Amazed1 Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 A while back I received a letter from Discover threatening to take me to court. I followed advice on this forum and requested JAMS arbitration at the same time (in the same letter as) I requested validation of the debt. They sent me a packet of old statements etc. which they intended as validation in response to my request. They didn't say anything about hte arbitration I requested. I waited for them to let me know about the arbitration request but didn't hear back from them again until I was served with papers asking the court for a Judgement. I provided them with a copy of their validation letter which was their response to my letter requesting validation and JAMs arbitration. (I don't think they read the entire letter because they missed the JAMS request part- or they completely ignored it. ) . So what do I do now? I am worried that because I waited to hear back from them how to proceed with my JAMS request, they might say I was supposed to set it up? I thought they were supposed to make the next move- at least acknowledge my request? Do I go to court and ask the Judge to dismiss because they are in violation of the agreement stating if one of us requests arbitration then we cant take it to court? Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobk4me Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 Did you answer the lawsuit? Did you file a Motion to Compel Arbitration with the court? If you didn't do these things (and it sounds like you didn't), then do them NOW, and hope it's not too late. Just requesting arbitration isn't enough to stop a lawsuit. Even filing in JAMS won't do it. They will file the lawsuit anyway, and you need to answer it and move to compel the court to stay the case and refer it to arbitration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Seaward Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 48 minutes ago, Amazed1 said: Do I go to court and ask the Judge to dismiss because they are in violation of the agreement stating if one of us requests arbitration then we cant take it to court? Yes. Although, you need to know that because you are dealing with Discover, they will follow you right into arbitration and all the way to the very end, including any appeals you may wish to take. They will (and have several times) paid tens of thousands of dollars to collect a few hundred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Seaward Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 5 minutes ago, nobk4me said: Did you answer the lawsuit? It sounds to me like OP was just recently sued, but elected arbitration some time ago when Discover first threatened legal action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobk4me Posted June 5, 2019 Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 Just now, Harry Seaward said: It sounds to me like OP was just recently sued, but elected arbitration some time ago when Discover first threatened legal action. Right, but Discover ignored the election of arb and went ahead with the lawsuit. And it's not clear what the OP has done in response to the lawsuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amazed1 Posted June 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2019 13 minutes ago, nobk4me said: Right, but Discover ignored the election of arb and went ahead with the lawsuit. And it's not clear what the OP has done in response to the lawsuit. Yes. I responded to the lawsuit. The attorneys do not return calls. Once I showed them the letter requesting arbitration, I cant get them to respond to me at all. The court date was continued because their attorney did not show up. I thought it should have been dismissed when they didn't show up but the court said there were phone problems at the courthouse and they might have called in but the phones were down so the judge continued it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amazed1 Posted June 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2019 Yes. I responded to the lawsuit. The attorneys do not return calls. Once I showed them the letter requesting arbitration, I cant get them to respond to me at all. The court date was continued because their attorney did not show up. I thought it should have been dismissed when they didn't show up but the court said there were phone problems at the courthouse and they might have called in but the phones were down so the judge continued it. I do not know what to do now. 4 hours ago, Harry Seaward said: It sounds to me like OP was just recently sued, but elected arbitration some time ago when Discover first threatened legal action. 4 hours ago, nobk4me said: Right, but Discover ignored the election of arb and went ahead with the lawsuit. And it's not clear what the OP has done in response to the lawsuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Seaward Posted June 6, 2019 Report Share Posted June 6, 2019 The problem is, unless the agreement specifically says the party with claims initiates, 'electing' aribtration doesn't do anything unless you actually start the proceedings by opening a case with AAA/JAMS, so they were not barred from filing a lawsuit. So at this point, you need to file a motion to compel arbitration with the court. Once you get that order, you then have to open the arbitration case and let it run its course there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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