tdhama Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 I am being sued by Unifund. I live in Wisconsin. The original creditor is Citibank and the last statement I recieved was for the amount of 2230. I have a copy of this. The last payment to Citibank was March 2004. Since then I have been working with a debt settlement company called Debt XS. They have not had any contact with Citibank for this account until last week. I received by mail a summons and complaint from Unifund, represented by Kohn Law Firm in Milwaukee, Wi. I forwarded this to Debt XS. and they contacted the law firm and submitted the limited power of attorney to negotiate a settlement with them. They have not been cooperating with Debt XS. I did file a response to the complaint with the clerk of courts and sent a copy to the attorney for the plaintiff. Nothing has been resolved and I am trying to prepare myself to represent myself in small claims court on Thursday October19. The SOL for my state is 6 years so that does not apply for me. I am wondering where do I go from here and what information do I need to represent myself in court. As stated earlier I received the summons and complaint via mail. I did have a note left on my apartment door stating "Looking for xxx person. I have legal documents for her. Please call xxx-xxx-xxxx. if you know where to reach her." I left a message at the number stated that I could be reached at home on two specific dates but never heard from them. Have I been properly served since I received the summons by mail? What documents do I need to bring to court with me? I have a copy of Unifunds original letter to me stating that they "purchased" my account from citibank. Do they have to prove how much the purchased my account for? I have not submitted a Debt Validation letter. I did not know how it important it is to do so until doing more research this week since I am going to court. But, I think that the FDBCPA protects that in paragraph 809c am I correct? Does Unifund still have to provide validation of the debt. Please help me soon.tdhama@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
computerguy Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Get rid of your debt settlement company, they'll just get you sued! Believe me I know because it happened to me! The debt settlement companies are only out for making a bunch of money and your best interests are not theirs.You'll find out in the long run you could have done a lot with the money you're paying them monthly to negotiate your defaulted Credit Cards. If you would have saved a couple of months worth of payments that you're paying the debt settlement company you could have successfully negotiated you own settlements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 The Law Office (Kohn) has to get Validation....What was with the complaint?Prepare your answers and counterclaims. It IS legal to be served in WI for small claims .Edit: My bad, you DID submit an answer...what documentation did they have as 'proof' attached to the complaint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdhama Posted October 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I only recieved a copy of the summons and complaint by mail I responded to the complaint and filed with the courts and sent a copy to the plaintiff's attorney. I am wondering what defense do I have. I am not sure if I have been served properly. Service by publication is legal in wisconsin but I do not subscribe to the newspaper so I am not sure how to validate that. The only other defense that I think I may have is asking the plaintiff to show debt validation. Which I have not asked for already since I just became aware of it after reading these posts. When I am in court Thursday can I ask the plaintiff to validate the debt? I am kind of lost at how the whole process works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Service by mail IS legal in WI....trust me, I have personal experience with that!What sort of documentation (statements, etc) was with the complaint?That will be crucial to any defence you may have.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 You may want also to ask for a continuance, in order to retain an attorney, if you wish....Call the WI lawyer referral service, or go to NACA.net and find a lawyer quickly if you feel you cant handle this youself.By ALL MEANS GO TO COURT!Do not let them win by default! Kohn are scum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdhama Posted October 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I received by mail the summons and complaint only. I responded to the complaint. I received no other documents with the summons and complaint. I am not sure what proof they have against me. I am going to court tomorrow and praying that either they don't show up or they don't have any validation of the debt. Although I don't undertsand why Unifund is listed on my credit reports. It does state that Citibank is the OC. Maybe they do have a case against me. The original letter I have from Unifund states that they "purchased" the account from Citibank. I am not sure exactly what that means. Do they have to prove how much they purchased the account for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 What happened with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Tis Friday...what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaBlueEyes Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I am with Asti.. what happened in court!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 Really curious...I once had an experience with Kohn...what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Well, it must have been bad news as no replies....or maybe we have been snookered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdhama Posted November 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 I showed up to court and the law firm had like a contracted lawyer there. He pulled me aside and asked what my position was. I told him I wanted complete accounting of the debt and I wanted to know what the relationship is with Unifund and the original creditor, Citibank. I wanted to know in Unifund was assigned the debt or did they purchase the debt. I also gave an amount I was willing to settle for. He said he would relay this back to Kohn law firm and we set another court date. The next dat Kohn law called me and settled for the amount that I offered them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astiman Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Make sure that Kohn signs a "will not resell" the remainder of the debt clause, and that they sign a paper, SIGNED BY THE LAWYER, not a clerk, that says it will be dismissed.After paying the settlement, follow up with the Court and make sure they actually dismissed this....Sounds like you did pretty well!Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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