Zaanee Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Greetings. I've recently been served papers. Originally, the person had tried to serve them several months ago. I was not home, they said they'd try again the next day when I was home (I even waited for them to show up and was subsequently late for work) but no one ever came. Finally the paperwork arrived today. The paperwork reads that I've been sued (in all caps). There is a case number given. The company doing the lawsuit is Arrow Financial Services LLC A. (I've read lots about them.)The paperwork is full of blanks. "Came to the haand on the ____ day of ____, 20 ___ at ___ o'clock M Executed at ____ within the county of _____ at 6:53 o'clock PM on the 12 day of January, 2009, by delivering to the within named ____________.Some legalese here. The name info of the private server and county are missing. Instead to the side is written a number. The second page of the paperwork gives Arrow Financial Services, LLC * In the justice court Asignee of FIA card services, NA (Bank of America)PlaintiffVS Precinct number 2-1My name.Defendant(s) And they note the county. 1) It says Arrow requests discovery be conducted at level 1. In essence, they say they gave me a credit card. 2) They say I failed to honor payment obligations.(I could not, having been unemployed for over a year. I was automatically paying the credit card for the longest time but the fees and interest rates just got ahead of me and they froze/closed/put into collection my account. I had at one point contacted them and explained my situation but noted that while I intended to correct things in time, that my financial situation was not able to allow it at that time. Without being able to tell them when I could pay them, they could not help me. I contacted CCS for a free evaluation, they said they could settle everything for 280/mo for 3 years. Unfortunately I don't have that much free cash so I opted to not accept at that time. They advised bankruptcy, but, the maximum debt I have is somewhat small to consider such a thing.) They claim "All precedent have been performed." 3) They say that my breach led the plantiff to employ the undersign law firm to file suit necessitating a reasonable fee for the attorney services.The lawyers are some group in Irving TX.The affidavit in support of claims Contains my name, Arrow financial, my arrow account number and the original credit card number's last four numbers. They state who they are (the company, there is no particular person at arrow whose name is on the paperwork)(1)That they purchased my credit account (2) That they are familiar with the way they handle their business records of purchased credit accounts (3)They claim it's a regular practice to send me monthly statements reflecting purchases made (???) (4)They give the total current balance as of 8/5/08 as being 4300 dollars. (5). They claim their attourneys advise me that the demand for payment of the just amount has been made for more than thirty days prior hereto and payment for the amount do and owing has not been tendered. (6) (This equals: pay me).The paperwork is signed by an unreadable signature. The printed name is also signed in an unreadable signature with the title of "Legal clerk". Page Exhibit A is blank. The next day is a poor quality print-out of what looks like a computer screen showing some info (my initial balance, the new balance, etc.)One of my co-workers is willing to loan me 10%-15% to 'settle' with them out of court. However, given the history and bad rep of the company, I'm not so sure that would be wise.I had intended to save up some money and/or take out a loan against the title of my car when it gets paid off in a few months and settle and then pay that off. So much for that.Do I call Arrow to attempt to settle?Do I call their lawyer?Should I call a lawyer first?If they are willing to settle, I should ask for written terms to be delivered by certified mail?I would like proof that these people actually legally have the right to collect this debt from me before I pay them, I wouldn't like to be scammed. Their exhibit A is sketchy at best. How do I know they didn't just pull the data from, say, my credit report and stick it in their computer system?Additionally, they're trying to sue me in the wrong county. Does this actually make a difference?I realize that this is probably a scare tactic. Regardless, it looks like I'm supposed to respond to this letter. "You must file a written answer at the address below. The Texas rules of civil procedure require that certain types of lawsuits be answered with a sworn written answer. This court cannot give legal advice. If you have any questions, consult an attorney."Additionally. Arrow claims to be the assignee of BoA on one page and claim they purchased the debt on the second.So. Uh. Yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legal_loansharking Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 A copy of a computer screen is not evidence. Read the sticky if you are being sued read this..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merrybucks Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Suing you in the wrong county does make a difference. File a motion with the court to dismiss due to lack of personal jurisdiction. Some states will allow you to file this with your answer, check your court RCP's to see if yours is one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Did you call the court to see if there was actually a case filed? This could be a scare tactic on their point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaanee Posted January 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 It is indeed real.A local group here does free legal advice weekly for people who are low income, for which I qualified for, so my boss and I went to the event and waited in line for a few hours to see a lawyer.The nice lawyer gave me a form letter, we discussed the case, she was very informative. She thinks that there's a chance the debt might be under SOL. She also gave me wording to file a discovery.I've styled my response pro se and will be delivering it to the court next week.The good news is, win or lose the case, I still win to some degree.In Texas they can't garnish my wages, they can't take my car, they can't take my computer (it's a tool of my trade), and I have nothing else of value. The worst they can do is file a lien with the county. My boss asked if I can negotiate to clear the lien after the fact and the lawyer confirmed that I can at my leisure when I do have the money to fix it. So I'm going to go through the motions and see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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