How to respond/what to do?

[confusedinpa]

I just received a "Civil Action Hearing Notice", plaintiff Midland Funding LLC. There is nothing to send back (I've read about having to check one of three answers regarding defense to the hearing). There is just a page which reads "You have been sued in District Court. If you intend to enter a defense to this complaint you should so notify this office immediately. If you feel you do not have a defense it is not necessary for you to appear. A default judgement will be entered against you. Upon informing us of a defense, a new hearing date a time will be scheduled. If you do not inform this office of a defense and you appear on the date and time listed expecting a hearing the hearing will not be held." **If you have a claim against the plaintiff which is within magisterial district judge jurisdiction [what the heck does that mean?} and which you intend to assert at the hearing, you must file it on a complain form at this office at least 5 days before the date set for the hearing (12/31).** This is for $1743.86 plus costs. Not that much....but I've lost one job and am just barely making ends meet as it is. One thing...this hearing is NOT in the county where I live. My mail is delivered by the neighboring town, however, that town is in a different county. Is the fact that it is the wrong county, and the court lacks jurisdiction (something in the FDCPA rules?), a "defense"? I'm not sure what I need to do. Some (easy to understand....feeling overwhelmed here) steps to follow would be tremendously appreciated.

[SingleDadJames]

I just received a "Civil Action Hearing Notice", plaintiff Midland Funding LLC. There is nothing to send back (I've read about having to check one of three answers regarding defense to the hearing). There is just a page which reads "You have been sued in District Court. If you intend to enter a defense to this complaint you should so notify this office immediately. If you feel you do not have a defense it is not necessary for you to appear. A default judgement will be entered against you. Upon informing us of a defense, a new hearing date a time will be scheduled. If you do not inform this office of a defense and you appear on the date and time listed expecting a hearing the hearing will not be held." **If you have a claim against the plaintiff which is within magisterial district judge jurisdiction [what the heck does that mean?} and which you intend to assert at the hearing, you must file it on a complain form at this office at least 5 days before the date set for the hearing (12/31).** This is for $1743.86 plus costs. Not that much....but I've lost one job and am just barely making ends meet as it is. One thing...this hearing is NOT in the county where I live. My mail is delivered by the neighboring town, however, that town is in a different county. Is the fact that it is the wrong county, and the court lacks jurisdiction (something in the FDCPA rules?), a "defense"? I'm not sure what I need to do. Some (easy to understand....feeling overwhelmed here) steps to follow would be tremendously appreciated.

I'm not very familiar with PA but from what you relayed and the quick research I did it seems if you intend to defend or argue anything about this complaint you need to notify the court of your intent to enter a defense/notice of intent to defend. I'm not sure on this, but I dont' think this notice has to be on a particular form or needs to be in any special format. I believe you just need to notify the court that you intend to defend. Here's the link where I read this: http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/246/chapter300/s318.html

At this point, unless you intend to do nothing and let them get a default judgment entered against you, you need to notify the court you intend to defend this claim. You don't have to have any specific defense ready at this time, you just need to tell the court you will be defending this claim. They'll then notify the Plaintiff that you intend to enter a defense. A hearing will probably then be scheduled and at that next hearing you'll need to be prepared with your defenses. Don't worry, by then I'm sure you'll have much more help from others more experienced with PA. Just make sure to appear for any hearings to avoid a judgment being entered against you. If you miss deadlines or fail to appear you'll basically lose the case right then and there.

" **If you have a claim against the plaintiff which is within magisterial district judge jurisdiction [what the heck does that mean?}

This basically just means that if you a cross/counterclaim against the plaintiff for things like fdcpa violations or other violations that are within the court's jurisdiction that you need to file them now. This has to be done on a specific form and within the time frame the court specified. Edited December 19, 2010 by SingleDadJames

[confusedinpa]

Stating that it is the incorrect county.....is that a "defense"? I thought I read somewhere about a motion to dismiss based on not complying with rules and filing in the wrong county......is this "MTD" the same as defense? Do I go to an actual hearing to ask for this dismissal based on wrong county? This is where I'm confused.