Austin, TX - I'm about to get served for at least 30k in credit card debt

[austindavid 0]

Hi all,

I am located in Austin, TX in Travis County. I started receiving letters from lawyers last week wanting to represent me in a lawsuit that was filed on 7/20/17 and provided a case number. I looked online but cant find the case with the courts..but I may not be looking for it correctly as I've never been in this situation. I think its probably related to a bank of america credit card that with 30k that could no longer be paid from 3 years ago after financial problems.

I expect to be served any day. I plan to answer with a general denial within 20 days.  I have been reading a lot about this on this and other forums. I am very confused as to how to approach the suit. Been reading about needing to file discovery to get the debt collector to provide, all contracts, all transactions etc. Then others say this is now ineffective.

I'd like to represent myself if possible.  not sure if I should attempt to arbitrate or fight it.

I did talk to a lawyer briefly yesterday who said I need to liquidate all of my bank accts immediately (tomorrow) before getting served and not to answer my door tomorrow morning if someone comes knocking to serve me. I was advised to empty my accts first. I don't have a lot of money so this should be eaay to do.

Unfortunately I have an autoimmune disorder that causes me to get sick when under heavy stress. I'm hoping to calmly and methodically go to court and do what I can.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I just read this article and hope I can determine if this is the way to go or not.

https://toughnickel.com/personal-finance/You-Can-Beat-Credit-Card-Debt-Collectors

 

 

[texasrocker 426]

The advice to empty your bank account(s) is good advice but you should certainly answer your door when the process server knocks.   Hiding from them will not make it go away;  being officially served is inevitable unless you have quit your job and packed up and relocated to another county or state.  We need to know what court the lawsuit was filed in and by which law firm.   The sooner this information becomes available the sooner you can begin taking steps to get it over with. 

The discovery items in the link you provided are terrible.   Sending them will just make you look like an ignorant fool before the court.   I can PM you first set of discovery but it first must be determined what court it is in.  

If it is in Travis County Civil Court then you are probably in the best court in the best county as far as JDB lawsuits are concerned as the judges in both civil courts hate JDB's as much as we do.   If it is in a JP court them you must get the court's approval to begin discovery.

Don't talk to any of the ambulance chasers who are sending you solicitations as they are not adept at beating the JDB and winning the case. They will just want to negotiate a settlement.  If you decide that you want an attorney I can hook you up with one in Austin who has never lost against a JDB in well over 200 cases.  

 

[austindavid 0]

Thank you Texasrocker!

I have been reading a lot of posts from this forum and I was hoping you would see mine.

I'm not going to hide from the process server, I just want to empty my account first thing tomorrow morning before I do get served.

I will provide which  court it will be in as soon as I find out. I'll keep looking online to see if I can find it using the case number.

I appreciate everything and will do everything to avoid a default judgement

 

[BV80 2,610]

2 hours ago, austindavid said:

 

https://toughnickel.com/personal-finance/You-Can-Beat-Credit-Card-Debt-Collectors

 

 

Please don't follow the advice of the whackadoodle in that link.  As @texasrockerhas pointed out, some of the defenses and requests for production are ridiculous and have nothing to do with credit card debt collection lawsuits.

[austindavid 0]

Thanks I thought it sounded way too easy. I guess I just need to wait to get served and go from there.

Should I get O'Connor's Texas Rules * Civil Trials 2017?

[texasrocker 426]

An older or used edition would probably be much less costly but don't get one older than 2013.  That is when the new JP court rules took effect.

[austindavid 0]

Thanks,  I just found a used 2014 edition at a local half priced books store for $7.99. Its on hold for me, I'll get over there today to buy it.

I have a lot to learn, going to try to take this one step at a time, focusing on each next step.

 

[austindavid 0]

The process server attempted to serve me at my house yesterday while I was at work. They left a card on my door with a number to call.

I called this morning and arranged to meet them this Friday afternoon.

And the server read the important parts to me:

The plaintiff is Bank of America

The attorney is Javitch Block LLC

The amount is $27,829.38

Its in Travis County Court #2

The server was actually very nice and tried to be helpful

I plan to answer with a general denial.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

[Clydesmom 1,114]

1 hour ago, austindavid said:

The plaintiff is Bank of America

This is a BIG problem.  You are being sued by an original creditor.  The advice you read on sites like this is based upon suits by junk debt buyers. 

Add to that the amount.  BoA is not scared easily by arbitration and likely will follow you in for that amount of money because it is an even easier victory than court.

1 hour ago, austindavid said:

The amount is $27,829.38

I would be getting a few free consults with consumer and bankruptcy attorneys.  You need to know what all your options are.

[austindavid 0]

Thanks I'm going to try the same tactics as I would with a JDB. I'll keep updating this as I progress. Next is the general denial.

[Goody_Ouchless 412]

@Clydesmom hit nail on proverbial head. 28K OC? Wow.

[BV80 2,610]

2 hours ago, austindavid said:

Thanks I'm going to try the same tactics as I would with a JDB. I'll keep updating this as I progress. Next is the general denial.

It depends upon the tactics.   The standing to sue issue is also out.  Also, OCs usually have documentation and can authenticate it.  

[Harry Seaward 1,216]

4 hours ago, austindavid said:

I'm going to try the same tactics as I would with a JDB.

Tactics against a JDB only work against a JDB because a JDB can't always get a hold of or authenticate an OC's records.  With there being no JDB in the equation, none of the JDB tactics will work against an OC.

The only thing you have going in your favor is the fact that judgment creditors cannot garnish your wages in Texas.

[Seadragon 838]

Just one question, If OC's records are so accurate how come they counteract their position by having the same people who make affidavits for sales of accounts with no guarantee of accuracy for JDBs tr5y to authenticate the records as accurate. Seems to me if You you can find a bill of sale with their witness saying there is no guarantee of accuracy then you could have statement against interest.

[Clydesmom 1,114]

3 hours ago, Seadragon said:

If OC's records are so accurate how come they counteract their position by having the same people who make affidavits for sales of accounts with no guarantee of accuracy for JDBs

They don't guarantee the accuracy of whether the account is able to be collected.  I have not heard of an OC not guaranteeing their records are accurate.

In this case it doesn't matter.  The OC will not need an affidavit to verify their own records as accurate.  They can send an employee who can testify to that and for $30k they most certainly will send a witness.

3 hours ago, Seadragon said:

Seems to me if You you can find a bill of sale with their witness saying there is no guarantee of accuracy then you could have statement against interest.

There is NO bill of sale.  The OP is being sued by BoA the OC.

[texasrocker 426]

10 hours ago, austindavid said:

Thanks I'm going to try the same tactics as I would with a JDB. I'll keep updating this as I progress. Next is the general denial.

That is never going to work.   File a simple general denial but after that you need a good attorney.  The one I mentioned earlier also handles lawsuits from OC's, either finding flaws in order to get it dismissed or negotiating a settlement.    

[texasrocker 426]

12 hours ago, Seadragon said:

 

Hello Seadragon.  Welcome back!

[Goody_Ouchless 412]

12 hours ago, Seadragon said:

Just one question, If OC's records are so accurate how come they counteract their position by having the same people who make affidavits for sales of accounts with no guarantee of accuracy...

Really? We've seen this addressed on appeal - a disclaimer against simple error, like typo, is in no way the same as saying "these records are inaccurate." If I'm not mistaken, every insert in a newspaper advertising "great weekend deals" comes with a similar disclaimer so some wiseacre doesn't insist on getting a car for $190 because a decimal was misprinted.

 

[BV80 2,610]

14 hours ago, Seadragon said:

Just one question, If OC's records are so accurate how come they counteract their position by having the same people who make affidavits for sales of accounts with no guarantee of accuracy for JDBs tr5y to authenticate the records as accurate. Seems to me if You you can find a bill of sale with their witness saying there is no guarantee of accuracy then you could have statement against interest.

As @Goody_Ouchlesshas pointed out, it's merely a disclaimer.  That disclaimer is only provided when the OC sells a portfolio of accounts to another bank or a JDB.  

A disclaimer provided by an OC in a bulk sale of accounts to a JDB  is quite different from an affidavit provided by that OC in regard to one account that it still owns.

[austindavid 0]

On 08/02/2017 at 6:43 AM, texasrocker said:

That is never going to work.   File a simple general denial but after that you need a good attorney.  The one I mentioned earlier also handles lawsuits from OC's, either finding flaws in order to get it dismissed or negotiating a settlement.    

Hi all thanks again

 

texasrocker, can you please PM me the attorney? I think I'm going to need him to help negotiate.

 

Thanks again

[Seadragon 838]

On ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 0:59 AM, Seadragon said:

Just one question, If OC's records are so accurate how come they counteract their position by having the same people who make affidavits for sales of accounts with no guarantee of accuracy for JDBs tr5y to authenticate the records as accurate. Seems to me if You you can find a bill of sale with their witness saying there is no guarantee of accuracy then you could have statement against interest.

I will start a new thread about this lets delve deeper into this. If the banks records are so accurate why are they selling these accounts or is it because their employees are making fake accounts based on past customer data to make their new account quotas every month. Tell me that has never happened before, I dare you.

[h8ing crooked co 0]

Count your blessings, your in Texas.  I was reading & searching for my rights against the LLC's that had sued me.  Look up Jed Shaw from Houston.  The man is a Godsend, spot on &  a wealth of knowledge.   I hope you like what you read.  Houston Bankruptcy Attorney, Jed Shaw.  He is for the people & is highly rated in Austin, San Antonio,  Dallas,  etc... 

Best of Luck.

 

[fisthardcheese 1,224]

On 8/1/2017 at 1:09 PM, Clydesmom said:

 BoA is not scared easily by arbitration and likely will follow you in for that amount of money because it is an even easier victory than court.

 

Considering BoA doesn't even have an arbitration option in their contract, it's irrelevant anyway.  However, the "Arb scare" was a good try.

[austindavid 0]

Thank you for all of your help. I plan on filling my general denial today. Can someone provide a good example of one to use in Travis county? I don't want to go into to many details. Just a simple, brief denial that is in the correct form and will be accepted.

 

Thanks again everyone,

 

[BV80 2,610]

8 minutes ago, austindavid said:

Thank you for all of your help. I plan on filling my general denial today. Can someone provide a good example of one to use in Travis county? I don't want to go into to many details. Just a simple, brief denial that is in the correct form and will be accepted.

 

Thanks again everyone,

 

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/316040-served-yesterday-in-texas-need-help-with-first-step-while-waiting-for-lawyer/?do=findComment&comment=1189788