Received summons and am overwhelmed and confused by information on this site - help!

[celosia23]

Hi, I just received a summons by registered letter and I really am confused by what I need to do next. I read through the site, but there is so much information here I am not sure what my next steps should be. I found the list of 20 questions (but there were only 19) and have posted it below to try and wade through some of the preliminary information. Please help if you can.

 

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Capital One Bank LLC, C/O Cheek Law Offices LLC

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Cheek Law Offices LLC

3. How much are you being sued for? $1573.94

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Capital One Bank

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) I received a registered letter with the summons. This is the first notice of any kind I received. I never received a letter from the attorney's office.

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

7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Yes, as far as I know.

8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? I received a letter from Capital One on 3/2013 and 5/2013 stating my debt was in default and I needed to pay before legal action was taken. No prior correspondence from law firm except for two phone calls received while I was not at home. No message was left. I only saw the caller ID for missed calls.

9. What state and county do you live in? Lake County, Ohio

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 6/2012

11. What is the SOL on the debt? Ohio has 5 years, I think.

12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court or ( b ) looking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). Status is complaint filed and summons served. No other status available at this time.

13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) Yes – in process

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 – I was not aware of a lawsuit until I received this summons. I had already spoken with Cheek Law Offices prior to receiving the letter when I returned their phone calls. They advised me I would be getting the summons.

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. I have 28 days from the receipt – which gives me until 10/10/2013.

 

16.We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming.

Complaint letter states:

“ 1. Pursuant to the statement attached hereto Defendant(s) owes Plaintiff the sum of $1573.94 as a result of Defndants non-payment of Defendants obligation to Plaintiff under account number XXXX.

2. Defendant(s) is in default of the obligation to pay said balance and the same is now due and owing. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendant(s) in the amount of $1573.94 plus post-judgment interest at 3.00% per annum, plus costs of this action.”

 

17.Is the complaint "verified".? A verified complaint is one in which the last page it has a declaration from someone stating that the information and allegations are true and correct under penalty of perjury. There is no verification letter, but they attached a copy of the last statement dated 01/01/2013.

 

18.Did you receive discovery or interrogatory or Admissions (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? No

 

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

As previously stated, they attached a copy of the January statement, and a print out of “Capital One Cycle Facsimile Report” for the same date.

 

[racecar]

We have a winner the 20 questions are only 19.

First thing that has to be done is to answer plaintiffs complaint.

Second thing is to make your own affidavit denying the debt.

In The Lake County OHIO Court of Common Pleas

Capital One Bank

Plaintiff

Vs.

celosia23

Defendant

Case #

DEFENDANT’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT

Now comes the defendant for answer to the complaint and states as follows:

1. Pursuant to the statement attached hereto Defendant(s) owes Plaintiff the sum of $1573.94 as a result of Defendants non-payment of Defendants obligation to Plaintiff under account number XXXX.

Answer: Paragraph 1 contains characterizations of this lawsuit and conclusions of law, not allegations of fact, and thus no response is required. To the extent a response is deemed necessary The Defendant lacks sufficient knowledge and information to form a belief as to the allegations of paragraph 1 and therefore denies the same and demands strict proof thereof.

2. Defendant(s) is in default of the obligation to pay said balance and the same is now due and owing.

Answer: Paragraph 2 contains characterizations of this lawsuit and conclusions of law, not allegations of fact, and thus no response is required. To the extent a response is deemed necessary The Defendant lacks sufficient knowledge and information to form a belief as to the allegations of paragraph 2 and therefore denies the same and demands strict proof thereof.

3.WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendant(s) in the amount of $1573.94 plus post-judgment interest at 3.00% per annum, plus costs of this action.”

To the extent a response is deemed necessary The Defendant lacks sufficient knowledge and information to form a belief as to the allegations of paragraph 3 and therefore denies the same and demands strict proof thereof.

As to all remaining allegations of fact in the numbered or unnumbered parts of the complaint

not specifically admitted, Defendant denies all such allegations. As to all remaining

allegations which call for a legal conclusion, Defendant lacks sufficient knowledge or

information to respond to such legal conclusions and, therefore, denies them.

AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

By and for her Affirmative Defenses, Defendant states:

First Affirmative Defense

1. Plaintiffs’ Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be

granted against defendant.

Second Affirmative Defense

2.Plaintiff is not the legal holder of the alleged debt and therefore is not the real party in interest; this action should be dismissed for lack of standing.

Third Affirmative Defense

3.Plaintiff’s complaint is not properly verified and is not grounded in fact because it does not exhibit the alleged contract the debt is based upon, a valid statement of account, nor any valid assignment that gives Plaintiff legal title to the claim.

Forth Affirmative Defense

4.Plaintiff in filing this Complaint has not produced a copy of the executed agreement it seeks to enforce.

Fifth Affirmative Defense

5.Defendant reserves the right to plead additional defenses (or cross-claims or counter claims) that may be identified during the Defendant's investigation and/or course of discovery.

WHEREFORE, Defendant prays that this Court find judgment for Defendant,

deny Plaintiffs’ request for relief, deny Plaintiffs’ request for damages, deny

Plaintiffs’ request for costs, deny Plaintiffs’ request for attorney’s fees and deny Plaintiffs’ request for any relief whatsoever. Defendant further prays that this Court hold that Defendant is the prevailing party, and dismiss Defendant with prejudice.

respectfully submitted,

my name

Defendant

address

phone

email

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE BY REGULAR MAIL

I, my name do hereby certify that a true and exact copy of the foregoing Answer To Plaintiffs Complaint was served to JUNK DEBT BUYER by United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows to attorneys name and address for JUNK DEBT BUYER.

from: my name my address my phone sent on this date 09/16/2013

[racecar]

I am the defendant in the above-entitled proceeding. I have personal knowledge of all the facts contained herein, and if called to testify, could and would testify competently thereto.
1. I celosia23 am the defendant in Case No. 2013

CVF 1136.

2. I do not owe the money that is claimed in the complaint

by Capital One Bank / Cheek law offices LLC.

3. I have not been provided with any Authenticated or Verified account information or statements that show i owe any money to Capital One Bank / Cheek law offices LLC.

4.My Capital One Bank account was in good standing when it was closed.

5.Capital One Bank never notified this defendant of any out standing balance due and owing.

6.Plaintiff has provided no evidence of any enforceable contract between the parties.

7.This defendant thru information and belief states that an error must have been made by the Plaintiff or Plaintiffs attorney.

8.Defendant owes plaintiff nothing.

9.This is not my debt.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this 16th day of September, 2013 at Lake County Ohio.

[celosia23]

Thank you!! You absolutely cleared up my confusion. I will take your advice and hopefully everything will work out well. I will post updates as I proceed.

Next steps - answer complaint and make affidavit.

 

Now I can breathe a bit, at least.

[nobk4me]

The OP might be in a muni court, not the county common pleas court.

 

Now some good news.  In Ohio they can't collect legal fees for consumer accounts.  So you can run up their legal bill easily.  If they are collecting less than $1600, it is easy to make this unprofitable for them.

 

I beat an OC suing for a little under $2K this way.  Answer the lawsuit, and hit them hard with discovery.

[celosia23]

After sending the letters as instructed, I received two new communications from the law office today.  The first is is a combined Request for Admissions and Request for Production of Documents relating to their collection efforts, and the second is verification of the debt I requested, with copies of credit card statements from January 2012 through January 2013, showing my last payment in July 2012. Also attached to it is a copy of the Capital One Customer Agreement.

 

The letter I sent on Sept. 16 states:

"This is NOT a request for "verification" or proof of my mailing address, but a request for VALIDATION made pursuant to the above named Title and Section. I respectfully request that your office provide me with competent evidence that I have any legal obligation to pay you.

Please provide me with the following:

• What the money you say I owe is for;

• Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;

• Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;

• Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;

• Identify the original creditor;

• Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account;

• Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state; and

• Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent."

Only copies of the statements and agreement as noted above were sent.

 

What do I do now? To be honest, they just scared the heck out of me.

[racecar]

1.Your being sued its to late to send a debt validation letter.(it wont hurt that you did send it)

2.Post up the Request for Admissions and Request for Production of Documents we will help you answer if you don't answer the Production or Admissions you will lose.

3.Don't send frivolous letters or phone calls to the plaintiffs law office.

4.Turn in your answer to plaintiffs complaint before 10/10/2013.

5.Dont get scared over this. Being sued sucks but its to late for that now its time to start studying so you can beat them.

6.Ask questions if you don't understand something.

RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE - Supreme Court read

Ohio Rules of Court read