Setupisloading Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Hello everyone, A few days ago i received some paperwork saying i have been sued by portfolio recovery and that i need to send an answer within 20 days i have no clue what they need. Can someone please explain to me what i need to do and possibly beat the case. Additional Information 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? - Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Attorney Stephen Jones 3. How much are you being sued for? - $2,261.95 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) - Synchrony Bank / CONNS 5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) - Processor server handed them to me at my door 6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) - In person 7. Was the service legal as required by your state? - Yes 8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? - None never spoke to or had any sort of communication with Portfolio Recovery 9. What state and county do you live in? - Texas, Polk County 10. When is the last time you paid for this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) - May 18, 2015 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? - May 29, 2014 12. What is the SOL on the debt? - 4 years 13. 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 Filed 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) - No, I have not disputed the debt with the credit bureaus both the original and current collectors. 15. 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 could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). - No, I have not requested debt validation. 16. 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? - I was given 20 from the time it was served 8-10-18 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. - The Evidence I was sent are as listed: - An Affidavit - Plaintiff's first discovery request Request for Disclosure Request for production Request for admissions Plaintiffs first set of interrogatories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasrocker Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 What court is it in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Synchrony has the best arbitration clause in their card agreements. You would need to raise arbitration as an affirmative defense in your answer. A motion to compel arbitration would have to be filed. Once that is done that enables you to answer their discovery with a denial and lack of jurisdiction because you have invoked private contractual arbitration. PRA typically dismisses and drops the matter after a MTC is approved by the courts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setupisloading Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 3 hours ago, texasrocker said: What court is it in? County court at law court of Polk County Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setupisloading Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 54 minutes ago, Clydesmom said: Synchrony has the best arbitration clause in their card agreements. You would need to raise arbitration as an affirmative defense in your answer. A motion to compel arbitration would have to be filed. Once that is done that enables you to answer their discovery with a denial and lack of jurisdiction because you have invoked private contractual arbitration. PRA typically dismisses and drops the matter after a MTC is approved by the courts. How do I go about doing that ? I'm sorry I have no clue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 59 minutes ago, Setupisloading said: How do I go about doing that ? I'm sorry I have no clue If they sued you in County Court not Justice Court then you need to either hire a lawyer or start studying up on how to defend yourself. It isn't impossible to defend yourself but does require a LOT of work on your part to learn how to draft and file documents with the court and look up case law to support your defense(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setupisloading Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 13 minutes ago, Clydesmom said: If they sued you in County Court not Justice Court then you need to either hire a lawyer or start studying up on how to defend yourself. It isn't impossible to defend yourself but does require a LOT of work on your part to learn how to draft and file documents with the court and look up case law to support your defense(s). Is there a certain kind of lawyer that handles these kind of cases ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Setupisloading said: Is there a certain kind of lawyer that handles these kind of cases ? Consumer Lawyers is your best bet. There is a great one in the DFW area Jerry Jarzombek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setupisloading Posted August 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 Just now, Clydesmom said: Consumer Lawyers is your best bet. There is a great one in the DFW area Jerry Jarzombek. I dont have a problem paying them a monthly payment at the time I was going through a divorce and didnt have the funds to make the payments. Would it be a bad idea to just call them and see if somthing could be worked out ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted August 15, 2018 Report Share Posted August 15, 2018 1 minute ago, Setupisloading said: I dont have a problem paying them a monthly payment at the time I was going through a divorce and didnt have the funds to make the payments. Would it be a bad idea to just call them and see if somthing could be worked out ? I would pay Jerry before PRA. Jerry will do a free consult. Call his office before you make any decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasrocker Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 You do not have to hire an attorney to pursue arbitration just because you were sued in a county court. That doesn't even make sense. @fisthardcheese has helped many newcomers here work their way through it. One of the worst things you could do is "call them and try to work something out." Never call a JDB for any reason under any circumstances. If you are near the DFW area and do wish to hire an attorney then Jerry Jarzombek is a very good choice. You are much better off in a county court these days than a JP court. If you wish to try this case in court I can assist you with the proper motions and responses and provide you with a set of discovery items that they will not want to answer. Regardless of how you decide to handle this it is imperative that you file a general denial immediately- DEFENDANT'S ORIGINAL ANSWER Comes now, (your name), the Defendant in the above styled and numbered cause and files this Original Answer in this action and would respectfully show the following: I. GENERAL DENIAL Defendant generally denies each and every, all and singular, of the allegations set forth in the Plaintiff's Original Petition and demands that the Plaintiff proves same by the preponderance of credible evidence. II. PRAYER Wherefore Defendant requests judgment of the Court that Plaintiff takes nothing from the Defendant and the Defendant be granted any further relief that he (or she) is justly entitled to. Use the same format of the petition that you were served with the case and court information at the top. Send a copy via certified mail to the attorney's office who filed the lawsuit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setupisloading Posted August 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 9 hours ago, texasrocker said: You do not have to hire an attorney to pursue arbitration just because you were sued in a county court. That doesn't even make sense. @fisthardcheese has helped many newcomers here work their way through it. One of the worst things you could do is "call them and try to work something out." Never call a JDB for any reason under any circumstances. If you are near the DFW area and do wish to hire an attorney then Jerry Jarzombek is a very good choice. You are much better off in a county court these days than a JP court. If you wish to try this case in court I can assist you with the proper motions and responses and provide you with a set of discovery items that they will not want to answer. Regardless of how you decide to handle this it is imperative that you file a general denial immediately- DEFENDANT'S ORIGINAL ANSWER Comes now, (your name), the Defendant in the above styled and numbered cause and files this Original Answer in this action and would respectfully show the following: I. GENERAL DENIAL Defendant generally denies each and every, all and singular, of the allegations set forth in the Plaintiff's Original Petition and demands that the Plaintiff proves same by the preponderance of credible evidence. II. PRAYER Wherefore Defendant requests judgment of the Court that Plaintiff takes nothing from the Defendant and the Defendant be granted any further relief that he (or she) is justly entitled to. Use the same format of the petition that you were served with the case and court information at the top. Send a copy via certified mail to the attorney's office who filed the lawsuit. Ok sounds good I will get it done and sent it out this morning . Would that be all that needs to get done right now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasrocker Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 10 hours ago, Setupisloading said: Ok sounds good I will get it done and sent it out this morning . Would that be all that needs to get done right now? You need to decide how you want to handle this. If you want to take it through court then I prefer to send discovery immediately with their copy of your answer. If you want to go the arbitration route I would suggest reading up on posts from @fisthardcheese. He should see this and chime in soon. If you wish to hire a good attorney and are in close proximity to the DFW area Jerry Jarzombek can be reached at (817) 348-8325. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goody_Ouchless Posted August 16, 2018 Report Share Posted August 16, 2018 12 hours ago, Setupisloading said: Never call a JDB for any reason under any circumstances. Well, if someone decides that working out a settlement is their desired course of action, they'd kinda, sorta have to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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