Wishmich Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 A little nervous here. In brief, we are being sued for a credit card that was bought by a JDB, Atlantic Credit. As soon as we were served, I sent a letter requesting validation. They didn't respond. At the pretrial, we said that we never heard of them and it was set for trial. The judge ordered 60 days of discovery, but that they had 28 days to get the original contract between us and Household Bank; statements of account and proof of ownership. They did not do that. They sent us interrogatories asking us the same questions that were asked at the pretrial. We did not answer them because we answered them already in court and because they did not give us the statements or anything, we waited because the answers may have been different if they had showed us that. We finally answered them (late) telling them that we are unaware of this and don't believe it is ours.They filed a motion for summary judgment and then I filed a motion to dismiss based on the fact that they did not provide what the court ordered..so lack of evidence and failure to comply with the judge's orders.TODAY, I get in the mail a big crapload of papers from them. (Tomorrow is the motion hearing.) They have a computer generated statement from Household Bank with a summary of activity and our name/address. They also have a copy of one statement. It looks like it came from a bill. Not sure. They also have a collection letter from the lawyer's office dated in March of 2007 which I don't recall ever getting. Also included is an affidavit from someone at HSBC saying that "the statements included are based on the computerized and hard copy books and records of the Seller." Are these sufficient to find us "guilty" so to speak? Oddly enough, they also sent a printout of Sample Letter 15 from this website. I don't know what that's for. I was feeling confident that this would be dismissed because they didn't have the original contract nor any statements of things we supposedly used this credit card for. Can anyone please tell me what I need to do in court tomorrow?Thank you in advance. I'm back to stressing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merrybucks Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Ask for the hearing to be posponed. You need time to look over the documents and prepare a defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishmich Posted June 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 The hearing motion is tomorrow morning and the trial is a week from tomorrow. They had these documents all the time and was listed on their exhibits list, but we just got it today. My husband is on his way home from out of town so he can be in court tomorrow and with him losing so much money by taking off of work, postponing is going to be a problem. What I'm wondering is can I still use the defense that they still not have provided what was requested and what was ordered by the judge? If so, can anyone direct me to where I can find exactly what I need in this case? I'm so sorry that I'm putting it like this, but it's crunch time and I'm in a panic now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryv Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 I would not postpone it. They had 28 days to get the info to you they did not do that. I would go to trial and I would bet they don't show up. A JDB tried that with me and when I went to trial right before it started he dropped the case. Never heard a word from him after that. Who will be at the trial to verify the valididy of the debt? No one. There's nothing there with your signature. I would go to trial. Do NOT postpone it. They are trying to scare you into settling.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishmich Posted June 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 I would not postpone it. They had 28 days to get the info to you they did not do that. I would go to trial and I would bet they don't show up. A JDB tried that with me and when I went to trial right before it started he dropped the case. Never heard a word from him after that. Who will be at the trial to verify the valididy of the debt? No one. There's nothing there with your signature. I would go to trial. Do NOT postpone it. They are trying to scare you into settling.Good luck.Isn't the affidavit from the employee of the OC considered verifying the validity of the debt? I looked at the original pretrial memorandum from the judge and it did indicate that they are to provide to us a copy of the account application as well as all monthly account records for the account. We still did not receive that.Also, it said that any exhibits to be used at trial shall be made known to the opposing party with a copy to the court not less than 30 days after discovery is complete or the same shall be excluded unless good cause is shown. They sent us a letter stating what they had as exhibits, but they did not send us a copy until today. Shouldn't they have sent us an actual copy of these papers sooner instead of just saying they had it? I'm not a lawyer and I can't find this answer anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjtx Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Did they provide a complete chain of title? Did they buy the debt directly from HSBC?I hate to break it to you, but many judges will find it sufficient when they show records, a statement and an affidavit from the original creditor.The only way to defeat an affidavit from the OC is if you file your own affidavit of denial... that is, if the information they provided is false in any way... Do not lie, but if there is anything questionable about their documents, you should file a "graduated denial" affidavit.With your affidavit contradicting their info, the only way to "break the tie" is for them to produce a witness from the OC to testify... and JDBs usually can't do this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishmich Posted June 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 I read the affidavit from the representative from HSBC. The only records they have is a computerized "ending balance" statement. There is no chain of title that I can see other than on the affidavit from HSBC it says "The end balance showing on the books and records of the Seller at the time of the assignment of the account to Atlantic Credit & Finance, LLC was $xxx.xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjtx Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 "The end balance showing on the books and records of the Seller at the time of the assignment of the account to Atlantic Credit & Finance, LLC was $xxx.xxThat would count as the chain of title.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryv Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Wishmich, let's just say the judge accepts it that is if it's an ORIGINAL and not a copy, but either way, let's say he rules in their favor. You respond asking the judge to have the plaintiff give you an ITEMIZED statement that lists how they come to the figure they come to. They won't do it because they didn't pay hardly squat for the debt.And if they say they paid $500 the judge will know they are full of it because everyone (especially judges) know these are JDB's and they only pay 3-5 cents on the dollar. So they will either a) not send you crap and the case is dismissed or lie about what they paid on the itemized statement or c) send you an honest itemization and you will not owe them diddly. I would also claim before asking for the itemized statement, unjust enrichment. Because in court the judge supposed to make the plaintiff whole (if he rules in their favor) which means whatever the JDB paid for the debt (3 to 5 cents on the dollar) you should pay them back plus REASONABLE fees. Otherwise it's unjust enrichment.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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