Cap One used discusssions from this forum in court

[makia1212]

Hello everyone. Just got back from court ordered arbitration. It went surprisingly well. I did have quite a surprise when the attorney for the plaintiff (capital one) entered all my forum entries related to this case off this forum into evidence. Since it is a public forum the judge allowed it.

Just thought I would give people off the forum something to think about when they are writing their posts:)

To spite my pure ignorance of legal procedure, the judge and the attorney were very nice. I think I was quite lucky considering.

[trueq]

Just curious

[Fairy Enchantress]

Yeah how the heck did this happen?

This is crazy!

[Moneedshelp]

Let us know exactly what happened. thanks

[betam4x]

I think that it's intriguing that you say this, especially in light of the fact i'm considering suing CapOne for FCRA violations.

[merrybucks]

I'm surprised that they knew who you were. Did you object on the basis that it could be anyone that is being sued by CAP1?

[TTigggers]

This is a good reason not to be too specific about dates and amounts when having a discussion. Some of the "bad" guys watch and post on this form as well as the rest of us.

If you owe $5,342.50 don't post that just post $5,000 or $6,000 remember CYA.

[merrybucks]

Just looked at your posts and some of them were too specific. Take TTiggers advice and remain a little vague.

[LeslieR]

Did you acknowledge that they were your postings? If you did, why? And if not, what proof did the Cap1 atty have that they were yours? What was the effect of the admitted evidence on their case (and what negative impact did it have on you and your case??)

[TTigggers]

Did you acknowledge that they were your postings? If you did, why? And if not, what proof did the Cap1 atty have that they were yours? What was the effect of the admitted evidence on their case (and what negative impact did it have on you and your case??)

I was thinking the exact same thing.

If it were me I would just deny the postings were mine.

[makia1212]

Well this is a long story. I was representing myself and completely out of my element. This forum has helped me a lot, it was my own fault for being too specific. Besides I was once told never write anything down that you don't want to whole world to know and I still think that rings true. The judge did say I must have had a lawyer write up my lawsuit, when I said no he said I did a damn good job, so that made me feel good.

I was totally taken off guard with this (presenting my forum posts as evidence), she submitted it because she said she had just found it the night before. There are way to many details. The one thing that hurt me is in one of the early posts I wrote "I am not denying the card is mine just the charges" when I denied all knowledge in my answer- I still don't know what my mindset was when I wrote this, I should have wrote "not necessarily" because I really did not know for sure- long story. I learned a valuable lesson.

Some mistakes I made:

Saying I was from Oregon

Mentioning the misspelling of my name on the summons

Using my first name

Saying her name in the summons as an example (attorney)

Stating my county

Stating I was pregnant

My screen name matches other screen names I have

other personal details

Copy and pasting my answer/ defenses and asking for advise

Not really one thing I did, it was the combination of things.

Surprisingly, the judge cut me a lot of slack because I obviously had not court experience. I totally choked when it was time to present my case, I thought since it was court ordered arbitration he would just ask me questions about what I presented in writing, I did not realize I had to verbally present and it was just like a trial. I interrupted a few times (probably out of nervousness) and he had to remind me of procedure. The plaintiff got to go first, she asked me to read several things out loud, asked me statement by statement if the charges were mine, it took over 2 hours. At the end she slammed me with a pile of posts off this forum, that really threw me and I was so taken a back I had a hard time thinking clearly. I wanted to take a break to read over the info (who knows what was in there) didn't get a chance to do that. By the time it was my turn I was exhausted, I am pretty big being pregnant and the chairs were extremely uncomfortable, I literally was cutting off the blood flow to my brain!

The judge did agree with me that the interest charges were illegal, they were reduced. The attorney was incredibly nice, she is working with me to reduce some of the fees, and I am pleased with the settlement. All in all I am glad I answered the summons.

Someone told me capital one keeps great records. This is true. they had copies of checks I had written from years ago, a change of address with my signature, every statement & letter they had ever sent me.

They did not have an original contract, but my paying on the card proved it was mine, along with my addresses.

The user agreement they provided along with the statement did not state anything about a default interest rate, so I proved my point there. In my county the law is 9% so that is what I got. Also it said nothing about attorney fees being paid, even though they asked for that in the claim, so I did not have to pay those.

Small victory when I could have been totally shafted if the judge and attorneys were crooked. I was pleasantly surprised on how respectful and tolerant they were of me. I did not feel good (pregnant) and my memory was shot. I could not even remember what year my husband and I got married! I think I work much better on paper than being put on the spot in person, at least in my state right now.

This entire thing was a great learning experience!

[LeslieR]

Hi Makia

Sorry this all happened to you but glad that it's overwith. Thank you for sharing your experiences here so that others can learn...

Please, people, be vague about details.

[Lecasbas]

Original post by: makia1212

I was totally taken off guard with this (presenting my forum posts as evidence), she submitted it because she said she had just found it the night before. There are way to many details.

I'm a little surprised the judge didn't at least offer a continuance for this impromptu evidence.

[Fairy Enchantress]

Hello makia1212,

I wanted to thank you for posting your incident, because quite a few of us found it very interesting. I am still in shock over it.

What a little weasel that attorney is. I can't believe the time they took to look up things here on the web site ect. And actually bring it in to court.

I am going through every single post of mine and taking all pertinent information out.

So many of us will take your experience with us on our credit repair journey. I am sorry this happened to you. I really am. I would have fallen on the floor at that moment! What a shock and surprise.

Thank you!

[makia1212]

"I would have fallen on the floor at that moment! What a shock and surprise"

I KNOW! it was like one of those episodes of Perry Mason when the surprise evidence comes out in the end LOL! I have to laugh about it now....

[Moneedshelp]

Wow, this is very interesting. I would love to see what the rules of evidence are regarding the abritration and/ or court rules. These documents were totally hearsay and in no way should have been admitted. How did the judge know that the attorney hadn't put the info in the system herself. I didn't see if the OP admitted she wrote the docs or not,

Anyway thanks for sharing your info with us. It may help someone else. Glad you reached a settlement that you can live with. Good luck

[Fizzle1979]

I agree with Moneedshelp. Unless you admitted to it, it was hearsay.

[makia1212]

Well, I didn't admit to it. I said since I have not read all of these I cannot say if they were mine or that I was writing about me or this case (and I couldn't - who knows copy and paste- altered perhaps, I was not going to say without reviewing it). The judge said that he doubted that anyone would write under my screen name, and there was way to many coincidences to say it was not me. She just made me read a few lines that I had supposedly wrote and that was it, basically admitting the card was mine (which was clear from the other evidence anyway) The other stuff she had me read was not relevant, it was what the rep had told me about amounts I supposedly owed, does not really help them since we know what they were alleging. She also had me read a line about DV'ing and it was not even the same company, so I had to point that out, also something about SOL. I think her intention was to through out my counterclaim based on this. One thing that I will say is I sometimes would write about other people in the first person just to make it easier, ( I have been helping others with credit) I think she thought she was going to prove I own assets that I do not for garnishment. This would not get far because I do not own any of the things I mentioned in a few of these posts, and sometimes would talk about others credit that is obviously not mine (that I was working on)- although this makes it confusing it can easily be proven it is not me- if it came to that.

[LeslieR]

The judge said that he doubted that anyone would write under my screen name, and there was way to many coincidences to say it was not me.

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. What, an internet screen name is tantamount to your social security number or drivers license/picture ID????? Seriously, what a joke. I am glad things worked out in a way you can live with, but I have to say if I had been you, I would have called a huge halt to this whole proceeding and gotten myself a good consumer attorney to put this idiot judge in his place.

So they are saying because you use this screen name in a variety of contexts, some attached to your name, that the postings here under that screen name HAVE to be yours??? There are so many holes in this judge's logic that a swiss cheese maker might be interested in investing.

Again, this is no offense to you and we are all glad you made it through this ordeal. But I can't believe my eyes. A court of law rejects DNA evidence connecting OJ Simpson to a murder scene but accepts the "screen name" argument??!!!

[Moneedshelp]

How did OJ get into this

I'm guessing this was small claims court. Rules are sometimes relaxed in small claims court. No way this info gets by the rules though, small claims or not.

[par]

OP---please let us know when you get written results.

[lovebug5]

Sounds to me like you got suckered, OP. Sorry to hear that.

[swirlgirl]

While I don't agree with the tactics, the bottom line is that this was a valid debt and now the OP is going to resolve it. Funny thing about debt, sometimes you gotta pay.

[LeslieR]

While I don't agree with the tactics, the bottom line is that this was a valid debt and now the OP is going to resolve it. Funny thing about debt, sometimes you gotta pay.

Yes - I agree - and I think that's why the OP is dealing with this so well. But, if it happened in this case, it could happen in another case with an invalid or illegitimate debt. That's just one of the reasons it's so outrageous.

[makia1212]

While I don't agree with the tactics, the bottom line is that this was a valid debt and now the OP is going to resolve it. Funny thing about debt, sometimes you gotta pay.

Well, actually the entire debt was not valid, the interest they calculated was not legal, and they had no reason or explanation as to why they charged such high amounts to come up with the figure they came up with.

Also our identity was stolen around the same time, I wanted them to send me proof all the charges were legit, and in fact that the card was mine ( I thought it probably could have been one of my cards, but after the smoke cleared I was not totally sure- I thought I had the right to have proof) no one would send me proof even after timely DV (This was the CA not the OC so they should have sent the DV info I asked for & they should have stopped collection activity until I had the proof I asked for), they failed to report my dispute to the CB, then they sued- lets not forget that I am then forced to pay court fees to defend myself or get an automatic judgment on an amount that I am not even sure is legitimate. The only time I got to see the breakdown of charges and proof was right before court, and btw I was still not sure some of the charges, they were based in a different state. Because our identity was stolen and checking accounts were opened in our names, we lost the place we were living and ended up defaulting on both valid and invalid debt- having to move from place to place. It took a few years to figure it all out, by the time it was over I was not sure what was what.

So there is more to the story.

I was not just going to court on a valid debt for the fun of it- I did feel my rights were stomped on and the misrepresentation from their reps was crazy. They told me lies about court procedure to try to push me to pay a settlement for close to the full amount, with no break down of charges, tried to get me to pay attorney fees even though it is no where in the contract, and tried to charge this outrageous interest rate. Sorry story was so long.

I am taking it well because I feel in the end I was treated fairly, if I would have listened to their rep I would have paid attorney and interest that I was not obligated to pay, plus ignore the rules of DV which is my right.