Sued by Midland Funding, very new to site

[smc1]

Hello,

I have been sued by Midland Funding and I am very new to this site.  I know enough from reading posts to feel that there is a lot of good information here, however please bear with me and I will be grateful to any guidance on where to navigate and how.

I appeared in District Court to dispute the case and have received their Bill of Particulars and now have to file my Grounds of Defense.  

I don't really have a clue where to begin and can use all the help I can get.  

I am in Virginia.

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

 

 

[Harry Seaward]

Answer these questions to help us help you.

https://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/242744-qs-to-answer-when-posting-in-this-forum-please-read/

 

[smc1]

Thank you very much.  If I have any questions with regard to answers, I will indicate that.

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit?  Midland Funding LLC (However, the Attorney for them is actually at Midland Credit Management, Inc., and his cover letter to the Court was written on that letterhead, this is, I believe important, because of the "Pledge/Consumer Bill of Rights" which is on MCM's website at the following link:  https://www.midlandcreditonline.com/who-is-mcm/our-pledge/  which makes a lot of statements about how careful they are, but then they don't offer any proof!  There is no contract.  In addition, they say that they will cease collections if someone is on Social Security, as I am, yet how are they going to find that out if they just sue someone and don't even call them or send them a letter?  Oh yes, and as I mentioned, there is no Contract, however I 'googled' for Credit One's Contracts online, and there is an Arbitration Clause, it is rather complicated, I am not certain if that is something which would be useful)

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.)  Once again, that would be Midland Credit Management, Inc., and an Attorney with them filed the suit as Counsel for the Plaintiff, and this Attorney, along with four other Attorneys, are named with him, as Counsel for the Plaintiff.  Since they in Virginia, but not in my same location, they had a local Attorney, who is in a single-Attorney Office, and only provided his name, P.O. Box, Zip Code and telephone and fax number, I imagine he will be the one who will show up at trial, he was there for the first appearance, when the case was disputed by me.

3. How much are you being sued for?  Approximately $1,000

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff)  Credit One Bank  (it went through several hands before getting to Midland Funding)

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

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door)   The notice was rubber banded to my door, I was home, no one even knocked.

7. Was the service legal as required by your state?  It appears to be.

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?  Absolutely nothing, I received no phone calls (and I have caller ID) and I received no letters (and I receive Informed Delivery from the USPS), therefore, I was deprived of my ability to request Validation/Verification of the debt.

9. What state and county do you live in?  Roanoke County, Virginia

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations)  They claim 7/9/15

11. When did you open the account? (looking to see which agreement/contract may be applied)  They claim 'on or about 12/6/13'

12. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)?  They claim 'on or about 12/6/13'

13. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out:  The link that you provided before states 6 years across the board, for written, oral and open accounts.

Statute of Limitations on Debts

14. 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).  Suit Served, Bill of Particulars finally received (they lied to the Court twice about when they were sent to me and I just received them last week, again, I am on Informed Delivery with the USPS), I have been deprived of a great deal of my Court-allotted time to respond to the Bill of Particulars as a result (they were due 6/6/18, however this firm cannot seem to mail First Class Mail in my state that should take two days and have it take less than one month), and my Grounds of Defense are due on July 11, 2018.

15. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?)  No, however I certainly can do so, I was curious about the Debt Validation/Verification as well, because I was never given an opportunity to do that (I never received a single call or letter).  

16. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request before being sued, it likely won't help create FDCPA violations, but disputing after being sued could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract').  As mentioned above, I did not, because I never received any communication from them, either by phone or letter, and yes, I agree with you, that it would be a good idea to do that, I am not certain how to include it in my Grounds of Defense and Responses.

17. 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?  My written Grounds of Defense is due to be served by mailing, to the Court and the Judge simply indicated the local Attorney, who provided a 'sticky' of his card, by July 11, 2018.

Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits  Wonderful, thank you!

18. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits.  1. A brief Bill of Particulars  2. Affidavits of Bills of Sale to, first, MHC Receivables, LLC, then second to Sherman Originator III, LLC and then finally, third, to Midland Funding, LLC.  No dollar amounts for the transactions, etc. were provided, and there were references only to 'pools' of accounts, and I read on this site that this is in violation of the CFPB Fines and Order of Consent.  In addition, and please, someone correct me if I am wrong, the Affidavits could possibly be in violation of 'hearsay' rules?  3. One page referred to as 'Field Data', which consisted of information anyone could have typed up, and probably obtained about me.  4. Two snapshots of Statements, which I had never seen before, one for the month of June - July 2015 and the other for the month of January - February 2016.  The only 'transaction' was a payment, from an unspecified person and an unspecified debit card.

19. Read this article:

Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits

Thank you so much, and if you wish me to add any files, I will be happy to redact them (even more than they did!) and attach them.

I am very grateful for your help, and I hope this can get the ball rolling, I was reading like crazy, but had no clue what to do or how to put all of this together.

 

====================================================

If you are inquiring about a the best way to sue someone, you need to answer the following questions (as much as possible):

1. Who are you suing?

2. How old is the debt?

3. If the person harrassing you about the debt is a collection agency, Is the debt being reported on your credit report?

4. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) This means you wrote or called Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

5. Has the collection agency sent you a letter, called you on the phone? How did you learn about the collection?

6. What state are you in?

7. What kind of debt is this? (credit car, auto loan, student loan)

8. What kind of violations do you THINK the collection agency has committed? What section of the FDCPA do you think has been violated...

============================================

By answering these questions, you will really get more help. If other people have more suggestions for questions, let me know.

•  

[smc1]

Back to 17. and the 'Charges' in the Bill of Particulars, they are listed as follows:

1.   On or about December 06, 2013 Defendant opened an account for credit with the Plaintiff's predecessor-in-interest, namely CREDIT ONE BANK, N.A., Account No(s): XXXXXXXX.

2    Defendant used such account failed to make payments as agreed.

3.   On or about March 28, 2016, Plaintiff purchased the right to pursue this claim from its predecessor-in-interest.

4.   Defendant failed to satisfy this debt and is therefore indebted to Plaintiff in the amount of $1,0XX.XX

5.   Attached hereto are documents supporting Plaintiff's above claim.

And their only documents 'supporting Plaintiff's above claim' were the Affidavits of 'pooled accounts', the printout that anyone could have created, and the two statement snapshots.

Thank you again.  Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.  Oh yes, I read the section you provided on proper service, and I am not sure what to make of them simply rubber banding it to your Apartment Door without even checking to see if you are home or if it is the correct person or Apartment, so I will contact someone about that.  And one final note for the moment, it may not be relevant, however it would appear that the total they are 'claiming' is almost half interest.

[smc1]

As a follow-up, this morning I found on this site at the link I am pasting below a list of Consumer Protection Attorneys in my State (I had also checked the NACA website previously).  There is no one listed locally, however I contacted the first one and they said they were dealing with a class action suit and recommended that I call another Attorney who was also in their locale (not mine, just my State, as they were), so I did and she answered and was very impatient and rude and said 'I would charge you more than the debt, just call them and settle with them'.  Well, I called Midland Credit Management, Inc., who is the company that is the Counsel for the Plaintiff and got nowhere, they will not even put you through to the Attorney nor give you their phone number and they gave me an incorrect email address (which I thought better of using anyway).

I would appreciate any input on this, I realize this is a Holiday week, however I am grateful to all help and advice, I simply do not know much about the Grounds of Defense (the link provided was helpful, however I do not know if I have other Grounds of Defense or Responses to include, if I should include any other information or documentation or simply, as they did, mention that I reserve the right to 'add to, amend and/or alter' my Grounds of Defense, 'up to and during the trial' (I have quotes around the exact words the Plaintiff used to end their Bill of Particulars).

Thank you in advance.

https://www.creditinfocenter.com/legal/lawyers.shtml

 

 

[Harry Seaward]

Arbitration is going to be your best shot at making this go away. The biggest problem you'll have to overcome is the "small claims" exception from the Credit One agreement. 

https://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/329436-arbitration-overview-and-strategy-2018-most-up-to-date-info/

 

[smc1]

Thank you so much for your reply and the link you have provided, I am still absorbing it all so please bear with me if I mention something that I will discover in this information, I have saved the information you have provided as a PDF on my computer.  

I had thought that the Arbitration clause might be useful, and again, there is no contract, so I simply 'googled' for it and saved it to my computer as a PDF.

I spoke with an individual today who is familiar with Midland Funding, LLC, his company is rated A+ by the BBB, however he is not an Attorney, it was a brief 15 minute telephone session, and I have a 'free consultation' with a local Attorney on Thursday (who, unless he is extremely kind and gracious and perhaps thinks there is something he could go after in terms of a violation/violations, I could probably not afford to hire him, however I am seeking all the help and counsel that I can).  The person I spoke with today that I mentioned (not an Attorney, however someone who has written a lot about Midland Funding, and in fact, that was how I found my way to Midland Credit Management, Inc.'s website with their 'Pledge and Consumer Bill of Rights' which I mentioned and provided a link to above.)  He said that was good, because it was out there for the world to see, that they will not pursue people on Social Security and more and felt that was my 'slam-dunk' (his words, not mine, and again, I emphasize he is not an Attorney) in this situation.

Now, my question to you is this, do you think it is best to simply answer the Grounds of Defense in as brief and general a form as possible as I mentioned above (and with the help of the link that you provided, they didn't have much in the way of questions, as you can see, where I itemized their 'Bill of Particulars'), and then also add the language at the bottom of my Grounds of Defense that state, just as they did, that I reserve the right to 'add to, amend and/or alter' my Grounds of Defense, 'up to and during the trial'?  What has had me fractured over this is all of the reading and research I have done and knowing that I must meet this deadline for the Grounds of Defense.  I have scads of tabs open on my computer, and have converted so many webpages to PDF's and put them into a few, prioritized folders!  The bottom line is, I do not want to 'lose' my right to add things, or file things, however I am also concerned about getting the Grounds of Defense timely filed.  I do not know if it is best to try to do it all in one shot, that worries me, knowing how to do it properly, because I don't want anything I do to be 'thrown out' for being improperly filed.  

I just don't want to 'miss out' on my opportunity to pursue either compelling arbitration or bringing in other information, however I am not certain whether it is wise or even appropriate to try to do that in one's Grounds of Defense, or whether to add it later.  Just as I do not know much about 'affirmative defenses'.

Again, any input on this will be gratefully appreciated.  I thank you so very much for all the help that you have provided thus far, and I hope my comments, questions and concerns are clear.  Thank you so much again, I appreciate so much your help! 

 

 

 

[Harry Seaward]

Is SS your only source of income? True to their word, evey time someone from here has told them they are on SS or unemployed, etc,  Midland has dismissed their lawsuit. That's the first thing I would pursue if I were you. 

[smc1]

Yes it is my sole source of income, and that is what the person I spoke with today over the phone said, he was not an Attorney, however he referred to it as my 'slam-dunk' because they had it on their website and were proclaiming it to the world (frankly, I would never say that anything is a 'slam-dunk' in a legal matter, however again, this person was not an Attorney, but a person familiar with Midland Funding, et al, and giving me his opinion based upon familiarity with them).  I have been on Social Security Disability since 2003, however I do not qualify for any Legal Aid or any other assistance, believe me, I have checked!  That is why having an Attorney to represent me is very difficult here, I had one Attorney say they would have to charge me half the amount of the claim and another one yell at me this morning that she would charge more than the amount of the claim!

With regard to pursuing this aspect, would you suggest bringing it up to them, for example in a phone call as I had tried to do today, however I couldn't even talk with the Attorney, which made me a little uncomfortable, they wouldn't even give me his phone number!  I just don't trust these folks, from the way they have behaved thus far, I am 'leery' of them.  Or put it in my Grounds of Defense, or using the very same 'disclaimer' that they used, that I reserve the right to 'add to, amend and/or alter' my Grounds of Defense, 'up to and during the trial' and include it then?  I simply don't know what the appropriate strategy would be.  Everything I have read says 'tell them nothing', 'make them do the work' and the like, however to have something like that on your website, and sue someone you have never even talked to or reached out to is part of the problem here.  So I am a bit flummoxed as to the best way to approach it.  I just don't know if it is something to proclaim in my Grounds of Defense, or to try again to reach out in some way outside of Court, where I could then also bring that documentation, eg., perhaps a notice that I send to them, for example, separate from my Grounds for Defense (which I would file with the disclaimer at the bottom that I mentioned) to the Court, so that if they did not drop things, it could be introduced.  Perhaps putting it in writing would be best?  Just as one would go about with a Debt Verification/Validation?  And then I would have a record of it for Court.

Once again, I will be very grateful for your input, you have been wonderful, thank you so much!  And I am so glad that you see some hope here in this avenue and that they do abide by it, I imagine it is not because they are simply 'nice folks', but probably part of something they struck with the CFPB, etc. with regard to sanctions and fines.  However, that doesn't matter, I simply want the proper result!

 

 

[Debtguy393939]

Interesting to see someone say Midland never reached out to them. They must have had a bad address and no phone numbers for you, or you may have told them or Credit One to  never call or write you (cease and desist or dnc).  Midland probably calls the most and sends the most letters out of any debt buyer. Not to mention they credit report and if you are this far along this has been on your credit report for a while. When it reported I would have personally called them and told them your situation. I believe they require proof, but as others have mentioned it appears to work 100% of the time if you have proof you are on ssi disability. Good luck!

[smc1]

No, I never spoke with them or Credit One with the exception of the conversation that I referenced above that I made to Midland Credit Management, Inc., the Company whose Attorneys are representing Midland Funding, LLC in order to speak with the Attorney, that conversation was yesterday, July 3, 2018, and after I learned about what was posted on their website as their 'Pledge/Consumer Bill of Rights'.

I cannot speak to other individual's experiences, simply try to learn from them, and you can be certain I was shocked to read so much about how aggressive they are because that wasn't the case with me.  I have caller ID and I never received a call from Midland Funding, LLC or Midland Credit Management, Inc., I tend not to answer calls from numbers that do not identify themselves that I don't recognize because even on a 'do not call list' there are so many solicitations that one receives.  And I am on Informed Delivery with the USPS, the person I spoke with at Midland Credit Management, Inc. said 'Wow, I've never heard of that', so perhaps they will be more careful about how they send legal papers from now on as there were discrepancies between what they sent to the Court (which the Court kindly faxed to me) and and what they (finally) sent me that I received last week as well as when.

And yes, it is very easy to print out the Official Statement from Social Security, it is used to present proof to anyone who needs it, all I have to do is sign into my account at SSA.gov.

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by smc1
I had hoped Debtguy393939 was trying to be helpful & gave user the benefit of the doubt & thanked user & liked their post only to see they are 'laughing' at me to the users who were attacking me today.

[Harry Seaward]

Call Midland back and tell the person you speak to that you are on SS and you see on their website that they will cease trying to collect from people in your situation.  

[smc1]

Thank you, I believe I will as a result of  your encouragement to do so.  I took the individual's first and last name, and he said he was making note of our conversation.  He said 'would you like to start the hardship process', and given that their website appears to be one where people are 'clients' with regard to paying debts, I felt 'leery' of continuing with anything over the phone with this individual, I was trying to contact the Attorney for the case to bring it up with him directly.  He was clearly able to pull their lawsuit against me up by not only the Case number with the District Court, but their Internal Case Number which was printed on their cover letter for the Bill of Particulars.  As I said, I wasn't certain if it was alright to talk with him or if he would be trying to 'finagle' more information than was needed or required, given that this was a pending suit in Court.  And as I said, he would not put me through to the Attorney, or provide me with their phone number, and the email address I was provided was incorrect (and I thought better of communicating that way anyway).  I do have a fax number for them, however I most certainly will call back, mention who I spoke with, explain the situation again, and ask them first off, what their procedure is for this.

Thank you so much for the reassurance to follow-up with them again.  As I believe I said, I just felt like saying 'Look, this is a big waste of everyone's time', not to mention an extremely upsetting experience for me, however, because I didn't know if they were true to their words on this until you indicated that they were, although it was out there for the world to see, and I was concerned about trusting them and giving them information that they were either perhaps not entitled to and/or could use against me, etc.

You have made me feel much better about that!

 

 

[smc1]

I just wanted to provide you with an update, I have of course been working on this very hard.

 

I finally obtained the direct line to the Attorney for MCM, Inc., Counsel for Midland Funding, LLC and I called him this morning.  He was very nice and said that he would be willing to dismiss the case with prejudice for my being on Social Security, and he said he didn't even need my Official SS statement, which I had saved as a PDF, or my Medicare card, which I had scanned and saved as a PDF.  All he wanted was a brief summary for their file.

 

He agreed with me that this was a waste of everyone's time and energy, and in my case emotional distress as well.

 

I had stated to him that I would like three things, first, the dismissal with prejudice, second, deletion from my Credit report as a 'Collection', and third, an agreement not to 'assign/sell/etc.' again.  He stated that he was unable to do the second or third, as that was within Midland Funding, LLC's realm, not his, however he was happy to dismiss the case with prejudice.

 

I would think that providing to the Credit Bureaus the dismissal and disputing it may remove it from my Credit Report, which is not something that I spend a lot of time looking at anyway, however I am not certain about that.  If anyone here is familiar with that aspect, I would certainly appreciate the information.  

 

Perhaps I am leaving things on the table here, as I suspect there were violations.  However this is a headache, a nuisance as well as distressing to me and I am not an Attorney and can't afford one, so this may be the best way to go, that is how I see it at this point.

 

I do have my Grounds of Defense drafted, so if the case is not dismissed with prejudice, I will certainly file them before the deadline.

 

Thank you all again, I appreciate so much your help and responses and look forward to any additional comments/suggestions that you may have!

[Goody_Ouchless]

1 hour ago, smc1 said:

Perhaps I am leaving things on the table here, as I suspect there were violations

Skated on a debt and are still looking for more. Talk about the entitlement generation!

[smc1]

Excuse me Goody_Ouchless? 

I think that, first of all, you have not read my entire thread, and, second, there is much more that you are unaware of that I did not even get into here.  I am not looking for anything, however I do suspect that there were violations.  If I were to seek an Attorney's advice, they would be the ones would collect, not me.

You are making a lot of assumptions.

In addition, you have no right to accuse me of having 'skated on a debt and still looking for more'. 

Further, I am no 'Millennial', I assure you. 

Up until now, I have been very impressed with this forum, your post has changed my opinion, however not with any of the other individuals who have been extremely helpful.

As I have stated, I am new to this site, so I do not at this point know how to report your post, however from the 'Pinned' Admin portion for new users, the following is stated:  Public personal attacks, flaming, name calling, and trolling are not allowed. This is not a  chatroom. We are all adults here. Bickering should be done via PM but not to the extent that it could be deemed harassment.

I am saving this as a PDF.

 

 

 

[smc1]

Excuse me Goody_Ouchless? 

I think that, first of all, you have not read my entire thread, and, second, there is much more that you are unaware of that I did not even get into here.  I am not looking for anything, however I do suspect that there were violations.  If I were to seek an Attorney's advice, they would be the ones would collect, not me.

You are making a lot of assumptions.

In addition, you have no right to accuse me of having 'skated on a debt and still looking for more'. 

Further, I am no 'Millennial', I assure you. 

Up until now, I have been very impressed with this forum, your post has changed my opinion, however not with any of the other individuals who have been extremely helpful.

As I have stated, I am new to this site, so I do not at this point know how to report your post, however from the 'Pinned' Admin portion for new users, the following is stated:  Public personal attacks, flaming, name calling, and trolling are not allowed. This is not a  chatroom. We are all adults here. Bickering should be done via PM but not to the extent that it could be deemed harassment.

I am saving this as a PDF.

 

 

 

[smc1]

Goody_Ouchless , I was able to determine how to report your post and I am sorry to say that I have done so.

I have also rated the other individuals who have been very helpful to me.

 

 

[Clydesmom]

On 7/2/2018 at 8:58 PM, smc1 said:

And their only documents 'supporting Plaintiff's above claim' were the Affidavits of 'pooled accounts', the printout that anyone could have created, and the two statement snapshots.

That is more than enough in just about all states for them to win.  You mentioned a contract in one of your posts not being there which is a common rookie mistake. There is no contract in a credit card case and the courts know it.  Waste of time arguing it.

On 7/3/2018 at 6:56 PM, smc1 said:

Or put it in my Grounds of Defense, or using the very same 'disclaimer' that they used, that I reserve the right to 'add to, amend and/or alter' my Grounds of Defense, 'up to and during the trial' and include it then?

Your defenses should have been listed when you answered the suit.  Virginia does not use a "grounds for defense" in their filings. Examples of affirmative defenses would be the statute of limitations is expired or identity theft.  Being on social security and a creditor not being able to garnish funds or levy accounts is not a LEGAL defense in the courts.  Midland choosing to drop the matter as it is pointless is a CHOICE not a legal issue.  It is nothing more than a smart business move on their part to not throw good money after bad.

Based on reading your entire thread I do not see that you have any affirmative defenses to the suit and using the hardship angle to get a dismissal is your best course of action.

2 hours ago, smc1 said:

I would think that providing to the Credit Bureaus the dismissal and disputing it may remove it from my Credit Report,

You are wrong.  First:  if the case had actually been tried and the court ruled you did not owe the debt THAT would get it removed.  Midland voluntarily dropping the case even with prejudice means NOTHING to the credit bureaus.  No ruling stating it is not your debt or you don't owe it and it can report till the end of the 7 year SOL.

Second:  Midland has a hard line stance against deleting.  They will report to the bitter end especially considering they had to drop this suit and have zero chance of collecting.   Whether it reports or not should be the least of your concerns.

2 hours ago, smc1 said:

Perhaps I am leaving things on the table here, as I suspect there were violations.  However this is a headache, a nuisance as well as distressing to me and I am not an Attorney and can't afford one, so this may be the best way to go, that is how I see it at this point.

Based on what you posted:  NO.  If you had violations one of those attorneys would have stepped up and taken the case on contingency meaning no cost to you.  They didn't which means the chances are excellent it is nothing more than a straight up consumer debt case.  The days of violations for counter claims making a case dismiss are LONG over.  Plus, you need WAY more than your suspicion there were violations.  Proof is absolutely necessary and that burden is squarely on you.

22 minutes ago, smc1 said:

In addition, you have no right to accuse me of having 'skated on a debt and still looking for more'. 

I did read your entire thread and quite frankly you should read what you wrote more objectively.  You opened a credit card, ran the debt up and defaulted DESPITE being on disability and limited income.  Now a JDB is trying to collect and through a hardship program and being on disability you will not have to pay. You ARE skating on that debt.   Yet that is not good enough for you.  You actually want your entire mistake erased so that you can potentially clean up your credit report and do it again.  There is NO other reason to delete it.  It NEEDS to report to the bitter end.  Clearly by asking for that deletion  you have learned nothing in this brief lawsuit.  

25 minutes ago, smc1 said:

Further, I am no 'Millennial', I assure you. 

That is worse.  Surely at your age you knew better than to open a credit card on disability with limited income and run up a debt you could not pay.  

26 minutes ago, smc1 said:

Public personal attacks, flaming, name calling, and trolling are not allowed. This is not a  chatroom. We are all adults here. Bickering should be done via PM but not to the extent that it could be deemed harassment.

NONE of that happened.  Feel free to report my post as well.  We often hear the statements you made when a poster is told what they don't want to hear.  @Goody_Ouchless didn't attack you.  They expressed an opinion of your intentions and actions.  That is very much allowed here even if you don't like it or agree with it.

28 minutes ago, smc1 said:

I am saving this as a PDF.

Feel free to paper the walls with it.  No one cares.

[smc1]

Clydesmom , after having a very good experience on this site, things are certainly deteriorating. 

No one here knows all of the facts except myself, I was trying to keep my responses to the point and to be responsive to the specific questions.  I came here for help, and with the exception of two individuals, including yourself, I have received a lot of help.

I should probably not even waste my time responding to you, and I will move on from doing so with others who are completely unhelpful, that is not why I came here and I have better things to do with my time, I would think you would as well.

  On 7/2/2018 at 11:58 PM, smc1 said:

And their only documents 'supporting Plaintiff's above claim' were the Affidavits of 'pooled accounts', the printout that anyone could have created, and the two statement snapshots.

That is more than enough in just about all states for them to win.  You mentioned a contract in one of your posts not being there which is a common rookie mistake. There is no contract in a credit card case and the courts know it.  Waste of time arguing it.  My statement was referencing that there was no Contract with the claimed original creditor, Period.  I also referenced a post on this site in which mention simply of 'pooled accounts' was a violation of Sanctions and Fines against Midland Funding and I saved that information.  Those are just two of the items I was referring to.

  On 7/3/2018 at 9:56 PM, smc1 said:

Or put it in my Grounds of Defense, or using the very same 'disclaimer' that they used, that I reserve the right to 'add to, amend and/or alter' my Grounds of Defense, 'up to and during the trial' and include it then?

Your defenses should have been listed when you answered the suit.  Virginia does not use a "grounds for defense" in their filings. Examples of affirmative defenses would be the statute of limitations is expired or identity theft.  Being on social security and a creditor not being able to garnish funds or levy accounts is not a LEGAL defense in the courts.  Midland choosing to drop the matter as it is pointless is a CHOICE not a legal issue.  It is nothing more than a smart business move on their part to not throw good money after bad.  You are incorrect about Virginia law, at least with regard to my case.  I still have not reached the deadline for filing my Grounds of Defense, and I was provided a sheet which the Judge made notes on for doing so, I have already appeared in Court and disputed the debt.  I only received Midland Fundings Bill of Particulars at the end of last week.  If the Attorney at MCM, Inc. does not dismiss the case with prejudice as promised which he stated he is happy to do this morning, and I will be happy to have this ordeal over with, my Grounds of Defense will be filed and the matter will be pursued and I have read a lot and had helpful comments here as well with regard to 'affirmative defenses', arbitration being included as I a 'googled' Contract for their claimed original creditor, 'hearsay rules' in Virginia and more.  I never claimed that being on Social Security was a 'Defense', I brought up what I found on MCM, Inc., the Attorney for the Plaintiff's website, and I would imagine that they are not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts but most likely as a result of sanctions/fines and more in the past from all that I have read specifically on this Forum.  However, that is neither here nor there, I was glad to find it, and the other things mentioned in their Pledge/Consumer Bill of Rights, and I was further very pleased with how well my conversation with Midland's Attorney went this morning, he was in fact very nice, and I am truly grateful that I was encouraged, on this Forum, to call them back, as when I first contacted them on July 3rd, the person I spoke with at that time was unable to provide me with the Attorney's direct line and gave me an incorrect email address, that was corrected this morning and I got through just fine.

Based on reading your entire thread I do not see that you have any affirmative defenses to the suit and using the hardship angle to get a dismissal is your best course of action.  See above, the Attorney for Midland Funding happily agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice.

  2 hours ago, smc1 said:

I would think that providing to the Credit Bureaus the dismissal and disputing it may remove it from my Credit Report,

You are wrong.  First:  if the case had actually been tried and the court ruled you did not owe the debt THAT would get it removed.  Midland voluntarily dropping the case even with prejudice means NOTHING to the credit bureaus.  No ruling stating it is not your debt or you don't owe it and it can report till the end of the 7 year SOL.  I should have clarified, and I almost did add that to my post so that it would not be misinterpreted, what I was referring to was the 'Collection' by Midland on my Credit report.  I intend to dispute that anyway, with the Court Dismissal with Prejudice, I was not referring to their claimed original creditor, although I might do that as well.

Second:  Midland has a hard line stance against deleting.  They will report to the bitter end especially considering they had to drop this suit and have zero chance of collecting.   Whether it reports or not should be the least of your concerns.  Thank you for your opinion.  The way I see it, it can't hurt to try with regard to the 'Collection' by Midland Funding, again, that is what I was referring to, as it will be dismissed in Court with Prejudice.  I once, many, many years ago, had a Judgment reported on my Credit report for a Civil Case that had nothing to do with Credit cards, Lexis-Nexis reported it, not knowing that it had been Appealed and Dismissed, and when I provided the Appeal and Dismissal from Circuit Court, it was removed.  

  2 hours ago, smc1 said:

Perhaps I am leaving things on the table here, as I suspect there were violations.  However this is a headache, a nuisance as well as distressing to me and I am not an Attorney and can't afford one, so this may be the best way to go, that is how I see it at this point.

Based on what you posted:  NO.  If you had violations one of those attorneys would have stepped up and taken the case on contingency meaning no cost to you.  They didn't which means the chances are excellent it is nothing more than a straight up consumer debt case.  The days of violations for counter claims making a case dismiss are LONG over.  Plus, you need WAY more than your suspicion there were violations.  Proof is absolutely necessary and that burden is squarely on you.  I am not sure what Attorneys you are referring to, I have not met with a single Attorney, I had a five minute conversation with an Attorney on the opposite side of the State who screamed at me, without hearing any facts or seeing any papers, that she would charge me more than the Debt and to call and settle with them.  That certainly does not count as a 'Consultation'.  No one has reviewed my papers or case.  I set up a free Consultation this afternoon with a local Attorney who I was referred to on July 3rd by a local Attorney who I knew was well respected by name, he did not practice in this area so they referred me to this individual, however given the results of my conversation with the Midland Attorney I called them today and said that I would be prepared to file my Grounds of Defense by the deadline and let them know if the case was not dismissed with prejudice as promised.  They were very courteous and understood and are willing to see me if needed.  Once again, it would appear you either misconstrued my comments or misunderstood them.

  30 minutes ago, smc1 said:

In addition, you have no right to accuse me of having 'skated on a debt and still looking for more'. 

I did read your entire thread and quite frankly you should read what you wrote more objectively.  You opened a credit card, ran the debt up and defaulted DESPITE being on disability and limited income.  Now a JDB is trying to collect and through a hardship program and being on disability you will not have to pay. You ARE skating on that debt.   Yet that is not good enough for you.  You actually want your entire mistake erased so that you can potentially clean up your credit report and do it again.  There is NO other reason to delete it.  It NEEDS to report to the bitter end.  Clearly by asking for that deletion  you have learned nothing in this brief lawsuit.  I never stated that I opened a credit card.  I never stated I defaulted.  I never stated that I had a debt.  You, along with the other individual on this Forum, have been attacking me based upon your own assumptions.  All that I was referring to with regard to 'violations' in their actions against me, if there were any, eg., with the FDCPA, etc., is that I have read that there are Attorneys who will take those cases because they can resolve them and get paid and as stated, I have not even met with any Attorney yet or had any Consultation.  I was not saying that anything would go to me.  I have been grossly misinterpreted there and attacked now not only by the first individual who brought that up but you as well.

  30 minutes ago, smc1 said:

Further, I am no 'Millennial', I assure you. 

That is worse.  Surely at your age you knew better than to open a credit card on disability with limited income and run up a debt you could not pay.  See above.

  30 minutes ago, smc1 said:

Public personal attacks, flaming, name calling, and trolling are not allowed. This is not a  chatroom. We are all adults here. Bickering should be done via PM but not to the extent that it could be deemed harassment.

NONE of that happened.  Feel free to report my post as well.  We often hear the statements you made when a poster is told what they don't want to hear.  @Goody_Ouchless didn't attack you.  They expressed an opinion of your intentions and actions.  That is very much allowed here even if you don't like it or agree with it.

  30 minutes ago, smc1 said:

Feel free to paper the walls with it.  No one cares.  Perhaps you would if it happened to you.

 

[Brotherskeeper]

4 hours ago, smc1 said:

I finally obtained the direct line to the Attorney for MCM, Inc., Counsel for Midland Funding, LLC and I called him this morning.  He was very nice and said that he would be willing to dismiss the case with prejudice for my being on Social Security, and he said he didn't even need my Official SS statement, which I had saved as a PDF, or my Medicare card, which I had scanned and saved as a PDF.  All he wanted was a brief summary for their file.

Please keep us posted on the outcome of your case. I hope Midland honors its hardship exception as pledged. 

[smc1]

Thank you so much, will do, I appreciate the good wishes!

 

[Goody_Ouchless]

5 hours ago, smc1 said:

I finally obtained the direct line to the Attorney for MCM, Inc., Counsel for Midland Funding, LLC and I called him this morning.  He was very nice and said that he would be willing to dismiss the case with prejudice for my being on Social Security, and he said he didn't even need my Official SS statement, which I had saved as a PDF, or my Medicare card, which I had scanned and saved as a PDF.  All he wanted was a brief summary for their file.

This is what should be a sticky, or a signature, whatever, from this thread. It's stories like this that counter the persistent legend that major debt buyers spend their time forging evidence and intentionally suing the wrong people.

[Clydesmom]

2 hours ago, smc1 said:

My statement was referencing that there was no Contract with the claimed original creditor, Period.  I also referenced a post on this site in which mention simply of 'pooled accounts' was a violation of Sanctions and Fines against Midland Funding and I saved that information.  Those are just two of the items I was referring to.

Wow. The depth of your ignorance grows.  Good think Midland is dropping this cause you make a HORRIBLE pro-se litigant.  There is NO contract with the original creditor in a credit card case either.  Makes NO difference that Midland is stepping in to their place.  The court will NOT look for a signed contract on a Credit One account.  As for the pooled accounts:  ALL bad debts are bought as a pool of accounts.  They are no longer allowed to simply say that.  They have to prove YOUR account was in the pool  The affidavit they submitted that it is included is enough for the majority of courts and specifically Virginia.

2 hours ago, smc1 said:

I never stated that I opened a credit card.  I never stated I defaulted.  I never stated that I had a debt. 

Then why are you being sued?  If you didn't open this account and use  it why have you not filed a police report and a FACTA report for identity theft?  Are you claiming they randomly picked you out of all consumers and chose to sue you?

2 hours ago, smc1 said:

All that I was referring to with regard to 'violations' in their actions against me, if there were any, eg., with the FDCPA, etc.,

WHAT violations?  Based on what you posted there are none.  Other than your imagination.

[willingtocope]

Okay, enough.

smc1 … your original questions were answered and the advice you've been given is correct.  If your only income is social security and you've talked to Midland's lawyer, then in all likely hood your case will be dismissed.  But, if the debt is legitimate, it probably won't be removed from your credit reports.  It is unlikely that Midland will resell it...but...you do need to keep watch.  You have no grounds for forcing Midland to do anything.