Pinnacle Credit Services

[Modern Isis]

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit?
Myself

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.)
Marcadis Singer

3. How much are you being sued for?
$4,400

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

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

I was not properly served. I found out about the suit after pulling my credit report and finding a judgement. I then vacated the default judgement.

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door)
Not served. See #5.

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

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?
None

9. What state and county do you live in?
Leon County, Florida

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations)
They have October of 2008 listed. 

11. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out:
4 years. However, the suit was filed in July of 2012 and default judgement granted in August of 2012.

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).
I filed my motion to vacate default judgement in May of 2013 and a court date was set for July 1st. Marcadis Singer filed a motion to appear via telephone. I appeared in front of the judge and provided proof that the residence the summons was mailed to hasn't been my residence in 4 yrs. A pre-trial conference was set for August and the law firm did not send a lawyer from the firm but rather someone locally to try to settle. I asked for a continuance so that I may speak to a lawyer. That added an additional five weeks until the next pre-trial date. During this pre-trial conference the law firm appeared via telephone again. We did not settle and another pre-trial date was scheduled. At this last pre-trial conference the law firm appeared via telephone once more and I denied the debt but stated that if the firm could provided proof of this being my debt and ownership of said debt I would be open to settling. The lawyer claimed he had account statements and would send them to update address I provided. I have yet to receive anything other than their motion to appear via telephone at the next conference on the 16th of this month. 

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

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?
N/A

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.

I went to the clerk of court and made copies of everything they submitted. There is a generic sheet from PCS with the amount, their account number, my name but no actual identifying information. An affidavit from someone stating they have personal knowledge of the account, a generic sheet with a calculation of interest, and the service of process. 

 

Where do I go from here? I feel that they are dragging this out because they do not have the proof they need. I am absolutely clueless as to what to do next. 

 

[1stStep]

Send them discovery...

 

 

Also, sue the process server for fraud. They damaged you by filing a false proof of service. Process servers often have a surety bond you can go after... 

[Modern Isis]

How do I go about sending discovery? What forms must I fill out or file?

[shellieh98]

Welcome Isis.

Start by finding Fl. Rules of civil procedures. ( google them) then book mark that site. In it you will have discovery rules, search those out.

Discovery is when you ask the plaintiff for documents they need to have in order to win their case. By asking for them, you can examine and challenge them. So you want proof this is your account, you would ask them for contracts, statements, proof they mailed them to you, proof you paid on the account, etc.

they also need standing to sue you. If you never heard of pinnacle credit services, chances are they may have bought a debt for pennies, and are now suing you for it. They are what you call a junk debt buyer.

Discovery also includes interrogatories, which are questions you can ask them. Admissions are another tool. Most people use document requests, and later admission if they do not provide the documents you asked for.

You send them discovery requests on pleading paper, and you send them to the attorney, certified mail, return receipt requested. (CMRRR) you di not file it with the court, however you may be required to file a proof of service with the court.

A good place to start would be to go to the top of this forum, and hit the member button. Then narrow the member search to Florida, and then hit on a few members that have a lot of posts, that usually means the have or had a thread. Read a few of these so you can get an idea of the flow of a court case, you can learn a lot by doing this.

So do this, when you get some understanding come back and we will help you get a document request together to send to the plaintiff.

[BV80]

@Modern Isis

 

This is a little confusing.  In #5, you said that you vacated the default judgment.  However, you've also stated that hearings are still taking place.  Has the judge vacated the default judgment?

[Modern Isis]

@BV80

Yes, the judgement was vacated and he allowed the suit to continue from that point. I attempted to have the service of summons quashed since service was improper but it was denied. So we are in the pre-trial phase. I believe if a settlement is not reached during this next date then we will be schedule for trial.

[Modern Isis]

Thank you @shellieh98. I will begin looking ASAP.

[BV80]

@Modern Isis

 

Thank you.  As @shellieh98 stated, it would appear that discovery requests are in order if your rules allow.  Discovery is pretty simple.  If your court doesn't have a specific form, you can still send them.

 

You need the court header just as it appears on the plaintiff's complaint:  Names of the parties, case number, court, etc.  In the title, state the state the name of your request.  For instance, Defendant's Request for Production of Documents.

 

In your first sentence, you might state the proper rule that applies to a request for production of documents.  Something like "Pursuant to Rule __ of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Defendant requests the following documents.

 

Then number each one of your document requests.   After the requests, I would include my name, address, phone number, and email address.  Then send a copy by certified mail to the plaintiff's attorney.  See if your rules require filing discovery requests with the court.  My court doesn't require discovery requests to be filed with the court.

 

If you have interrogatories, do the same thing.  Just find the proper rule for interrogatories.

[Modern Isis]

@shellieh98 @BV80 I have found the FL rules for civil procedure. Should I draft my discovery requests now prior to the hearing tomorrow or wait until after. I'm pretty sure the hearing will go the same as the previous ones and a trial date will be set. Is there anyway I can have the suit dismissed without going to trial since it seems they refuse to provide the proof?

[shellieh98]

You can send your discovery requests when you want, before or after retrial. But if they set the trial date tomorrow, make sure and allow for time to get all your discovery back, you send, they get 30 days to answer, if they don't send you everything you asked for, then you will want time to compel the court so they have to. So I would say you need at least 3 months out so you can get everything back

[Spikey]

Florida seems to move pretty slowly on these cases, but the suit was filed back in July so who knows.

[BTO429]

1) The contract

2) The contract of assigment

3) An accounting statement of the debt beginning with a zero balance

4) Copies of all items you wish to present as evidence to the court.

 this is a starting point you can add to these

[Modern Isis]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions but I fear I may have set myself back significantly. I confused the date for the last pretrial hiring and I missed it. I don't know what to do now. What happens next? What can I do to keep this from moving in their favor?

[Spikey]

See if your court has a website and check the status of your case. If not, call the clerk and find out what you missed. They may not tell you anything over the phone, which means you need to get down to the court house and look at the file.

[Modern Isis]

So a default judgement was entered although I've showed up faithfully to the previous three pretrial dates. I have no idea what to do now as I don't think my excuse will be enought to set the judgement aside.

[Spikey]

You'll need to file a motion to have the judgement vacated assuming you can come up with a valid reason. Missing a pre-trial date usually isn't grounds for a default.

[Modern Isis]

Honestly, I think the judge is trying to get it off the docket since it's a 2012 case. Plus, the court seems to be very plaintiff friendly. I doubt my reasoning will be a good one except for I could have sworn the mediator wrote 10/16 on the continuance sheet given to me.

[Modern Isis]

Good news!! The judge set a date for the motion. I listed in my reasoning for vacating the default judgement that it was an honest error on my part in confusing the dates and I noted that I had been present for all dates since this began in July. I also noted that the plaintiff has yet to prove ownership, my indebtedness, or any real calculation of the amount being stated I owe. I guess my question is can I file a summary judgement to have the case dismissed since the plaintiff has not produced these items or do I need to file my motion for discovery first? I would really like to avoid trial.

[shellieh98]

posting your PM here, and hoping you will get more answers as I cannot help right now. (tied up for a few days) 

Post what discovery you have already done, and what their responses were, then we can see where they are deficent.

 

Hello, I spoke to you earlier regarding a suit I have going. The last post was regarding vacating a default judgement due to an error on my behalf. Well, the judge was kind enough to vacate the judgement and set another date. He was a little heard on the plaintiff for skirting around providing the requested "media". Well, they sent it shortly after but it's nothing I requested. They sent a bunch of copied statements that list the account amount but nothing else. I didn't receive a bill of sale, list of purchases, etc. How do I challenge this?

[BV80]

@Modern Isis

 

Good job!

 

The judge set a date for what?

 

They've never provided a bill of sale or anything from the OC showing that the account was sold to them?

[Modern Isis]

Thank you! The judge set a date for another pre-trial. It's scheduled for January. They sent what looks like account statements from Citibank but they don't show the account going from zero to the final amount when the account was sold. They did not send the bill of sale or anything that says they own the account nor a contract. I know that usually you only have 30 days give or take to respond. I want to challenge this. @BV80

[shellieh98]

Have you sent them any discovery requests?  Any requests for documents, admissions, or rogs? It will be easier to challenge if you have asked for any of those items in discovery.  If not, then I would send discovery to them.  They will have 30 or so days to answer, and if they are deficent, you will have more ground to stand on when you challenge what they have sent you.

[Modern Isis]

Well, I thought that was discovery. I requested those items during one of our pretrials and they refused to send. At the second motion to vacate the judged sternly asked them to send what I had requested. They then sent the account statements but nothing further. I draft a discovery letter requesting what they failed to send asap.

[Spikey]

You may want to do admissions rather than production requests. Force them to say if they have the documents or not. 

[shellieh98]

You need to ask for them in writing if you didn't before, outlining exactly what you want them to send.  Otherwise they will just send what they feel like.  If you send them now, their time to respond will be up by your next pretrial and you can ask that they be precluded or compel if they didnt respond.

Look around in some of the posted threads for a list of documents to send, a list of rogs, and you can send admissions, or wait until their time to respond to the other stuff is up, then send it to them.