M/F NEED HELP ASAP, PLEASE

[DonqIII]

One of our favorite JDBs , M/F, ( double entenrdre well applied), IS a respondent in JAMS.

 

Along with the attorney, law firm, and their collection agency in the state they sued in.

 

Following is the complete timeline.

 

DEC 2012 , An MTC was filed, heard and granted. And the lawsuit was stayed.

 

DEC 2012 , Claimant initiated in JAMS and paid the initial fee according to the agreement for said account.

 

 JAN 2013  JAMS accepted . A notice to all parties  was sent and the opening  sentence states

"This confirms the commencement of this arbitration as of this date of this letter.

 

FEB 2013  Additional respondents were added before the formal and strike list was emailed and   mailed.

 

 FEB. 2013 Formal complaint was complete and strike list was struck all in the proper  time frame.

 

 MAY 2013 All had been  quiet on the western front until the attorney sent a threatening "settlement"  letter advising that if a settlement was not accepted they would ask the court for another pre-trial date.

 

From FEB to MAY the case manager was emailed 3 times for a status update with no response to inquire what is going on.

 

May 2013 called JAMS to get a status report as emails were not  replied to and found out that the attorney was attempting to have a couple of the respondents removed . The attorney has sent a 2 page letter trying to get the additional respondents removed.

 

The case manager said the only thing that could be said  for sure is that the case had to be sent to a JAMS committee for review and the CM would get back to me with more info.

Also said they may have to re-commence the case so the added respondents have a chance at the strike list process.

 

June 7, 2013  The respondent attorney sent a motion for order placing case on active status and motion for pretrial conference.

 

In this said motion is this sentence,

 

"Defendant did bot properly initiate JAMS arbitration and his conduct since this matter was stayed has confused the issues and delayed these proceedings."

 

And further states....

 

"Defendant's failure to properly initiate and engage in arbitration constitutes a waiver of any right to arbitration."

_________________

Obviously going back to court is an FDCPA violation. Any suggestions of what to do now would be appreciated.....

 

[admin]

Calling @Linda7!

[Linda7]

I'm here!    

 

This is one that is being discussed in another thread.  If it were me, I'd immediately file an opposition to their motion and include documentation to prove that JAMS has already commenced.  Attorneys will do everything they can to confuse the issues and get out of arbitration.  If you don't keep toe to toe with them, they can succeed.  But, if you have a fair judge and you send in your opposition along with the supportive documents, he will probably let the JDB's attorneys know they were ordered into arbitration, it has commenced and that is where the case will be heard.

[BV80]

If you already paid your part of the fee and properly initiated arbitration, wouldn't it be an FDCPA violation for the JDB to threaten a legal action that can't be taken?

[DonqIII]

If you already paid your part of the fee and properly initiated arbitration, wouldn't it be an FDCPA violation for the JDB to threaten a legal action that can't be taken?

Yes it is, and will need to be addressed after the opposition of going back to court.

[Linda7]

And if the attorney stays as a respondent in the JAMS claim - the FDCPA violation can be added to the complaint.  And of course if the consumer's state has consumer protection laws, deceptive trade practices, etc., those can be added too.