gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 CALIFORNIAI received a summons in May, answered it and now recently I received a Notice of Trial/Hearing letter.. It says that a Trial setting conference has been set for 12/28 at 8:30am.. I have a few questions..1. What is the purpose of this conference and what should I expect?2. What do I need to bring?Also will the other Plantiff (MANN BRACKEN) be there? I've never been to court before, at least for myself.. I have no idea what to expect here.. They are repping Discover Bank and the debt is mine, they canceled the CC on me after checking my credit, and using it more than usual and after having the card for years.. What defense, if any do I have? I requested discovery from Mann Bracken and they never responded. What should I do?Can someone help me, PLEASE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GH0104 Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 I'm assuming no SOL defense? How long ago was your card closed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Card was last used in 10/2006.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 They are suing for $3,300, which is almost twice the amount of the credit limit. Discover sold the debt to Mann Bracken and I never spoke to them until I rec a summons in May. I answered it within 30 days they sent me a copy of a letter to the court asking for judgement, court denied and told them I answered the lawsuit. I'd like to know what to expect and what I should do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Does anyone know what kind of answers I will be asked tomorrow???I have no idea how to tackle this or how to answer the questions the judge or attorneys will ask me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrokeBob Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 One thing you can certainly expect: you are dealing with a highly unethical law firm. Keep that in mind. There is an excellent chance that they have violated some FDCPA laws or Cali Rosenthal laws. You may have some counterclaims against them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieJar Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 How do you know that Discover "sold" the debt to MB?What county are you in?From my experience with them, some local rent-a-shark will most likely be there tomorrow, with limited knowledge of your case, and will be surprised that you showed up!Watch what you say, don't incriminate yourself, be polite to the judge and hurry back to this forum to study what to do next.Sorry I couldn't help you more. This place is great tho'... just spent the time and do your research.Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GH0104 Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Was the debt sold to Mann Bracken or are they representing the OC?I'm sorry, but you didn't leave alot of time for researching your case or for members to help you with your case being tomorrow morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieJar Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 BTW, I don't know what a trial-setting conference is. All I had was a Status Conference. Different counties have different conferences, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 How do you know that Discover "sold" the debt to MB?What county are you in?From my experience with them, some local rent-a-shark will most likely be there tomorrow, with limited knowledge of your case, and will be surprised that you showed up!Watch what you say, don't incriminate yourself, be polite to the judge and hurry back to this forum to study what to do next.Sorry I couldn't help you more. This place is great tho'... just spent the time and do your research.Good Luck.Actually not sure if Discover sold the debt or not.. I'm in Los Angeles County..This site is great, wish I would of discovered it sooner, I found other sites but they were dead.. This one is very popular and the people here are friendly.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 BTW, I don't know what a trial-setting conference is. All I had was a Status Conference. Different counties have different conferences, I guess.Yeah I've been told that is a trial and I've been told its just a pre-trial, I'm so confused.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 To those interested, here is what happened....I still don't understand completely what happened maybe someone can enlighten me.. I arrived there on time and was waiting outside the courtroom with about 30-40 other people half of them were lawyers.. There was a sheet in front of the door with all the days cases, I looked at the paper and saw my case on there. So anyway they open the door and we all signed in with the clerk and lawyers were calling out names and taking people outside for settlement discussions, no one ever approached me or called my name.. .So soon after the judge came in and the first few cases were conference calls with lawyers of Banks/Insurance Co's, they were on the phone and all the calls were very brief, lasting probably about 15 secs each. Then he started calling names and was hearing cases, now we get to the part I wasn't expecting and still do not understand, after about 4 cases some guy I will label him "this guy" came forward I think he was some kind of lawyer anyway he was answering questions and giving the judge brief updates on many, many different cases. At first I thought he was the lawyer for Citibank, cause the first 5 cases Citibank was the plantiff but then he was discussing cases that had other plantiffs, after about 25 mentioned cases, my case and name came up (Me vs Discover Bank) and "this guy simply said dismissal without prejudice. I didn't know what happened, so I went up to the clerk and he said my case was dismissed and for me to go home, there was nothing left for me to do..So after hearing me out, what happened?? Who was "this guy" how come he was in charge of telling the judge about a ton of cases??? Well anyway I didn't have to be there obviously but it was good to hear the immediate decision on today's proceedings. I know that dismissal w/o prejudice means I'm not out of the woods yet, but what happened today was a success, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Also what should my next step be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFS Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 1. Do nothing and see if they refile at a later date.2. Start saving money so if/when they resurface you can make a cash offer settlement (cash is king). If they never refile, you have some extra cash!3. If you have been reading the arbitration posts, you could send the attorney/bank a letter saying that for any future actions on this account you elect arbitration as the method to settle any alleged dispute. Read up on arbitration in this forum.Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS is in order for it getting dismissed even if it is w/o prejudice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieJar Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 I found this idea for what to do next here on this forum....http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296172Look at your rules. In some states, a party in whose favor a dismissal is entered is entitled to costs of suit. This may just be a filing fee for your answer (but in California that runs you a couple of hundred dollars). If you are able to get costs awarded, you will have a judgment in your favor for costs. Often, you can then negotiate with the plaintiff not to execute the judgment in exchange for a dismissal with prejudice.I know you are happy that you won (as well you should be). But a couple of extra steps here might prevent you from having to do this all over.Good luck.Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 1. Do nothing and see if they refile at a later date.2. Start saving money so if/when they resurface you can make a cash offer settlement (cash is king). If they never refile, you have some extra cash!3. If you have been reading the arbitration posts, you could send the attorney/bank a letter saying that for any future actions on this account you elect arbitration as the method to settle any alleged dispute. Read up on arbitration in this forum.Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS is in order for it getting dismissed even if it is w/o prejudice.If they do re-file, when would you think it would be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Does anyone know who "that guy" was? He obviously wasn't with Mann Bracken, how come he was able to tell the judge my case was dismissed?Who was he? He was talking about a ton of cases, did MB tell him to say that? Im confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GH0104 Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Does anyone know who "that guy" was? He obviously wasn't with Mann Bracken, how come he was able to tell the judge my case was dismissed?Who was he? He was talking about a ton of cases, did MB tell him to say that? Im confused.What makes you sure he WASN'T with MB? Collection law firms usually sue in bulk - saves time and $$. They won't go to court for one measly case; they make it a point to fill up the day with as many as they can shove into one date. This way, whatever lawyer they send makes only make one trip.In any case, hurray for the dismissal! And I would do what DFS says, especially if it seems you are being sued by an OC, not a JDB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyno Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 What makes you sure he WASN'T with MB? Collection law firms usually sue in bulk - saves time and $$. They won't go to court for one measly case; they make it a point to fill up the day with as many as they can shove into one date. This way, whatever lawyer they send makes only make one trip.In any case, hurray for the dismissal! And I would do what DFS says, especially if it seems you are being sued by an OC, not a JDB.He was discussing 25+ cases before he discussed mine. Many of them with different plantiffs.. I dont think he was from MB, maybe I'm wrong.. Yes I am being sued by an OC, good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calawyer Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Congrats, sounds like your case has been dismissed.Don't know for sure but this guy was either there for all of MB's cases or he was a "rent a lawyer" who does appearances for a fee for several different firms.You want to make sure you receive a notice of entry of dismissal in the mail. If you don't get it in the next couple of days, look on line or check with the clerk if the docket is not available on line.I suggest that you seek the costs you have incurred in responding to the complaint, etc. You can often trade an award of costs for a dismissal with prejudice. Search my posts for more info on how to do this.Again, nice going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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