Longshot Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Ok, Long story short, i'm going to court on wed. I have a Mediation conference set up. I'm being sued by Erin Capital Management for an old HSBC card. They are suing me for around $2800 The card was a $500 limit HSBC card issued back in 1999. It was a charge off somewhere around 2003 or 2004. I'm not exactly sure when. All 3 of my credit reports are showing 2004 as the last payment. But I don't remember making any payments or attempts at payments in 2004. But I don't have any records going back that far. Erin used to report the collection account on all 3 of my credit reports. However I disputed them with all 3 of the credit agency's saying I didn't owe them any money and the 3 credit agency's removed Erin from my credit report. So thats telling me Erin never was able to verify that they are authorized to collect and have no proof of the amount owed to them. Does that sound right? All 3 of my credit reports show different amounts owed to HSBC on the original charge off. One shows $900, one shows $2800, and the other shows $1300. Of course Erin is suing me for the $2800 amount. So since I will be going before a judge in this mediation hearing, I want to know what I can use in my defence. Can I use the fact that I disputed Erin capital with the credit agency's and they were removed from my reports since they couldn't verify any information?Can I use the fact that it was a $500 card and HSBC is showing 3 different amounts owed on all 3 credit reports? Anything I should or shouldn't do or say? Thanks in advance everyone. I'm pretty nervous. I don't want to pay a cent to a junk debt buyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1time2many Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Use the discovery process to see what they have or does not have......they likley have nothing so they can prove nothing......that is your defense, but you will not know until you ask for discovery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 You probably don't want to tie Erin and HSBC together. At this point, all you know is that you did have an HSBC card (with a $500 limit)...but you never had an account with these Erin people. If they claim to have bought the debt, then they need to establish a chain of custody. They also need to show why they're asking for so much more than $500 now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longshot Posted October 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 You probably don't want to tie Erin and HSBC together. At this point, all you know is that you did have an HSBC card (with a $500 limit)...but you never had an account with these Erin people. If they claim to have bought the debt, then they need to establish a chain of custody. They also need to show why they're asking for so much more than $500 now.On the original summons I got, it lists Erin Capital management as an authorised agent of HSBC authorized to collect on their debt. So i'm sure thats already a matter of record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longshot Posted October 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Use the discovery process to see what they have or does not have......they likley have nothing so they can prove nothing......that is your defense, but you will not know until you ask for discovery.How exactly should I bring up Discovery in a mediation hearing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazjeepcj7 Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Do not assume this CA is authorized to collect this debt. A proper chain of custody will include documents showing the buying and selling of the debt instrument back to the original creditor. I would ask in the mediation why the CA has refused to validate the debt, what documents the CA has that prove a debt existed and what documents the CA has that give the CA a legal right to collect the debt (chain of custody). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazjeepcj7 Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 And of course ask for an accounting of any charges added to the debt since charge-off by the original creditor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longshot Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Ok sounds good. Any other advice. I'm going to court tommorow, so I can use any tips. It's only mediation, but i'm still pretty nervous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazjeepcj7 Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 My own experience with Household bank was not good. You may want to go to http://householdwatch.com/ and review how Household/HSBC treated their customers. I think that Household "lost" a lot of documentation to cover up their own problems. My Household problems are two to three years older than yours. In your mediation hearing ask specifics about charges to the account (interest rate, collection/legal charges, etc) and ask for the source document authorizing these charges. National banks and some other entities are exempt from state usury laws, but collection agencies are often limited in the interest rates they can charge. You can read more about usury limits at http://www.lectlaw.com/files/ban02.htm but you will want to research the specific Florida laws on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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