Not getting very far - need help but from who?

[isa430]

OK I've tried contacting various NACA approved attorneys and had no luck with getting any help so far.

What should I do know? Do I defend my case Pro Se?

Do I file an answer (although one is not requested or required by the court)?

Do I file a sworn denial?

Do I file a motion to dismiss?

Do I continue to look for an attorney?

Here's what I know:

*Summons served - court date set

*I have never explicitly entered any contract or made any communication with the plaintiff

*Summons makes no reference to original creditor so I cannot ascertain which alleged debt the case refers to.

*Correspondance FROM the plaintiff is limited to one letter prior to being served summons. It refers to an alleged previous debt which one might assume to be the subject of the current case but again no evidence or details provided

*Notary public who signed the "sworn statement of account" is the wife of the plaintiff's attorney

*No details or information (other than name and signature) regarding the main witness for sworn statement mentioned above has been provided (in what capacity does the witness act on behalf of the plaintiff other than john doe signing a sheet of paper?)

*If the assumption is correct and the current case refers to said debt, then the amount exceeds the original debt by a significant proportion.

*Debt validation was not requested

*SOL may still be intact

Thanks for all your responses to my case so far but faced with the reality of the court date, I'm getting a little disheartened. No one I try to contact or any information I find on the WWW seems to offer anything approaching a definitive answer or clear course of action.

As always, your insight is appreciated.

[Tazjeepcj7]

Look at this thread

http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260706@highlight=sworn+denial

[isa430]

Thanks Tazjeepcj7!

Contacted Legal Aid today.

[sunshine46]

On the Affidavit look to see who is the Agent then look up on a site that will list all the agents for that particular debt, and see if wife has any other licenses? Then look at all your credit reports at inquiry's to see who has been looking at your information and compare them to the date of the Affidavit? Give you idea who is checking. Perhaps, that way you will have idea which creditor had used the Affidavit. Also, this is way to see if the affidavit has any weight and I bet it doesn't. It seems this is a way to pull the wool over your eyes. Another one is they will use a payment center as the orignal creditor address and it turns out it isn't by comparing to your credit report if on there will tell you, or just google the creditors address is given when trying to find their site address. Very easy to blow an Affidavit to be false. The other party won't like it plus it is a violation. No viewing of existance debts, by other persons are allowed. Violation under FDCPA (15 U.S.C. ss 1692 - 1692o, as amended) Fine $1,000 In addition FDCPA means Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulated by Federal, FTC, and State laws it is usually incoporated with Statues.

If you counterclaim you will need to prepare a Statement of Facts and you can obtain that in the sticky notes for affirmative defenses.

Maybe, you will get lucky. Don't give out any of your personal info from the other attorney's when you go to pre-trial hearing. I counterclaim with all case law from the FDCPA. Try those two things I mention you may have a defense going. Good Luck to you.

[nascar]

Your message is far too cryptic to expect anyone to give you any reasonable answer to your question.

If you think you know what the account is, say it. "I think its an old card from XXX." Very few people get sued who, if you push all the BS away about "I really can't imagine why I would be getting sued.", really don't know why they're being sued.

A JDB bought one of your old credit cards and they're suing you for the balance. The SOL has not run, so it's not that old of a debt. You didn't bother to DV when you got notice of the account; now it's too late. The JDB has included an affidavit of indebtedness and you want to know how to defend against it. Does that about sum it up?

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but if you gave that story to an attorney, I can see why they don't want to mess with your case.

[sunshine46]

Mr. Nascar,

I hope you are not referring to me because you are incorrect on your answers if it was directed towards me, since every post I made on this site you had scarcastic remarks. You must have headace today. I do wish you to feel better soon. The affidavit was thrown out for your info.

[isa430]

Your message is far too cryptic to expect anyone to give you any reasonable answer to your question.

If you think you know what the account is, say it. "I think its an old card from XXX." Very few people get sued who, if you push all the BS away about "I really can't imagine why I would be getting sued.", really don't know why they're being sued.

A JDB bought one of your old credit cards and they're suing you for the balance. The SOL has not run, so it's not that old of a debt. You didn't bother to DV when you got notice of the account; now it's too late. The JDB has included an affidavit of indebtedness and you want to know how to defend against it. Does that about sum it up?

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but if you gave that story to an attorney, I can see why they don't want to mess with your case.

I appreciate your scepticism/cynicism and I think perhaps there was a misunderstanding. I'm not looking for an attorney at this point to represent me in court necessarily. I am looking for legal counsel from a professional who is acquainted with local/state law.

This is not about 'denial of all my debt' - this is about the *careful*, measured and appropriate response, to follow correct procedure to settle the case/debt once and for all. I want to insure, as best I can that there is no possibility of legal recourse in the future from the same or other JDBs with regards to the debt. In other words - I want to do this *right*.

Actually Tazjeepcj7 's response and advice was most helpful. Legal aid have told me they will be contacting me shortly regarding this.

[LadynRed]

If this summons is for General Sessions Court, then no Answer is required, but you MUST show up for the court date, otherwise you lose automatically.

General Sessions court is an up/down decision sort of arrangement. You go to court, the judge asks you if this is your debt, if you say yes, you lose. If you deny it, on whatever basis, the case will be set for a trial where you can go thru discovery and all the other legal proceedings.

SOL in TN is 6 years, so if you know this debt has gone unpaid for more than that, then you can use the SOL as your affirmative defense in court.

Affidavits, if they are trying to create an 'account stated' can be challenged based on hearsay, neither the attorney nor their client, the JDB, has actual first-hand knowledge of the specifics of your entire account history.

FYI - this is no 'pre-trial hearing', obviously Sunshine has no knowledge of TN courts.

[sunshine46]

Yes the Lady in Red is correct. Learn something new touche,

[isa430]

Thanks for clarifying the procedure Lady in Red - that's what I needed to know.

If discovery won't be until after the court date (if at all), I guess I'll just focus on how to present my case in court. Speaking to legal aid in the next few days should help hopefully.

Thanks again!

[Optimus_SubPrime]

Affidavits, if they are trying to create an 'account stated' can be challenged based on hearsay, neither the attorney nor their client, the JDB, has actual first-hand knowledge of the specifics of your entire account history.

Just wanted to say that a sworn account and an account stated are not the same. An account stated requires you to have received a bill in the past that you did not dispute, or have made some other specific promise to pay. A sworn account does not require you to have received anything, since it is based solely on the testimony of the creditor.

[isa430]

Ah I see!

Well in this case it's a "sworn statement of account" The way the testimony is worded, it does not make it clear at all what relationship the witness (ie person signing the sworn account) has with either the JDB or the OC (actually the OC isn't mentioned at all - no surprises there).

It basically just states "I <blahdeblah> swear under oath that there is a debt due to <JDB> for <x amount>"

It is POSSIBLE that this person is employed by the OC in some capacity and is bearing testimony as the seller of the debt.

I'm assuming that there's at least SOME evidence to back up this testimony (none was attached to the summons) but since discovery is apparently not an option at this stage and it's too late in the day for DV, I really won't see any concrete evidence until I get to court. Until then it's all speculation, which just frustrates the heck out of me!

Believe me, if I'd known what I know now, back when I first got the attorney's letter, I'd have requested DV straight away. However, at this point, from everything I've read here, that's really kind of moot.

Ultimately, I want to be sure that this JDB is above board and legally owns the debt before I make any admission of any debt (original or otherwise).

Point being, that if this JDB *doesn't* legally own the debt then someone else MIGHT, and the whole process will have been expensive, damaging and pointless and also leave me wide open to another JDB to come pursue the same debt.