress" by only allowing me a day or two to sign and return the CJ by mail. I also submitted a motion to allow discovery, since we are only limited to 5 interrogs, and submitted requests for admissions, the 5 dogs, and requests for documents. A couple of days after I dropped off the documents to P, I received a letter dated the same day I dropped everything off trying to confirm our "agreement" to the consent judgment. I wrote on the letter stating that I did not agree to a consent judgment, and sent a certified copy of this to them and to the court. Later in time, can't remember the date, they called me stating that they wanted to discuss my answer. I simply said I was advised not to speak to them and hung up. Mind you, I am going at this alone so far, thanks to this awesome forum and all of the extremely useful resources provided by Mr. Phil Stern's website. On February 14, P filed an answer to my counterclaim, denying the allegations - typical failure to state a claim, and also that the claim was frivolous. When what I assumed to be the deadline for discovery passed, February 20, 2014, I sent them a letter saying I hadn't received their responses to the interrogatories. However, I failed to state the 10 day rule - one of many mistakes I've made so far. I sent certified to court and to P. P responded by saying that they never received any docs I hand delivered, that they didn't get notice of any documents or answers or counterclaims (by mail) until February 12, that they only received notice from JEFIS on February 10, so they had until March 14 to respond to discovery. However, they submitted answers to my RFA's and of course objected most claiming I didn't define certain terms so they refused to answer. They also stated they were objecting my motion for discovery and advised me that the motion was premature because discovery hadn't closed yet. I did not receive any responses to my discovery request by March 14, even though this is the date they themselves decided was appropriate. I didn't receive anything yesterday either! CAN I DO SOMETHING WITH THIS FACT? So I am confused - how do they object my motion to permit discovery, yet submit answers to my RFA's? The judge was supposed to rule on this motion on the 14th. The docket has not been updated yet. On Thursday, I received a pretty thick packet from P and P. It was their own requests for discovery. They also submitted 35 interrogatories and 39 requests for admissions! Since they opposed my motion to permit discovery, are they allowed to turn around and do this? Do I have to answer them even though I submitted the motion to permit? Also, if I have 30 days to respond, and trial is set for April 17, should I wait until the last possible day to respond? I received this packet from them on Thursday, March 13, 2014. P also included ANOTHER answer to my counter claim in this packet. They used the same defense and time barred???? I am not sure what they were referring to or what they meant, they didn't cite any law/rule. I thought you had a year to file an FDCPA claim. They also requested dismissal, and opposed my motion for summary judgment, claiming that it was premature because discovery was not over, and that I had not asserted a factual basis that allows me relief. My other mistake was submitting the court forms for the msj, but I did not attach a statement stating why it should be granted. However, after receiving the requests for admissions, and nothing else, I wrote them a letter defending a discovery end date of February 20, 2014, and told them that claiming they didn't get the paperwork would not relieve them of this deadline. I don't know how I will be able to prove this, but I went ahead and filed a motion to dismiss for failure to answer discovery. I also asserted they should not be allowed to use stalling tactics to gather documents that they should have had together before they filed the lawsuit. I asked the judge to rule that the close date was Feb. 20, and dismiss because they had not complied. Another mistake - I didn't explicitly say they had 10 days when I sent the reminder, so I'm not sure if the reminder will be enough to back this up. Miscellanous facts, I have seen "signatures" from 4 different attorneys on this claim. One filed the lawsuit, tried to get me to agree to consent judgment, one filed the answer to my counterclaim, and now this douche bag I've been corresponding with here lately. The RFA's they sent included reference to certain exhibits for me to confirm or use to answer my questions. The exhibits included two affidavits from Debt Collectors about an assignment of accounts - chain of title docs; a bill of sale for each subsequent assignment, and one exhibit in the first assignment sequence, labeled a statement of accounts, but all of the info was blacked out. Also, in the second assignment, the bill of sale made specific references to certain portfolios, but these were black out as well. lastly, they attached a credit card statement from June 2011, but it doesn't appear to be the last bill they sent on the account. there aren't even any late fees on it for that billing period!!! It actually looks a little shady and I would be interested to know what an actual last periodic billing statement looks like. is there a certain format or certain information that a last billing statement must include? So, now that I've walked you through the lengthy details of where I am so far, I am at a loss as to what I should do next! PLEASE HELP!!!!! Is it too late to amend my MSJ? Or even my counterclaim? Can I file another motion to dismiss for failing to answer rogs? Can I use the exhibits they attached to the RFA's against them to argue that they have no evidence that they own the account? Can I file a motion to strike the affidavits, even though I am not sure they have even handed them to the court yet? Do I have grounds to attack these? I saw someone make reference to this before but didn't find an answer, why would Midland make an inquiry to the credit bureau a couple of weeks before filing a lawsuit against me? Are they allowed to do this? Also, I have a question I would like to ask someone off forum, so if someone would please allow me to pm them, I'd be grateful! Additional Info: The case is in NJ. Special Civil Part. Breach of Contract. Less than $2,500 cc account Within SOL. - 6 years Did not send DVR before lawsuit. Can't remember any correspondences pre-lawsuit. Not saying it didn't happen lol! This debt has been disputed with the credit bureaus. Can't remember last payment. The bill they sent is from May 2011. They made reference to a payment I made in 2010. Currently awaiting trial with no jury, 4/17.

Hello -- I am a newbie here so if I am in the wrong place please let me know and I will make the correction immediately.My question is simple I am pretty sure---I am in Texas and I had a debt collector get a summary judgment on me (they were tricky--they hid the hearing date from me so I was not in attendance). I made a motion for a new trial and it was granted. I have looked everywhere and cannot find anything about what my next move is. I found one appeals court case that said getting a new trial granted is like starting all over again however---I doubt the debt collector is going to serve me again with an Original Petition. So what should my next move be....The actual trial is set for sometime in April of next year. I don't think it would be wise to wait for this date knowing how aggressive this collector is. I was not going to list what I have done so far in an effort to keep this simple but after some thought, I have decided to go ahead and include the contents of a Certified Mailing I just sent to the court and to the debt collector (attorneys) a couple of days ago. The mailing included:1. Defendant's (my) Answer to Plaintiff’s Original Petition (denying all and including a bunch of applicable affirmative defenses)2. Plea to the Jurisdiction (The original petition only says the plaintiff owns the debt--but not how they came to own it--a lack of standing issue). 3. Exhibit A Plaintiff’s Original Petition (3 Pages) (as a courtesy to the judge -- trying to make it easier on him)4. Order for Dismissal/Non-Suit (probably wishful thinking on my part but just in case)5. Request for Disclosure (In the Summary Judgment the plaintiff had 4 affidavits that are all pretty weak---most of my discovery centers around denouncing the affidavit information even though I know they don't exit legally yet) which also included the following:a. Defendant’s Request for Admissions,b. Defendant’s Request for Production of Documents andc. Defendant’s Request for Interrogatories.d. Affidavit: Plaintiff’s Answers to Defendant’s Interrogatories (Notarized)(for the Plaintiff to sign) Hopefully what I have done so far does not over complicate the issue for some person who answers---my question is simply...if I had done nothing so far, what would my first move be?? What would you do?? I want to thank you in advance for any information that comes my way---I am so impressed with many of the folks who make up this forum!