Chaya14 Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Okay lets try again... Here is the jist.. and questions are below! So just got served by the sheriff here in GA that Midland funding llc is suing for a bad cc debt. Ofcourse they are wanting the full amount listed, interest, attorney fees and court costs and $98 apparently. It stated Midland funding LLC Assignee of Citibank, N.A/Best Buy and cooling& winter LLC Louis R FEINGOLD Lawyers handling it. Do I even have a chance? It seems pretty well documented but that could just be my naive eyes here. Any help on what to say or do would be great. I don't really have the extra funds to throw that much money at them or a lawyer so i am on my own here. 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Midland Funding LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Cooling and Winter LLC 3. How much are you being sued for? $1039.82 plus interest, attorney fees, court costs and $98 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Citibank NA 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Served 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) Sherriff came to door in person 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? none, they robocalled a few times that i recall, never left voicemails, i never recieved any letter or mail. 9. What state and county do you live in? GA, Bartow 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 6/5/14 11. What is the SOL on the debt? 6yrs 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). can't find anything online for Bartow, i will hopefully go up in person next week. So far just been served so have 30 days to answer. 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? no, didnt know it was coming 15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? 30 days from today We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? no questionaiire. (2) defendant indebt in the amt of $1039.82 as principle. (3) def entered into cc agreement w original dreitor acct number ending in 1753 and recieved and use the cc at issue in this action. (4) def breached the cc agreement by failing to pay as agreed and left an outstanding balance of *1039.82. (5) all rights and title to def. cc were legally assigned to plaintiff in writing. (6) def is liable to plaiintiff for sum of $1039.82 principle plus court costs. (7) despite demand by plaintiff, def has failed to pay amt due on cc. 16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. They attached 2 statements from best buy (neither showing new purchases. one was a feb 2015 the other july 2014.) and an affadavit from Beth Groskreutz a Legal Specialist for Midland Credit Management with a bill of sale and assignment from Citibank NA to Atlantic Credit and Finance Special Finance Unit LLC and another bill of sale from CBNA (Citibank) selling to atlantic credit and finance special finance unit llc and a third from atlantic credit and finance special finance unit llc selling to midland funding llc. There is a final page with last 4 of original acct number, original lender name, SSN (blacked out), incorrect DOB, my name, old address, home phone (blacked out), open date, charge off date 1/16/15, sale amt , last payment amt and last payment date 6/5/14. Thanks for any help everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCRP626 Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 @Chaya14 you mentioned in the other thread they included a cardmember agreement or part of one, does it have arbitration in what they included? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted June 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Its attached after one of the statements. I took photos since it is a lot to type but for some reason i cant upload the photos... Best i can do is dropbox link.. theres 3 pages total: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Like i said they were included in the exhibit 2 which had the statement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCRP626 Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Images are sideways so I just did a quick skim. It looks like the typical Citi agreement with small claims exclusion. Here's a thread that lays out doing a Motion To Compel Arbitration with the same agreement you can read. Post back with any questions and the Georgia posters familiar with Magistrate Court can add any details. There are also other recent Magistrate Court with arb threads to check out if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted June 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 Okay so if i am reading all these posts right.. for now just go to the court and deny deny deny all over their paperwork right? Then file a MTC? Or arbitration? Sorry all these terms are new to me and it is still a bit overwhelming trying to figure everything out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BV80 Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 2 hours ago, Chaya14 said: Then file a MTC? Or arbitration? It's the same thing. You'd be filing a Motion to Compel Arbitration. The motion would be to request that the court compel the other party to arbitrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormInGeorgia Posted June 10, 2016 Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 File your Answer document with the court before the due date. Take 3 copies to the court clerk's office. Sign them in front of the clerk and they will stamp all 3 copies. Clerk keeps one and you keep the other 2 for your records. Your Answer document is simply "deny, deny, deny" all their claims. The clerk's office should have a standard Answer document that you can fill out right there since it is not online for your county. Or you can just looks through some of my old posts for simple examples of Answer documents in Magistrate court you can print yourself and take to the courthouse. AFTER you submit your Answer, the court will send you a letter giving you a trial date. Now, go ahead and read the arbitration clause of your agreement and make sure you follow the rules in it to the letter regarding how to initiate Arbitration. Sometimes agreements state you actually have to initiate the process BEFORE your trial date. Others do not. Either way, you need to submit a Motion to Compel Arbitration document before your trial date. You can see an example of the one I used in one of my posts. You have a good case. The alleged debt has been sold twice already. The documentation they have is total garbage that proves nothing. They have no way to prove your specific account was sold by the Original Creditor to a JDB and then was sold to another JDB. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisthardcheese Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 Because this is Magistrate do not get too concerned with specific formats or fancy pleadings. As long as anything you file with the court is legible, it will be accepted. As far as the MTC goes, you are free to file that before your trial, but it won't much matter. Even if you file it well ahead of time and mail a copy to their attorney, when you show up for the trial date the attorney who talks to you will know nothing about it and act completely surprised about the arbitration issue. So whether you file it before the court date or not, you still want to bring 3 copies of everything to court with you. You will want copies of the card agreement, copies of your motion to compel arbitration and copies of your JAMS demand form already filled out and ready to file (but no need to file it just yet). There is a template MTC on many other threads. It is a good guide as to what your motion should look like and include. Essentially you want to show the court that an arb clause exists in the agreement, that you have a right to use arb, and that the court should grant your motion and stay the court action. The sample has case law from the Supreme Court showing that when an arb clause is present, you have an absolute right to have the case heard in arbitration. The good thing is that they gave you this card agreement. That takes away one of the main arguments people run up against when the JDB attorney tried to claim you have the wrong card agreement. They can't say that in your case, since it's the one they provided to you. What they will do is attempt to scare and threaten you by saying that arb will cost a lot of money. If you do your research and reading, you will know that, yes it cost a lot - for THEM - but your costs are capped at $250 and it may be even cheaper or free depending on what the agreement says as to who pays the filing fees. Of course, with Magistrate court, often it never even gets that far as the JDB attorney may agree to just dismiss the case right then and there before you ever even get in front of the judge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted June 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 Thanks so much this all helps tons. What is JAMS? I have looked it up but dont quite get it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtzapper Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 @Chaya14 JAMS is Judicial Arbitration Mediation Services. You can google for more info. Probably the best known arb service of its kind. It is used a lot in big, commercial transactions. Many members are retired judges or lawyers, It cost about $500/hr and up for their services. JDBs hate to arbitrate credit card cases because it is VERY expensive for them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisthardcheese Posted June 21, 2016 Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 On 6/11/2016 at 5:20 PM, debtzapper said: @Chaya14 JAMS is Judicial Arbitration Mediation Services. You can google for more info. Probably the best known arb service of its kind. It is used a lot in big, commercial transactions. Many members are retired judges or lawyers, It cost about $500/hr and up for their services. JDBs hate to arbitrate credit card cases because it is VERY expensive for them. http://www.jamsadr.com/ Banks love to use arbitration firms like JAMS or AAA because they can hide behind them to avoid class action lawsuits. Even though taking a case to arbitration in this matter costs a bank upwards of $100,000 or more, the banks consider this a small price to pay to avoid multi-million dollar class actions. But then along comes a JDB and buys a consumer account from the bank and they are also bound by the arbitration agreement, yet the JDB does not want to pay the thousands and thousands of dollars to arbitrate a case. The JDB would rather eat the few hundred they spent buying your particular account than pay way more than they could ever collect even if they win the arbitration case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtzapper Posted June 22, 2016 Report Share Posted June 22, 2016 20 hours ago, fisthardcheese said: http://www.jamsadr.com/ Banks love to use arbitration firms like JAMS or AAA because they can hide behind them to avoid class action lawsuits. Even though taking a case to arbitration in this matter costs a bank upwards of $100,000 or more, the banks consider this a small price to pay to avoid multi-million dollar class actions. But then along comes a JDB and buys a consumer account from the bank and they are also bound by the arbitration agreement, yet the JDB does not want to pay the thousands and thousands of dollars to arbitrate a case. The JDB would rather eat the few hundred they spent buying your particular account than pay way more than they could ever collect even if they win the arbitration case. Well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Okay so we went and filed our answer today saying there wasnt any prrof sent blah blah deny deny. When i asked about filing a motion to compel arbitration they said magistrate courts dont do those ? So now i am really lost. We are also waiting for the court date in the mail now. Thanks so much for your help so far everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 40 minutes ago, Chaya14 said: When i asked about filing a motion to compel arbitration they said magistrate courts dont do those ? They don't do them in advance. Many states you can file the Motion ahead of trial to circumvent having the trial at all. Not in GA Magistrate Court. It is all done on the day of trial. Go ahead and type of your MTC and bring it with you to the court date. When the court sends you to the hallway to "settle this" so they don't have to the lawyer will attempt to bully you into backing down and signing a stipulated consent judgment. Hold your ground and insist on the judge hearing the MTC arbitration. If they don't dismiss then be ready to argue why your motion should be granted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisthardcheese Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 14 hours ago, Chaya14 said: Okay so we went and filed our answer today saying there wasnt any prrof sent blah blah deny deny. When i asked about filing a motion to compel arbitration they said magistrate courts dont do those ? So now i am really lost. We are also waiting for the court date in the mail now. Thanks so much for your help so far everyone Asking a Magistrate Court clerk for information is the same as asking someone at the DMV, only with a worse attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 13 minutes ago, fisthardcheese said: Asking a Magistrate Court clerk for information is the same as asking someone at the DMV, only with a worse attitude. No kidding... i learned that yesterday good god was she rude. Then she told my husband he wasnt allowed to speak to her bc it had nothing to do with him.. Thank you both for everything so far. So the current plan is to try convince the judge that we want to Motion to compel arbitration bc that is what is in the credit card terms and that there is no documentation proving they have the account in question or that the account in question was used by me right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisthardcheese Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 6 hours ago, Chaya14 said: No kidding... i learned that yesterday good god was she rude. Then she told my husband he wasnt allowed to speak to her bc it had nothing to do with him.. Thank you both for everything so far. So the current plan is to try convince the judge that we want to Motion to compel arbitration bc that is what is in the credit card terms and that there is no documentation proving they have the account in question or that the account in question was used by me right? Don't even get into the merrits of the credit card case. Just keep to the arbitration only. At your court date, the Midland attorney will meet with you in the hall or conference room before you go in front of the judge. Don't admit anything and just keep telling them you are asking for arbitration. Hand them a copy of the MTC and don't entertain any of their scare tactics. They will try to say things like arb doesnt apply to Midland, or it will cost you a lot, or you have the wrong agreement. Just hold firm and let them know you only want to resolve this through arbitration as is your contractual right. Either they will agree to dismiss or they will take it to the judge where you will hand the judge a copy of the MTC and ask him to order the case to private arb per the contract. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Well we just got our court date in the mail... July 28th. So now i am googling and perusing this site to put together a good MTC arbitration. Wish me luck and hopefully I do a good job and can get this all kicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaya14 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 So I am working on the Mtc arbitration now, but i am kind of confused. Most of the other threads i have read have the motion notarized and sent to the lawyers, but ga doesnt do that before court so would i just do the first page showing the agreement and saying we wish to do this bc it is in the agreement and then give the lawyer and the judge a copy the day we go to court instead? I am working on searching the threads for a good letter but havent found a georgia one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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