janeylee Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hello,I was served a summons by attorneys for Midland, and I answered the summons (I had no fiduciary relationship with Midland, complaint/summons did not include supporting documentation, etc.) They now want a pre-trial conference. I pulled all three of my credit bureau reports and, of course, none of them show any activity by the original creditor -- because I never had an account with them in the first place. The only mention of the original creditor is in Midland's entry on my credit reports.So, my question is, can my credit reports be used as evidence in trial that I never had an account with the original creditor?Thank you so much in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usagi555 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 It's not clear from your post, but did you list those things as affirmative defenses? Based on what you've stated, you might actually have a lack of privity defense, which doesn't apply to most. But if you never had an account with the OC, you never had an agreement with them which means there are no contractual obligations between you and Midland, even if they could prove 100% that they owned the alleged account. I'd be shocked if they could prove that.As for your credit report, no, it will not be admissible. For one, it is pure hearsay, and hearsay must fall under one of the hearsay exceptions before it is admissible. You couldn't even argue that it falls under rule 807 as credit reports are NOT reliable. Also, there is no requirement that financial institutions report on your credit report even if you do/did have an account with them. The only requirement is that what they report must be accurate, which often they are not. If I were the attorney for midland and you somehow got past the hearsay rule, I would be arguing that point exactly. "Your honor, the OC was not obligated to report, so its absence on the credit report proves nothing more than the fact that it did not report this account to the CRAs." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janeylee Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Usagi555, thank you so much for your response. Yes, my defenses were no fiduciary relationship between me and Midland, and lack of standing - no evidence of debt was provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usagi555 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 IMO, there will be no need to argue those. Why midland is claiming it is you if never had an account should be concerning you. If you are dealing with F&S, they have a history of misidentifying people. Find out that's true, and there could be some big money in it for you. Or Midland did it for them. Or maybe there was some identity theft. The companies that you are dealing with thrive on high volume with little to no actual review that what they are doing is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltfan1972 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 So, my question is, can my credit reports be used as evidence in trial that I never had an account with the original creditor? Nope, and no more than they could be used against you to show you did have an account, if they did happen to show activity with the original creditor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltfan1972 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Standing has nothing to do with proving the debt. However, if they have the wrong person, then I agree, you have one of the rare times an affirmative defense will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janeylee Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 If you are dealing with F&S, they have a history of misidentifying people. It is F&S. I found out about the pre-trial conference by checking on my case via LexisNexis on a daily basis because I haven't heard a peep out of them since I filed three weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legaleagle Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Who does Midland show as the OC? Banks have subsidiary credit card companies. For instance, it might say Bank of America on the complaint, but no BofA appears on your credit report, but BofA uses FIA card services. Or, if the debt is older, it may be from a bank that the OC bought out and now owns. Like Chase, who absorbed WAMU. You need to do more research and give us all the names of any lender you find on your CR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janeylee Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Who does Midland show as the OC? Banks have subsidiary credit card companies. For instance, it might say Bank of America on the complaint, but no BofA appears on your credit report, but BofA uses FIA card services. Or, if the debt is older, it may be from a bank that the OC bought out and now owns. Like Chase, who absorbed WAMU. You need to do more research and give us all the names of any lender you find on your CR.The complaint shows Columbus Bank and Trust Aspire, with only the last four digits of the account number showing.I just might bite the bullet and hire an attorney. The attorney will cost more than the amount they're alleging I owe, but it's the principle of the matter that angers me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usagi555 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 The complaint shows Columbus Bank and Trust Aspire, with only the last four digits of the account number showing.I just might bite the bullet and hire an attorney. The attorney will cost more than the amount they're alleging I owe, but it's the principle of the matter that angers me.Find out if they're suing the wrong person. Find out definitively, and by definitively, I mean with what they're claiming is admissible evidence. New Mexico Federal Jury Awards Individual $ 1.26 million for Compliance Violation - ACA InternationalAnd that's not the only time they've sued the wrong person. Just ask Clay Wagy and Palisades Acquisition. If you're feeling angry over the principal of the matter and you can prove they misidentified you through their sloppy super high volume practices, you will, at the very least, be able to find an attorney to hit them back after this is all said and done without a penny out of your pocket. I mean really hit them back hard. There is most definitely a compelling government interest in making sure they get their **** straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coltfan1972 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 You sure you really know nothing about this debt with the original creditor? Around here we help with the law no matter if you owe the amount or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janeylee Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 You sure you really know nothing about this debt with the original creditor? Around here we help with the law no matter if you owe the amount or not.I know absolutely nothing about this debt, nothing, which is why this is so frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BV80 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Read your court's Rules of Civil Procedure regarding discovery. If so, I'd send a Request for Production of Documents and would include a request for all credit card statements pertaining to the alleged account beginning with a -0- balance and ending with the alleged charged off amount. Of course, you also ask for proof of a valid assignment.IF they are able to provide you with a credit card statement, you'd be able to ascertain if they've confused you with someone else. Also, there's a possibility that the account did not originate with Columbus Bank. Is it possible you opened an account with another entity that was taken over by Columbus Bank? If they can't provide any cc statements at all, they may just drop the case.Did they give a date of last payment on the account? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legaleagle Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 This seems to be a bank located primarily in the southeast, particularly Georgia. Do more research.https://www.startpage.com/do/search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janeylee Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Read your court's Rules of Civil Procedure regarding discovery. If so, I'd send a Request for Production of Documents and would include a request for all credit card statements pertaining to the alleged account beginning with a -0- balance and ending with the alleged charged off amount. Of course, you also ask for proof of a valid assignment.IF they are able to provide you with a credit card statement, you'd be able to ascertain if they've confused you with someone else. Also, there's a possibility that the account did not originate with Columbus Bank. Is it possible you opened an account with another entity that was taken over by Columbus Bank? If they can't provide any cc statements at all, they may just drop the case.Did they give a date of last payment on the account?Thank you for the info. I appreciate it.They did not include a statement or anything remotely related to what I would call proof. All they included in the summons/complaint was an affidavit by an employee of Midland that states ... he has access to and has reviewed records pertaining to defendant's account, blah, blah, blah, and is authorized to make this affidavit, is familiar with the manner and method by which MCM creates and maintains its records, blah, blah. It also includes a "Verification" by an attorney who works for the firm. Also an optional information sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BV80 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 If you can request documents, and they provide a cc statement, it will be interesting to see what "record" the affiant claims to have reviewed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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