DavidintheATX Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Greetings valued forum members! Unfortunately, my wife is being sued by PRA. Fortunately, however, I've found this amazing forum of helpful folks that I pray can lend me a helping hand dealing with this lawsuit. I have read a lot of the posts on this site and have decided to push for arbitration through JAMS to give me the leverage I need to fight this as best we can. In order to provide ya'll with the greatest incite into my case, with the hopes of the best advice I have attached the packet of documents she was served with, the answer to the lawsuit I mailed on 12/31/18, and the credit card agreement I found online. In my humble opinion, my next step is to create the MTC for arbitration and mail that along with an affidavit of the Credit Card Agreement. (Or, should I file that with the court in person then mail a copy to the plaintiff's attorney?) Please help with the following questions: 1. If you don't mind please review my notes and attachments and provide valuable feedback and suggestions or recommendations. 2. Going to court, interacting with the plaintiff's attorney, the judge etc. will make my wife extremely nervous. She is Thai, and speaks OK English, but doesn't have the communication skills to really represent herself nearly as well as I could do for her. Am I allowed to support her in court, maybe even speak for her in court some? Or, does she have to do all of the talking on her own? Please expound on the rules or possibilities. 3. I have done a lot of searching and can't seem to find an example of an MTC for arb that is for a Texas Justice of the Peace Court. I guess I'll try to piece one together from the other state's examples, then post it and maybe ya'll can proof it for me. Unless you can point me in a good direction to find, create, or acquire a decent example of one. I need to get this done pretty quick I'm sure. Well, that's all I have for now. I look forward to what I hope will be a fruitful dialogue with this forum and to what will eventually lead to a positive result in my wife's case. I want to thank you in advance for all of the help I hope to receive! Kind regards, 1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Portfolio Recovery Associates 2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Rausch Sturm 3. How much are you being sued for? $8303 4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Synchrony Bank (Gap) 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) 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? They sent letters and phone calls. Never responded to either. 9. What state and county do you live in? Texas, Williamson County 10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) July 28, 2017 11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? March 6, 2008 12. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 5 Years maybe Statute of Limitations on Debts 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). The below information was copied from online judicial records on 1/4/19. OTHER EVENTS AND HEARINGS 11/21/2018 Plaintiff's Original Petition 11/21/2018 E-Filed Initiating Document 11/30/2018 Citation 11/30/2018 Citation Served 12/18/2018 Returned 12/19/2018 12/18/2018 Answer Due 14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No 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 disputing after being sued could be useful to show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). No 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? Served on 12/18/18, 14 days to respond, Answer was Certified mailed on 12/31/18. Based on the court rules that should be within the proper time frame. I attempted to answer each item appropriately and ended it by with the Affirmative Defense - Lack of subject matter jurisdiction to notify the court of my intention to move to arbitration. Please review my attached documents for clarity of "charges" and I'd like some constructive criticism feedback. PRA is claiming that my wife opened a Gap Card account in 2008, stopped paying on it in 2017 and they want damages for $8303. I did not receive a questionnaire. Here is an example of what the summons/complaint may look like: Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits 17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. No evidence that I can tell unless it is the 2 paragraphs and 2 sentences under the heading "D. Facts" that is on the "Plaintiff's Original Petition". There was no affidavit, statements, or contract. Please see my attachments to verify. 18. How did you find out about this site? Searching online for help in this matter. Served Citiation Packet.pdf Initial Answer to Lawsuit.pdf GapCreditCard.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 8 hours ago, DavidintheATX said: No evidence that I can tell unless it is the 2 paragraphs and 2 sentences under the heading "D. Facts" that is on the "Plaintiff's Original Petition". There was no affidavit, statements, or contract. Justice Court does no require they attach evidence to the complaint so it being missing is not helpful. Justice Court also requires permission to do discovery. 9 hours ago, DavidintheATX said: I have done a lot of searching and can't seem to find an example of an MTC for arb that is for a Texas Justice of the Peace Court. I guess I'll try to piece one together from the other state's examples, then post it and maybe ya'll can proof it for me. You are going to have to get an example of any motion for Justice Court and format yours the same way substituting MTC instead of what ever the other motion was seeking. There is no pre-printed form for this. DO NOT piece one together formatting wise from other states. Yours must be formatted according to Texas Justice Court rules of civil procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidintheATX Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 @Clydesmom Thank you very much for the advice! Hopefully, I'll get some more helpful tips from the community. Have a nice evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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