Wife served papers from Equable Ascent Financial

[JOEMontana]

As the title states, my wife was served with a summons/complaint by Rausch, Strurm, Israel, Etc. representing EAF just a few days ago, and is a little freaked out. I googled EAF and found some threads from this site, so I thought maybe I could gather some helpful advice and ease her mind a bit.

I have been reading through various posts and get a mild understanding of the process and what lies ahead, but still have more questions than answers and with this being a first for us, would like to make sure what the best course of action is to take and have solid knowledge of what, when, where, and how to proceed down that course.

Any help/advice would be more than appreciated. Thank you in advance!

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Equable Ascent Financial

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Rausch, Sturm, Israel, Enerson & Hornik

3. How much are you being sued for? just under 6k "plus cost and post judgement interest as the rate of 10% per annum

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Ge Capital Corporation

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Yes, served papers

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) In person

7. Was the service legal as required by your state? I am assuming

8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? Not sure how to answer this ?. I have never received anything or been contacted by Equable Ascent Financial, but have received mail (attempt to collect a debt letter with envelope to mail in payment) from 1.) Apex Financial Management, and now from 2.) Rausch, Sturm, etc. We have not responded to any letters or phone calls.

9. What state and county do you live in? Montana/Cascade

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) March of 09

11. What is the SOL on the debt? This is another area I had a ? about. I am in the military, and we are originally from TX which is where we originated the alleged debt. Wasn't sure if this has any effect/play on being sued in Montana? The SOL for TX is 4 years, and MT is 7, so either way we have not passed the SOL.

12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). We have just received the Summons/Complaint. I looked up the court site and put in the docket #, judges name, etc. and nothing showed up.

13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No

14. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request, don't bother doing this now - it's too late. No. Had no clue about any thing until started researching once my wife was served papers.

15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? We have 20 days to respond and answer the listed complaints, which are:

1. Plaintiff is lawfully authorized to transact business within the state of MT

2. Upon information and belief, defendant resides in cascade county, MT

3. Upon I & B, Ge Capital Corporation(care Credit Cosmetic)("the bank") extended credit to defendant pursuant to a credit card account that is currently designated by number XXXXXXX ("the credit account").

4. Upon I & B, the bank regularly provided accuont statements to the defendant reflecting activity on the credit card account along with the outstanding balances owed on the credit account at the time of the statements.

5. Upon I & B, a reasonable amount of time for the defendant to dispute or reject the account statements has elapsed.

6. Upon I & B, defendant failed to dispute or reject the account statements.

7. Payment on the credit card account is past due.

8. Prior to the commencement of this action all rights and interests in the credit card account debt were transferred and assigned to Plaintiff.

9. Despite demand by Plaintiff, Defendant has failed to pay the amount due and owing to Plaintiff on the credit card account.

10. The Defendant owes Plaintiff $XXXX.XX that is due on the credit card account, together with the cost of this suit.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against the Defendant in the sum of $XXXX.XX, plus costs and post-judgment interest as the rate of 10% per annum.

16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. There was nothing else included with the paperwork.

Hopefully this helps and there is something we can do to end this.

Edited November 3, 2012 by JOEMontana

[1stStep]

file an answer and deny as appropriate.

[TomnTex]

Also, elect arbitration and choose JAMS or AAA. That should run them off.

[BrunoTheJDBkiller]

You may also have some relief under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. More info here:

Search Results: scra

You should talk you your JAG officer about this as well.

[JOEMontana]

Also, elect arbitration and choose JAMS or AAA. That should run them off.

So, the correct action to take initially is to answer the complaints and file with the court, then do we file paperwork saying we would like arbitration? Why would this run them off? I am completely oblivious when it comes to all of this, so please excuse any stupid questions!

Also, I read stuff saying go arbitration route and others saying do not. When and Why is arbitration the best route, and who pays for the process?

[JOEMontana]

You may also have some relief under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. More info here:]

You should talk you your JAG officer about this as well.

Thank you. I have briefly looked into the SCRA, however, since they are suing only my wife (who is civilian) not sure if it would apply.

With this being filed on both of our credit reports it has affected my Security Clearance and in fact if not resolved or at least action taken to correct I could in fact lose my clearance and be seperated.

Another question I had, if we are TX residents that (due to military service/orders) reside on a Military Installation within the state of Montana, can we be sued in the state of MT?

Edited November 3, 2012 by JOEMontana

[gwheelock915]

EAF was our first experience in JDB courtroom antics. If I could beat them without much effort and virtually no knowledge, I would imagine you could do the same.

It is shameful in my opinion, that EAF provided nothing other than a affidavit. Nothing else. Never saw a cc statement, which is worthless anyway. These JDBs are only capable of obtaining default judgments. I actually found their business plan.

'Buy' paper for .03-.04 on the dollar.

Sue people for face value.

Charge 10% interest.

Repeat.

Note: If someone appears, put up token resistance, then get away. Every minute we spend dealing with someone who fights the debt takes away from 100's of default judgments.

People need to realize that a default judgment or even a consent judgment is an invitation to a lifetime of poverty and misery. The only way one can escape the trap is call the bluff of these clowns. Does it take work, yes. But if even if you spend 20 hours to save 6K, don't tell me you make that kind of money working, lol.

Edited November 3, 2012 by gwheelock915

[JOEMontana]

EAF was our first experience in JDB courtroom antics. If I could beat them without much effort and virtually no knowledge, I would imagine you could do the same.

It is shameful in my opinion, that EAF provided nothing other than a affidavit. Nothing else. Never saw a cc statement, which is worthless anyway. These JDBs are only capable of obtaining default judgments. I actually found their business plan.

'Buy' paper for .03-.04 on the dollar.

Sue people for face value.

Charge 10% interest.

Repeat.

Note: If someone appears, put up token resistance, then get away. Every minute we spend dealing with someone who fights the debt takes away from 100's of default judgments.

People need to realize that a default judgment or even a consent judgment is an invitation to a lifetime of poverty and misery. The only way one can escape the trap is call the bluff of these clowns. Does it take work, yes. But if even if you spend 20 hours to save 6K, don't tell me you make that kind of money working, lol.

Thank you I appreciate the reply. We definitely will respond to the summons and appear in court. My wife is worried and nervous as it is just her name on the papers as the Defendant. I will accompany her of course but will I be allowed to stand with her and speak?

[TomnTex]

There is a lot of info on here about ARB. Just research it, it may be your best bet as it cost the JDB money that he doesn't want to spend and they usually throw up their hands and sell off your debt. Just make sure that each time you receive a new dunning letter from a new JDB that you respond within the 30 days of receiving it.

Instead of paying an attorney, get on here and read, read, and more reading to help you learn how to do it. You probably have a 95% or better chance of winning by doing it yourself.

Do not talk to them on the phone, make sure you send all letters CMRRR, and never give them any personal or banking info. If you pay a dime to wards the account you either reset or extend the SOL. The SOL for TX is four years, you may well be able to claim TX as your home state of residency and beat them. TX is suppose to be a little more debtor friendly. As a retired Army vet, I know the problems you have. I used to live in MT but don't recall the SOL for them. Good luck.

[BrunoTheJDBkiller]

With this being filed on both of our credit reports

If this is her debt only, why is it on your credit report?

I will accompany her of course but will I be allowed to stand with her and speak?

No, unless you are an attorney. She's on her own.

ARB is good because it is provided for in the cardholder agreement, and the creditor has to pay for it at 500 per hour. Would you pay this to defend a debt you paid 150 for? Neither will they, not in their business model. Linda7 has all the info for ARB.