Multiple JDBs and chain of custody...?

[MissDismissed]

Currently being sued by JDB B. JDB B has attached to their complaint several statements and 2 bills of sale showing their chain of custody (OC to JDB A & JDB A to JDB . JDB added redacted generic spreadsheets with their RFA and POD. Defendant has properly answered complaint (denying all allegations), attended pre-trial, and served RFA, POD and Interrogatories. Defendant has dunning letter from JDB C and their credit report showing a hard inquiry done by JDB C from smack in the middle of the alleged chain from JDB B.

Does Defendant disclose this info during Discovery or wait to trial?

Would love to hear any thoughts on how to best handle this! Any input ?

Thanks in advance!

Edited November 8, 2012 by Amerikaner83
move into new thread

[BV80]

Was the dunning letter for a different account?

What do mean by "done by JDB C from smack in the middle of the alleged chain from JDB B."?

[MissDismissed]

The dunning letter from JDB C referenced the same account number and oc that JDB B is currently suing on. The date of the letter is after the oc sold the account but this JDB is not part of the chain claimed by JDB B.

I pulled my credit report a few days ago and saw that JDB C did a hard inquiry to my credit. The inquiry referenced something about keeping their inquiry open until 2013. Not really sure what that means.

Can I use this information to challenge the chain of custody in the current lawsuit? If so, how? I have to answer their RFA and POD by next week. I have denied the account so far. I saw a thread somewhere here that talked about responding with a response of "multiple collection agencies are stating a claim on the alleged account."

Thanks in advance!

[BV80]

This could require some research on your part. JDB C may not be a JDB. They could be a collection agency working for JDB B. (Try saying "JDB B JDB C" 3 times very quickly )

But I'm not saying that's absolutely the case. Have you conducted discovery yet? Has JDB B filed an MSJ?

You may be able to use this but it's hard to tell yet.

It would help if you would copy and answer the questions in the following thread:

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forums/there-lawyer-house/242744-qs-answer-when-posting-forum-please-read.html

Edited November 8, 2012 by BV80

[1stStep]

I'd do a request for production... something like "Disclose the nature of the relationship between JDB B and JDB C"

[BV80]

I'd do a request for production... something like "Disclose the nature of the relationship between JDB B and JDB C"

I'd be careful there. IF JDB B no longer owns the debt, would we want them to know that WE know that possibility exists?

Miss Dismissed,

What exactly was written in the dunning letter?

[BrunoTheJDBkiller]

Okay, 1stStep, it's time to go to Bruno's woodshed. This should teach you something. How would you like Bruno to answer your next set of discovery requests? Hah. (He knows I'm kidding)

"Disclose the nature of the relationship between JDB B and JDB C"

OBJECTION: The term "relationship" is vague and undefined. Notwithstanding, Plaintiff knows of no "relationship" between himself and X other than that which would constitute a confidential business relationship, details of which are protected under the work product doctrine and to the extent that it applies, attorney-client privilege. Such requests are improper and do not conform to the rules of discovery. Additionally, Plaintiff has no clue as to the meaning of the term "JDB" as used by the Defendant and is not required by the rules of discovery to define the Defendant's terms. Not withstanding, nor withsquatting, the Plaintiff avers that he / she / it purchased for good consideration (twenty bucks and a six pack) the aforementioned account which is the subject of the instant action. The manner in which the account was purchased / acquired / inherited is a matter for the court to decide and shall be done accordingly per all applicable statutes. Additionally, Plaintiff has used the term "disclosed" and has not adequately defined the context in which it applies. Disclosure is defined as "The release of information about a person or entity." Since no person or entity was specified, the term is improper and makes the request impossible to respond to. Additionally, the term "nature" is undefined and vague. Is this crime against nature? Law of nature? Nature is defined as "The unwritten body of universal moral principles that underlie the ethical and legal norms by which human conduct is sometimes evaluated and governed." Plaintiff hereby objects again based upon the included term "sometimes," which is vague, and "unwritten" which means the Defendant has no body of law upon which he can rely. Additionally, "human" is not defined, and as we all know, this can conjure up many different variations. One man's "human" is another man's bad dating experience and subsequent criminal record. Notwithstanding, Plaintiff further objects to the term "production" which has many definitions. Defendant has not specified or defined what he expects Plaintiff to produce. Plaintiff is capable of producing many things, some of which we don't want to see. Notwithstanding, Plaintiff admits to having produced documents which prove his case. Additionally, the term "between" is not defined and therefore impossible to respond to. Many things can be "between" other things, some of which are contrary to the law and the laws of nature referenced above and usually result in probation if you're lucky. Said activities can and may and should be immoral, illegal, and fun. Since Defendant did not specify the category to which he refers, Plaintiff has no response.

[1stStep]

I'm only going to the woodshed if Jenna Haze is there...

You're right... instead, I'd wait till as late as possible and send out 2 subpoenas...

[MissDismissed]

Thanks BV80! I will answer all of those questions tonight when I get home.

My research says there is no connection between JDB B and JDB C. As of right now JDB B, the one that is suing me, has no knowledge that C ever contacted me or was trying to collect on the account. I will give you all of the details tonight.

Thanks in advance!

[MissDismissed]

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? DLG & Associates - allege they are the assignee of Chase

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Gray & Gray PC - owned by Deborah L Gray, who also owns DLG & Associates - Is this legal in Michigan?

3. How much are you being sued for? Approx $4K

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Chase (but card was originated through First Card & was bought out by Chase)

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Served by USPS mail and copy dropped on porch.

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) Served by USPS mail and copy dropped on porch.

7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Yes

Process Service Requirements by State - Summons Complaint

8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? Received dunning letter in April (?) 2012, but did not D/V

9. What state and county do you live in? Macomb County, Michigan

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) Approx Nov 2009

11. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: Michigan is 6 years, but Chase is in Delaware which is 3 years - Not sure which applies, but research tells me that it is likely Michigan's SOL will hold

Statute of Limitations on Debts

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). Answered complaint properly with notarized counter affidavit; had pre-trial in late September; in Discovery now. Served my RFA, POD and Interrogatories to them in late October - I was trying to hold off to see theirs first, but they sent theirs to me on in late Oct too. Their discovery answers are due to me late next week. I must send mine by mid-next week to get them there by the end of the week. Trial is set for January. No motions filed yet. JDB did threaten to file MSJ in pre-trial statement.

13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No - the JDB that is suing does not seem to have touched my credit report - no inquiries or reports.

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

15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit?

Complaint

Now Comes......

1) That Plaintiff is a corporation having a place of business in Michigan.

2) That Defendant, MissDismissed, is established in the *** District Court of Michigan and resides at (my address)

3) That this cause of action arose in the City of ***, State of Michigan

4) That Plaintiff's assignor, upon application (contract) of the Defendant, issued its charge card to the Defendant under Acct No **** **** **** **** (See Exhibit A). That said contract was previously provided by Plaintiffs assignor to Defendant

5) On various occasions, from time to time, the charge card issued to Defendant by Plaintiff's assignor was used by Defendant or others with Defendant's consent to make purchases of merchandise or services, which such purchases were paid for by Plaintiff's assignor under its charge card program, or to obtain cash advances from the Plaintiff's assignor

6) That pursuant to the agreement, Defendant is indebted to the Plaintiff's assignor in the sum of $4K being the balance due on said charge card account, and Plaintiff further alleges that frequent demands have been made by Plaintiff's assignor for payment of said sum and Defendant has failed and refused to make payment. In addition, pursuant to the agreement between the parties, there is interest of **% per annum totaling $*** from 3/31/10 to this current date for a total balance due of $4K.

7) That said account was subsequently assigned to Plaintiff. Assignment is attached. (See Exhibit

8) Plaintiff further alleges that there is an account stated by operation of law, wherein Plaintiff's assignor billed Defendant for the said charge card account balance monthly and received no objections thereto, as per Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part of this complaint.

Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits

16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits.

Attached to the complaint was: a brief affidavit signed by Deborah L Gray representing DLG stating that the money was owed "to the best of her knowledge", approximately 1 1/2 years of credit card statements showing some payments, no purchases and mostly interest and fees, and 2 generic bills of sale - one from Chase to Turtle Creek Assets, and another from Turtle Creek Assets to DLG & Associates.

[MissDismissed]

The letter I received was from MRS Associates. It references the same Chase account number and a similar amount due. The letter basically requests payment by giving 3 options to settle the account.

It is dated in September 2011. The bills of sale attached to the complaint state that the account was sold from Chase to Turtle in October 2011 and then sold from Turtle to DLG the day after Turtle got the accounts from Chase. In the JDB's discovery requests they added in a generic redacted spreadsheet to each bill of sale. The spreadsheet could have been created by anyone with Excel and have no marking to designate them as from Chase or Turtle.

The credit inquiry was done in April 2011.

Any help is appreciated! I'm not sure where to go next with this.

Thanks!

[TomnTex]

If it wasn't mentioned, I would hit them with arbitration real fast. That should run them off until you have to go through it again with a new JDB after they sell it off. Research it here, see Linda7 our local guru.

[BV80]

From what I can tell, MRS is a collection agency, not a JDB. It's possible DLG hired them to collect but that wouldn't make sense since DLG is suing you. But who knows how JDB attorneys think?

[MissDismissed]

BV80 - If they are a CA then it sounds like I should leave any mention of them alone as I don't know who contracted them. Unless I can squeeze an additional Interrogatory in before my discovery period ends and follow what Bruno and 1ST Step suggested. Any thoughts? Last resort I guess I should focus on denying their discovery and discrediting the evidence they have put out there.

TomnTex - can I still elect arb if I'm in discovery? I read Linda7 and thought about taking that route but I wasn't sure. The JDB referenced "the agreement" but has not provided one.

I know I will still have to answer their discovery. I will post that info tonight.

Thanks for everyone's help! I appreciate it!

[BrunoTheJDBkiller]

I'm only going to the woodshed if Jenna Haze is there...

With Sara Jay as a pinch hitter in case Jenna sustains any type of injury.