Need help with a major court battle

[smores]

My dilemma

Okay, I’m a newbie here but not a newbie to the war with CAs and the like, but I have a very difficult situation and I’m hoping someone can shed some new light. Sorry for the very long post, but there is just so much stuff that has happened.

My husband and I opened a store credit with a lumber supply company to purchase items for a house we were building. There were 3 people authorized to charge on the account, the 2 of us and the framer (we were the general contractor). As we started to get invoices for the materials purchased we noticed that several had my husband or my name as the purchaser, but we did not recognize any of those items. We wrote to the company and stated that we were not the purchasers and to verify who ordered the materials and that the materials ordered were actually delivered to our property. To make a long story short, they did not verify anything, despite 2 letters to them requesting them to do so. There were also other billing errors that needed to be corrected and were included in the original letters. Well after several months of going round and round, the company we were in dispute, retained an attorney who went into court exparte and got a lien against our property for the disputed amounts, plus attorney’s fees.

They (attorney) sent the summons, via a sheriff, to a vacant house (shoved between the storm door and door). We found the summons purely by accident when we taped a check to the door for an oil delivery. We filed a motion in opposition to their claim and requested that the lien be released. In court we got the lien released, but we were forced into arbitration to resolve account. The “unbiased” assistant magistrate was to oversee the controversy. The “unbiased” magistrate is any but (there was a series run by the Boston Globe that we came across, Globe spot light series – Debtor’s hell; that prominently mentions the “unbiased” magistrate). Seeing where things were going with this, we decided to tender payment in full, but under protest and reserved our rights to sue at a later date. We had the payment delivered to the lumber company, via a notary, under a sworn statement. The lumber company refused our tender of full payment, not once but four times. There was nothing in the settlement discussion that stated we couldn’t do this.

There are so many violations here I can’t even begin to get into them. We have been scheduled for a jury trial several times now and each time it’s postponed. The “unbiased” magistrate has been called as a witness to testify as to our “demeanor” during the private negotiations. The one thing they, attorney and magistrate, don’t know is that we had a Notary public there witnessing what was going on. They never asked who it was and we just never told.

The real problem now is, that there is no one in this company (lumber) that has any first hand knowledge of what went on and they are now very confused as to what the dispute was to begin with. They are now claiming that we failed to pay for items (we found this out through discovery) that show in the court records as being paid, in full, but the “unbiased” magistrate is refusing to see this. The attorney went to court and got a court order allowing them to come into our house to look for items that were paid for, not once but twice. My daughter (19) is a high anxiety kid, wound up hospitalized for a week over the incident. That’s a whole story in it self what they did when they came.

We have evidence, from the court, also that the affidavits submitted by the attorney have been tampered with and that even though the name is the same on the affidavits they are signed by two different people, they are not notarized or sworn to anywhere. The attorney has been allowed to “testify” to hearsay evidence and the judge could care less. No matter what we do to protest, we are just ignored and the beat goes on.

We never received any notice from the attorney, who is acting in the capacity of a CA, that we had any right whatsoever to dispute this. We mentioned the FDCPA, our states’ consumer protection laws, etc., but we were told none of this applies to them or the lumber company and the court agreed. We were pro-se, but with everything going on we retained an attorney, who in our opinion is useless, and just one of the bottom feeders that doesn’t want the public to know that attorney’s are subject to the provisions of the FDCPA so they can rape us with impunity. We also filed complaints with the FTC and our state, but they could care less.

Any insight would be most welcome. There is much more than what is stated here, but that would require writing war and peace. I think you can get the picture.

I’m an environmental engineer and have done regulatory compliance work for nearly 30 years now. I even worked for the state doing enforcement work, but when it comes to “reading” these laws, I must be incapable, because I’m told they really don’t mean what they say, or those court cases don’t apply. I guess I should give up my job since I obviously can’t read anymore.

Thanks for looking at this. Again, any response or insight would be most welcome.

[sj145]

My dilemma

Okay, I’m a newbie here but not a newbie to the war with CAs and the like, but I have a very difficult situation and I’m hoping someone can shed some new light. Sorry for the very long post, but there is just so much stuff that has happened.

My husband and I opened a store credit with a lumber supply company to purchase items for a house we were building. There were 3 people authorized to charge on the account, the 2 of us and the framer (we were the general contractor). As we started to get invoices for the materials purchased we noticed that several had my husband or my name as the purchaser, but we did not recognize any of those items. We wrote to the company and stated that we were not the purchasers and to verify who ordered the materials and that the materials ordered were actually delivered to our property. To make a long story short, they did not verify anything, despite 2 letters to them requesting them to do so. There were also other billing errors that needed to be corrected and were included in the original letters. Well after several months of going round and round, the company we were in dispute, retained an attorney who went into court exparte and got a lien against our property for the disputed amounts, plus attorney’s fees.

They (attorney) sent the summons, via a sheriff, to a vacant house (shoved between the storm door and door). We found the summons purely by accident when we taped a check to the door for an oil delivery. We filed a motion in opposition to their claim and requested that the lien be released. In court we got the lien released, but we were forced into arbitration to resolve account. The “unbiased” assistant magistrate was to oversee the controversy. The “unbiased” magistrate is any but (there was a series run by the Boston Globe that we came across, Globe spot light series – Debtor’s hell; that prominently mentions the “unbiased” magistrate). Seeing where things were going with this, we decided to tender payment in full, but under protest and reserved our rights to sue at a later date. We had the payment delivered to the lumber company, via a notary, under a sworn statement. The lumber company refused our tender of full payment, not once but four times. There was nothing in the settlement discussion that stated we couldn’t do this.

There are so many violations here I can’t even begin to get into them. We have been scheduled for a jury trial several times now and each time it’s postponed. The “unbiased” magistrate has been called as a witness to testify as to our “demeanor” during the private negotiations. The one thing they, attorney and magistrate, don’t know is that we had a Notary public there witnessing what was going on. They never asked who it was and we just never told.

The real problem now is, that there is no one in this company (lumber) that has any first hand knowledge of what went on and they are now very confused as to what the dispute was to begin with. They are now claiming that we failed to pay for items (we found this out through discovery) that show in the court records as being paid, in full, but the “unbiased” magistrate is refusing to see this. The attorney went to court and got a court order allowing them to come into our house to look for items that were paid for, not once but twice. My daughter (19) is a high anxiety kid, wound up hospitalized for a week over the incident. That’s a whole story in it self what they did when they came.

We have evidence, from the court, also that the affidavits submitted by the attorney have been tampered with and that even though the name is the same on the affidavits they are signed by two different people, they are not notarized or sworn to anywhere. The attorney has been allowed to “testify” to hearsay evidence and the judge could care less. No matter what we do to protest, we are just ignored and the beat goes on.

We never received any notice from the attorney, who is acting in the capacity of a CA, that we had any right whatsoever to dispute this. We mentioned the FDCPA, our states’ consumer protection laws, etc., but we were told none of this applies to them or the lumber company and the court agreed. We were pro-se, but with everything going on we retained an attorney, who in our opinion is useless, and just one of the bottom feeders that doesn’t want the public to know that attorney’s are subject to the provisions of the FDCPA so they can rape us with impunity. We also filed complaints with the FTC and our state, but they could care less.

Any insight would be most welcome. There is much more than what is stated here, but that would require writing war and peace. I think you can get the picture.

I’m an environmental engineer and have done regulatory compliance work for nearly 30 years now. I even worked for the state doing enforcement work, but when it comes to “reading” these laws, I must be incapable, because I’m told they really don’t mean what they say, or those court cases don’t apply. I guess I should give up my job since I obviously can’t read anymore.

Thanks for looking at this. Again, any response or insight would be most welcome.

You have an hell of a story here, Have your tried looking on this site. www.naca.net you might be able to find a better attorney there. Great luck to you and do not give up

[sj145]

My dilemma

Okay, I’m a newbie here but not a newbie to the war with CAs and the like, but I have a very difficult situation and I’m hoping someone can shed some new light. Sorry for the very long post, but there is just so much stuff that has happened.

My husband and I opened a store credit with a lumber supply company to purchase items for a house we were building. There were 3 people authorized to charge on the account, the 2 of us and the framer (we were the general contractor). As we started to get invoices for the materials purchased we noticed that several had my husband or my name as the purchaser, but we did not recognize any of those items. We wrote to the company and stated that we were not the purchasers and to verify who ordered the materials and that the materials ordered were actually delivered to our property. To make a long story short, they did not verify anything, despite 2 letters to them requesting them to do so. There were also other billing errors that needed to be corrected and were included in the original letters. Well after several months of going round and round, the company we were in dispute, retained an attorney who went into court exparte and got a lien against our property for the disputed amounts, plus attorney’s fees.

They (attorney) sent the summons, via a sheriff, to a vacant house (shoved between the storm door and door). We found the summons purely by accident when we taped a check to the door for an oil delivery. We filed a motion in opposition to their claim and requested that the lien be released. In court we got the lien released, but we were forced into arbitration to resolve account. The “unbiased” assistant magistrate was to oversee the controversy. The “unbiased” magistrate is any but (there was a series run by the Boston Globe that we came across, Globe spot light series – Debtor’s hell; that prominently mentions the “unbiased” magistrate). Seeing where things were going with this, we decided to tender payment in full, but under protest and reserved our rights to sue at a later date. We had the payment delivered to the lumber company, via a notary, under a sworn statement. The lumber company refused our tender of full payment, not once but four times. There was nothing in the settlement discussion that stated we couldn’t do this.

There are so many violations here I can’t even begin to get into them. We have been scheduled for a jury trial several times now and each time it’s postponed. The “unbiased” magistrate has been called as a witness to testify as to our “demeanor” during the private negotiations. The one thing they, attorney and magistrate, don’t know is that we had a Notary public there witnessing what was going on. They never asked who it was and we just never told.

The real problem now is, that there is no one in this company (lumber) that has any first hand knowledge of what went on and they are now very confused as to what the dispute was to begin with. They are now claiming that we failed to pay for items (we found this out through discovery) that show in the court records as being paid, in full, but the “unbiased” magistrate is refusing to see this. The attorney went to court and got a court order allowing them to come into our house to look for items that were paid for, not once but twice. My daughter (19) is a high anxiety kid, wound up hospitalized for a week over the incident. That’s a whole story in it self what they did when they came.

We have evidence, from the court, also that the affidavits submitted by the attorney have been tampered with and that even though the name is the same on the affidavits they are signed by two different people, they are not notarized or sworn to anywhere. The attorney has been allowed to “testify” to hearsay evidence and the judge could care less. No matter what we do to protest, we are just ignored and the beat goes on.

We never received any notice from the attorney, who is acting in the capacity of a CA, that we had any right whatsoever to dispute this. We mentioned the FDCPA, our states’ consumer protection laws, etc., but we were told none of this applies to them or the lumber company and the court agreed. We were pro-se, but with everything going on we retained an attorney, who in our opinion is useless, and just one of the bottom feeders that doesn’t want the public to know that attorney’s are subject to the provisions of the FDCPA so they can rape us with impunity. We also filed complaints with the FTC and our state, but they could care less.

Any insight would be most welcome. There is much more than what is stated here, but that would require writing war and peace. I think you can get the picture.

I’m an environmental engineer and have done regulatory compliance work for nearly 30 years now. I even worked for the state doing enforcement work, but when it comes to “reading” these laws, I must be incapable, because I’m told they really don’t mean what they say, or those court cases don’t apply. I guess I should give up my job since I obviously can’t read anymore.

Thanks for looking at this. Again, any response or insight would be most welcome.

I wanted to keep this at the top, also quick question you said that there where 3 people that can charge to the acct. Is it possible that the third person could have charged to the acct without you knowing?

[smores]

Thanks, I will definitely check that out.

The framer was authorized to charge to the account and did so, we did not question these invoices. There was no reason to use either mine or my husband's name since he could just charge to the account, basically that is why we set this up in the first place, so he could order the material needed. Basically that was all we really wanted to know, who charged and that the material was actually delivered to our property. During the first go around with the magistrate he sounded like he was going to make them provide verified proof that the stuff was delivered, then the next meeting 2 weeks later, it was a complete 180 degree turn around and now he wanted US to prove the material was delivered...I don't know how to prove a negative.

[Tazjeepcj7]

Who signed for the items in dispute? The Lumber Co. should have signed tickets for the material in question.

[Donna47129]

Thanks, I will definitely check that out.

There was no reason to use either mine or my husband's name since he could just charge to the account, basically that is why we set this up in the first place, so he could order the material needed.

I hate to say this, but there would be a reason for him not to use the card as him...if you know what I mean, really, I would see who signed for the pickup and charge slips. If you guys didn't order or use this stuff, someone else may have at another site...you really need to check it out.

[smores]

That's one of the original questions that was asked...we don't have slips of delivery with any signatures. We want proof that the stuff was actually order for our house and delivered to our house.

The framer is a neighbor, we know him, and his son and mine are good friends, they even worked on the house together. This was a store credit account, not a charge card. I don't have any issues with the framer. All I want to know is, from the lumber company, who made the claim against us, WHO actually order the stuff, WHO they got authorization from, WHO delivered it, and WHO signed for it. They have produced none of the above. I have the original invoices they sent us with the billing statement. In discovery they gave me computer generated reprints, just like all the other times we asked for validation, sorry that just ain't going to cut it. The attorney in discovery said they weren't signed because the were reprints...duhhhh. The originals sent to us in the billing statement are not signed, authorized or have any delivery info.

In discovery, we FINALLY found out what the complaint was, they said we didn't pay for items that were bought and paid for before this account was even established, this was pointed out to the court, attorney, etc., that was when the attorney filed a motion to come into our house and verify that the items were here, we told them they were here, we didn't dispute that and that the items were already paid for which we provided proof ..they (court) was not interested and granted them permission to come in and inspect our house for paid items. Talk about harassment. We are convinced that the attorney want's to litigate us into the ground, run up expenses so high that we simply will not be able to pay them so they can take our house, which is worth a lot. This is a large law firm.

I believe the only recourse we are going to have is to hire another attorney and pray this one will defend US.

[Tazjeepcj7]

Did you pay the Lumber Co. or did you pay a third party who was supposed to pay the Lumber Co.?

[smores]

We paid the company. We were the general contractors for the construction.

[Donna47129]

The burden of proof that you didn't pay is on the lumber company, not on you to prove you paid...

[Donna47129]

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