Admitting to an account to resolve one case...

[buckeyechick1219]

I am currently being sued by Unifund for a Citibank account that I don't believe is mine based on the info previously reported by them on my credit report. Asset also has a Citibank account in my name with a different account number. In Unifund's discovery, they ask if I applied for a Citibank card and what the account number is. If I answer yes and provide the account number for the account held by Asset, can this information be used if Asset decides to sue me in the future?

[Methuss]

I don't believe so. This belief is based on the assumption you are dealing with a lower court and that the end decision will be a run-of-the-mill, unpublished case.

I think the general problem here is you don't know if they are obfusicating (scrambling) the real account number or using an internal substitute. You may end up admitting you owe it if they are hiding this detail from you.

I would give a general denial to opening the account and not specify any account numbers.

"I do not have any recollection of an account with the claimed number from CitiBank."

"The account numbers for any other personal finance accounts are personal and private and not relavent to this complaint."

Make them provide their evidence, don't help them by answering "fishing" questions. A denial in discovery just means there is a dispute over the facts that must be worked out at trial.

[flacorps]

If you do provide the information, you could be collaterally estopped from denying it in a case brought by Asset, assuming Asset goes to the trouble of researching the other case that was brought against you and your answer to discovery winds up in the court file. Both are pretty unlikely.

Asset and Unifund are competitors, so they're not sharing information directly.

Mergers do happen, though...

[buckeyechick1219]

Thank you both for your responses.

I was going to wait until after pre-trial to file my discovery responses (they are not due until after pre-trial) but Unifund has not responded to my requests for discovery and I'm hoping that by providing my responses to discovery, this thing will end at or before pre-trial.

I have read that credit reports can be excluded as hearsay, but I'm hoping that with a credit report stating information that indicates that the account isn't mine, that Unifund will drop the case if they don't have legitimate information to back up the fact that it is.

Another stupid question...in their discovery, Unifund is asking me to back up my claim that this complaint violates the statute of frauds. While rereading the Ohio Statute of Frauds, I see a line saying that this does not apply to credit cards and then directs me to another chapter regarding retail installment sales.

[Andy Simmons]

"In Unifund's discovery, they ask if I applied for a Citibank card and what the account number is. If I answer yes and provide the account number for the account held by Asset, can this information be used if Asset decides to sue me in the future?"

--You are being sued in Ohio, right? And are you talking about interrogatories or requests for admission?

You need to look at the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure.

With regards to requests for admission, it is probably under Rule 36, because that is the number of the rule in the federal version. The federal version of this rule does not allow an answer to a requst for admission to be used against the party in any other proceeding. In other words, it can only be used in this case. You need to look at the Ohio version of this rule to see if it is the same under Ohio state law. My recollection is that Ohio closely follows the Federal rules but it has been a very long time since I looked at Ohio rules, and I am not an Ohio lawyer. So you need to do some research or talk to an Ohio lawyer. Do not under any circumstances rely upon my old memory.

Now, the rule is different for answers to interrogatories. The federal rule (Rule 33) and most state rules require that the answers to interrogatories be verified, which means that they are signed under oath. Those answers CAN be used against you in another lawsuit, to the extent permitted by the rules of evidence. What is that extent? Please. Now we get into a whole discussion of evidence law. Isn't this fun?

Even if an answer to a request for admission cannot be used against you in another case, you should be careful. For one thing, they could possibly amend their current lawsuit against you to add the other account to their claims. Then they could use it right then and there.