Barclays Bank Credit Card Lawsuit in Florida

[xvicesandvirtues]

Hello all,

I'd like to seek some assistance and advice with regards to an OC lawsuit filed against me by Barclays Bank Delaware. I live in Florida and they filed in the Small Claims Court in my county over an approximately $4,000 credit card balance.

I read the following topic for advice, where I gained valuable information with regards to going to Arbitration through AAA instead of court:

So far, all I've gone to is the Pre-Trial hearing, in which they attempted to mediate between myself and local counsel, who was standing in for a debt collection law firm based in South Florida. As they were holding firm at about 80% of the balance they filed for, I held firm on my denial of the debt and opted to take it to trial. A trial date was set for June, however, beforehand (but after the Pre Trial Hearing), the Plaintiff filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and I filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration about two weeks later. The trial date was turned into a hearing, which was subsequently canceled.

I followed all the steps required and was contacted by the AAA Pro Se Administrator via e-mail, receiving rules, payment info, and the OC was CC'd in all the emails. I requested relief from the filing fee from AAA, as I'm unemployed, and the AAA granted my request. The law firm representing the OC then responded with the following:

 

Quote

Hello,

 

It is Barclays’ position that reimbursement is not required to be paid by law or the rules of the arbitration Administrator in this matter.

 

Additionally, because this is related to a collections matter, arbitration is improper venue and only proper if court ordered, which has not been yet been decided.  There is a hearing scheduled for (redacted). 

 

I would urge (defendant) to contact our attorney to discuss his hardship situation.

 

The next day, I saw that the matter is now scheduled for a hearing in August to rule on the Motion for Summary Judgment, but no mention of my Motion to Compel Arbitration. My motion has been sitting in the file since the end of May with no action taken on it.

I think my main question is- should I be concerned that they filed the MSJ? Should I request a hearing on my Motion to Compel Arbitration or move the court to rule on it in the same hearing? Should I request a hearing date for my Motion to Compel Arbitration, then request a continuance of the hearing for the MSJ? Does it matter "who came first"? Or should I simply go to the hearing for the MSJ and mention my Motion to Compel Arbitration to the judge at that time?

Furthermore, Barclays has not paid their share of the filing fee and the AAA deadline for the fees is quickly approaching. Does their default of the CC agreement give me any grounds to Motion to Dismiss?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!

 

Oh, and edit to answer the forum questions, sorry!

 

 

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Barclays Bank Delaware

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Andreu, Palma, Lavin, & Solis PLC

3. How much are you being sued for? ~$4,000

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Plaintiff

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Court records, started getting letters from attorneys offering to represent me

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) Mail

7. Was the service legal as required by your state?             Possibly not, but please read above and I may be too far along into the process to use service as a defense?

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? Minimal to none

9. What state and county do you live in? Orange County, Florida

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) N/A

11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? N/A

12. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 4 years

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). Suit served, Pre Trial Conference Completed, Plaintiff filed MSJ, I filed Motion to Compel Arbitration. Hearing is pending.

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? This process has already been started

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. Affidavit, alleged CC statements

18.  How did you find out about this site? Google search