Next Step

[MARSHALL77]

Being sued by Portfolio Recovery, represented by Dallas firm RSEIH, in Bexar County Court #10. Suit was filed on November 2018 but was not served until April 2019, have discovery requests so Im assuming 50 days to respond. Original creditor is Capital One, in the amount of $2,972. SOL based on last payment (07/2015) would be July 2019. No known arbitration agreement in original contract.

No $ , so no Atty, so I will be having to handle this myself. Whats my first step? 

[texasrocker]

For your answer use the same format as the Plaintiff's Original Petition that you were served with the court and case information on top of the page.

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.

(Your name, address and phone number)

File it with the court immediately and send a copy to the attorney's office that filed the lawsuit.

Post their discovery requests and I will provide you with answers.

[BackFromTheDebt]

You were just given the first step.  That will buy you time for the second and subsequent steps.

Bad news: no arbitration agreement anymore.  If you fight this, you will probably lose.

Good news: Texas is one of the most debtor friendly states.  I don't think they can garnish your wages.  However, there may be other ways they could collect on a judgment.  The Texans here know a lot better than I do.

There are two questions you need to ask yourself at this point.

1. How much could you afford for a settlement?

2. How bad would a judgment on your record be for you?

The answer to #2 varies from person to person.  If you are in certain fields where they do a background check, esp. if you ever need security clearance, the answer is very different from someone who is retired. living in a rental property and living off of social security.  

Meaning, if having a judgment would be bad for you, find some way to get as much money as you can for a settlement, and make a settlement.  If having a judgment wouldn't be so bad for you, make sure they are aware of that, and offer whatever you feel like offering.

[texasrocker]

20 hours ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

If you fight this, you will probably lose.

I fully disagree.  I can provide discovery that this law firm has never been willing to answer. They are by far the wimpiest bunch in Texas. 

Since it was filed in a county court we can begin discovery right out of the gate.

[BackFromTheDebt]

2 hours ago, texasrocker said:

I fully disagree.  I can provide discovery that this law firm has never been willing to answer. They are by far the wimpiest bunch in Texas. 

Since it was filed in a county court we can begin discovery right out of the gate.

I hope you are right.

Can't provide and haven't provided yet are two different things.  You will find out if they can and are willing to provide the proper documentation soon enough.  I once had a case in which I spent YEARS demanding certain documentation, and then at discovery time the documentation suddenly appears out of nowhere.  

Remember, this is like rolling the dice or playing cards.  Truly strange things can happen, good and bad.  Sometimes a firm will wimp out with other people and go full blast on you.  That has happened to me.  Or perhaps they will provide documentation and the judge will throw it out, which has happened to me.  Or maybe they will run away, which has also happened to me.

I will amend my advice.  Figure out what you can and are willing to pay in a settlement.  If the law firm comes in with the required documentation, I would strongly suggest a settlement.  If they run away, so much the better.  

 

[texasrocker]

4 hours ago, BackFromTheDebt said:

I hope you are right.

Can't provide and haven't provided yet are two different things.  You will find out if they can and are willing to provide the proper documentation soon enough.  I once had a case in which I spent YEARS demanding certain documentation, and then at discovery time the documentation suddenly appears out of nowhere.  

Remember, this is like rolling the dice or playing cards.  Truly strange things can happen, good and bad.  Sometimes a firm will wimp out with other people and go full blast on you.  That has happened to me.  Or perhaps they will provide documentation and the judge will throw it out, which has happened to me.  Or maybe they will run away, which has also happened to me.

I will amend my advice.  Figure out what you can and are willing to pay in a settlement.  If the law firm comes in with the required documentation, I would strongly suggest a settlement.  If they run away, so much the better.  

 

What state are you in?  Each state differs in many ways as far as civil collection lawsuits are concerned. 

 It is not so much the presentation of documents as it is the requests for admissions and interrogatories that they don't want to answer.  In Texas there are a couple of precedents regarding the authentication and reliability of the OC's business records that JDB's will inevitably try to spring thinking they have a slam-dunk.  If you counter them early in discovery then their affidavit signed by their own employee is null and void.  Without the affidavit the OC's records are inadmissible as evidence. 

I will never recommend anyone in Texas to settle with a JDB unless maybe if it is in a JP court with the judge refusing to allow discovery and then only if the defendant is unable or unwilling to hire an attorney for an appeal.  

[BackFromTheDebt]

4 hours ago, texasrocker said:

What state are you in?  Each state differs in many ways as far as civil collection lawsuits are concerned. 

 It is not so much the presentation of documents as it is the requests for admissions and interrogatories that they don't want to answer.  In Texas there are a couple of precedents regarding the authentication and reliability of the OC's business records that JDB's will inevitably try to spring thinking they have a slam-dunk.  If you counter them early in discovery then their affidavit signed by their own employee is null and void.  Without the affidavit the OC's records are inadmissible as evidence. 

I will never recommend anyone in Texas to settle with a JDB unless maybe if it is in a JP court with the judge refusing to allow discovery and then only if the defendant is unable or unwilling to hire an attorney for an appeal.  

There are reasons why I don't want to mention what state I am in.  Long story, and a few people know the story.  

[MARSHALL77]

Thank you both for your valuable and much appreciated responses. I have finished filing the Answer as you suggested with the court. In the Original Petition , Requests for discovery, interrogatories, and admissions were included. 

They can be found at this link:

 https://bit.ly/2W3q5zZ

Again, my infinite Thank You's. I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

[MARSHALL77]

Thank you for your valuable and much appreciated responses. 

Step 1: I have succesfully filed my Answer/general denial with the court.  

Step 2: texasrocker asked me to post plaintiff's discovery requests, and so here is the link to them:

https://bit.ly/2W3q5zZ

Next step??

Again, my infinite Thank You's. I look forward to hearing from you soon.