California County Clerks failed to file my answer. Judge told.me to take it up with them?? And LVNV issues

[MGC]

Hi. I cannot find ANYTHING about my situation. I am in California and was sued last year by LVNV and Mandarich. I read up and filed my answer about 2 weeks after being served. I never saw the answer listed on the website for the court. I even called them 2x in September and they kept saying it would be posted. Mandarich from Chicago is who filed and who I sent answer to. Then they sent me discovery from Ca office. I answered and sent MY discovery to Ca. The Order to Show Cause was this month so I went because it was a bit unclear from the boards about who should be there...So, there was a lady attorney for them and she asked the OSC to be put off till next year...I told the judge I was not sure why this is happening since I filed my answer. I had the ENTIRE binder with me with my answer both our discovery etc. Judge said you did? I dont see it...I said I never saw it on the web either and I called about it a few times but I told her I have the stamped filed copy here. She told me to take it up with the county clerks??? WTF???? I read a 300 pg.book DIRECTED AT JUDGES called "Bench Etiquette for Self-Represented Defendants". She needs a copy...she could have at least LOOKED at it...I mean I showed up...Obviously am interested in case. She told me "osc is not for me...it doesnt concern me...I might as well be talking to a wall..."??? I cannot tell you how offensive I found it...I DID my part...So called to clerks office when I got to the car...And they found it and got case management scheduled.

I am getting sued by Target as well and that was filed in Feb and in April they did Case management conference for next week so I was wondering why the LVNV one never had that...Then I got a letter from the CHICAGO office AGAIN with papers for requesting default judgement...they said it was filed the Friday before the OSC. But we do have Sept date for case management for them...But it said in the default request they were supposed to be attaching the assignment etc which was NOT on the copy they sent me. And the name they first stamped is a paralegal in Chicago but that name was crossed out and Raquel Lopez was who apparently did it but cant find her anywhere.

So why did the judge seem completely unhelpful??? She is going to be the judge both my cases so have to tread lightly...

The things that these lawyers are doing seem very wrong to me...Example: I am NOT an attorney but I KNOW CCP 1013 has in 3 places that you are to send the Proof of Service by mail UNSIGNED!!! Which I have done EACH time I send them anything..Yet theirs are signed...thus committing perjury. LVNV did not include the REQUIRED ADR packet and Cover sheet when I was served...So they broke the Rule 3.7 and 3.221 with those...so WHY do I know this and they dont?? or they dont care...

Target did not even finish the form for case management...they did not answer number 10 about the ADR packet and they did not list the date by which discovery would be done...I amswered those...I mean it is ridiculous...

ESPECIALLY the LVNV discovery etc because WHY are we doing that if I did not answer??? And the transfer and assignment was RIDICULOUS!!! transferred thru 3 "seemingly" individual companies on the SAME DAY with 3 signatures I looked up as I have seen people suggest...There was NO header NO addresses..I could have made the Transfer and Assignment and Bill of Sale...and one of the people the infamous "Rusty Kendall" signed "Kennet Kendall"...that seems illegal to me...esp since I found he has 9 alias not one of which is Rusty...so not sure how that is an affidavit...if it is...

And the Answers they sent were Verified and Executed in SC on Oct 15 by someone for LVNV and they also typed up answers and signed Oct 15...so you sent my discovery to SC and got her answers back and signed (what looks like she signed in pen) and typed it all up and signed and sent all on Oct 15???? I find that highly suspect.. 

And I found 3 lawsuits with LVNV stating that they "have no offices and no employees" and they merely hold the assets and let Resurgent sue and contact people and LVNV NEVER contacts any debtors"...Resurgent is not who is named in suit..LVNV is...and my transfer was signed 2018 and one case was in 2018 and one in 2019...so explain why Kevin Branigan and Rusty Kendall are believed to be LVNV reps and it says on my transfer Rusty Kendall is representative for LVNV the company I am assuming SWORE UNDER OATH they have NO OFFICES AND NO PLOYEES....

Anyways, those are the questions I have for my cases... Just really frustrated with all the shenanigans and clearly breaking the LAW that no ome seems to get reprimanded for...

Planning to put those issues in Brief but who knows if the "take it up with the clerks" will even read it etc...would LOVE to put their incomplete request for default judgement in the case since they clearly did not attach the right things but know i should not give their side any leeway....

oh and the case management statement said the PLAINTIFFS ATTORNEY was supposed to send ME the cover sheet and ADR with the case management statement which they did not....arrgh...so frustrating that I am TRYING to follow the law and they flaut it at each turn...

And one more thing...I found last night (and the book is from 1987 so it may not be the rule anymore) but Business and Profession Code 6077.5 says employees who are NOT lawyers MUST sign their name AND position on the letters and ALL the letters from Mandarich are signed Mandarich Law Group...

So any info on these issues would be deeply appreciated...thanks so much!!! 

ps...next wed is the target case management thing and they have not contacted me...i know the rules say i can contact them but since they are suing me....why should I have to call them???

[MGC]

Is anyone on the boards anymore??

[BackFromTheDebt]

10 hours ago, MGC said:

Is anyone on the boards anymore??

Perhaps no one who feels qualified to answer your question.  
 

I know I am not. 

[Brotherskeeper]

@RyanEX Do you have any insights? 

[RyanEX]

I'm not sure what to say. From OPs post, they have a copy of their answer and proof of service (from a 3rd party) that they sent said answer to the plaintiff. Common sense would dictate that it would be ridiculous to make it all the way to the courthouse, have the answer stamped & copied, and then fail to file it. On top of that, of course, there is the POS.

Only thing I could think of is to go back to the courthouse and produce copies of those items to a clerk. And I would not leave until some rational explanation is provided.

[MGC]

I called and they had it posted the next day...Mandarich tried to file default judgement the same day but it was rejected...I cant go to courthouse they are still using dropbox...they did not send me a copy of my answer in the other case but thankfully that went up on site right away...

I just could not believe how rude the judge was since most of what i see here judges have been helpful...

The copy Mandarich sent me of defaut was civ-105 but the rejection notoce i got from court site was jud-100

cciv-105 said he was supposed to attach affidavit...i did discovery and he sent the forward flow and transfer signed docs that are not sworn to etc so isnt an affidavit sworn to?

[RyanEX]

You'll find that most, if not all, of the affidavits they send you will have issues with the legal language. If they should send you something with proper language for CA, it is still subject to other evidentiary codes that will likely make them inadmissible (so long as you object properly)

If you feel you may not get a fair shake with this judge, CA allows you a one-time peremptory challenge to have your case reassigned to a different judge. CCP 170.1

https://saclaw.org/wp-content/uploads/sbs-peremptory-challenge-of-a-judge.pdf

[MGC]

thanks.. i am assuming i get one challenge PER case? I found some info out that makes me feel better about the jdb case last nite...still a tad nervous about oc one i have cmc tomorrow morning...i am annoyed their attorney did not completely fill out statement form which i am going to TRY to mention...but found letter from different attorney in ny they sent it to and that said specifically they were not suing me...and then it must have gone back to target and then to lawyer in calif who is suing me.. so will see how that goes tomorrow..thank you for the statute...

[RyanEX]

As far as I know, it's once per case.

How'd your CMC go?

[MGC]

Not exactly awesome...different judge so that was good but they sued under weird name (not my first name but my last name) so it says unserved but judge said since i filed denial it does not matter (to wit i said i did not want to lose my rights in case it was me)...but i did not even mention they never tried to "meet and confer" as they said they would..she just straight up set date for trial in sept 2021...he said it would take 2 hours...so anyways...i dont know..i am thinking i will write them a letter and tell them that they have made mistakes by not completing forms not serving case statement with adr as they were required to do and then use that letter to let them know i am on ssdi (disability)...they sent my bill to a new york law firm and sent me a letter saying "potential placement with law firm....possible legal action" ( that firm got class action suit because they said td bank and not target but they did remedy that) but that firm said they were not going to sue...and the people suing is a different firm) but i am pretty sure that is a fdcpa violation...

i sent other jdb letters with copy of my ssdi forms and said i disputed the debts and have had 4 major surgeries the past 2 years leaving me unable to write till now and that i am on ssdi and it is my only income...

hopefully they will dismiss it...they have not tried to talk to me at all... because if we go to trial i will make them bring a person for the business records...this is an original creditor but i know that people here have been successful against them...

what do you think?

ps thank you very much for asking..it means a lot... one of my friends said that if she is ever in this position it makes her feel better that i could help her...

[LoveIsPower]

On 7/29/2020 at 3:08 PM, MGC said:

i sent other jdb letters with copy of my ssdi forms and said i disputed the debts and have had 4 major surgeries the past 2 years leaving me unable to write till now and that i am on ssdi and it is my only income...

I'm 99.9% sure that SSDI cannot be garnished by a creditor (only by the federal government for back taxes or SS overpayments, etc.). So by you letting them know that this is your only source of income it may incentivize them to dismiss.

Then again, you may not hear anything for a while and/or you may not get an early offer to dismiss. These law firms representing JDB's or OC's in these suits are generally overwhelmed with cases and are on a paint-by-number work schedule.

So, just keep doing what you're doing. You have over a year until trial. If you plan your calendar well, check all the boxes, dot all the i's and cross all your t's, you have a good chance to outlast them and have them dismiss near trial.

I'm guessing you didn't go the arbitration route?

Who's the original creditor?  Target?  I don't have any experience with them in California.  You @RyanEX?

Who is suing you?  Which law firm — since you mentioned there was another law firm involved — Mandarich?

[MGC]

target/td bank original creditor...patenaude & frank are doing that one...but now i have another issue...i am trying to find an answer to see if i can amend my answer to the lawsuit..that one i did a general denial and listed some affirmative defenses and i did say i wanted to leave open the possibility to raise more defenses should they come to light...i have found something i believe will stop this immediately...but not sure if i can amend the answer or not...and i would love to use it to file motion to dismiss but not sure if i can do that either...if i can and it works i will be SHOUTING it on here to let everyone know...i wanted to answer asap so when it came up i answered in a week but of course i have kept pecking around with different things that occur to me and i stumbled on this gem last week but have not been able to see a clear answer on amending or dismiss motion...

[MGC]

ps..both lawyer and i marked arbitration and judge trial but no arbitration was commented on at cmc and just got letter saying it will be a jury trial and we need to send fees in 10 days so i have to file another fee waiver for that too...

[MGC]

so what happens if the lawyer does not file case management statement in time?

[MGC]

so what happens if the lawyer does not file case management statement in time?

[MGC]

bump

[LoveIsPower]

1 hour ago, MGC said:

so what happens if the lawyer does not file case management statement in time?

There may be a penalty for the lawyer/plaintiff if you complain to the judge. I haven't seen any strong consequences (if at all) in the forums. In some of my cases they never bothered to file a CMC-110, but still showed up to the Case Management Conference. Or if they filed it, they did it the same day ('cause I never got it beforehand). It wasn't a big deal to the judge. The CMC is such a "formality" with these cases (in my experience). It's been just an appearance to set a trial date.

What do you think, @RyanEX ?

[MGC]

I am SUPER annoyed with them (mandarich working for lvnv) because I put in my cmc that parties have completed discovery (because after i filed my answer they sent discovery and i answered and sent my discovery and they answered) but on theirs the "new" attorney from his office said discovery will be completed 30 days before trial...and said they have tried to "settle" woth me but they have NEVER contacted me (since i have never had a message from them)...so i find that offensive as well...so curious if they can do a SECOND discovery? 

and I will DEFINITELY be bringing up late filing and that i have NEVER been contacted by them...

[LoveIsPower]

5 hours ago, MGC said:

...so curious if they can do a SECOND discovery? 

In Limited cases there is a limit of 35 discovery items. It's not so much as the number of times they ask for discovery, but the amount of discovery items they ask for. And, also, there is a timeline for when to ask for discovery that includes deadlines.

I'll attach a couple of documents below that may be helpful.

Also, even though your trial is a year from now, you have to keep a close watch on dates and deadlines. Especially as it gets close to the trial date. 45 days before trial you MUST send out a CCP 96 request.

Here is a pinned post from @calawyer with some VERY helpful information. There is a detailed breakdown by me in that post also. It's about the California Supreme Court ruling on CCP 98 (it's great for us consumers!):

Read the whole thread. It will be well worth your time. Trust me.

Hope that helps! 

See attached docs:

 

California_Courts_Timesheet.pdf How-to-Conduct-Discovery-in-Limited-Civil-Case.pdf

[MGC]

thanks...I will print that out tomorrow...

pretty sure they did the 35 because they were my first case and i read in a book about the 35 thing..so i think i did count those...that was what really surprised me about the fact that they tried to get a default judgement when i did in fact file my answer on time etc and when i sent them my answer that was when they sent their discovery which i answered and then sent mine which they sort of answered some but did the privilege thing as people here said they would...that is why i was shocked they tried to do a default...why would we BOTH do discovery if i had not answered suit???

i did read that ca lawyer post about ccp 98...and i think he may have been the one who had a countdown sheet that i printed out too...i found that when i found the motion in limine thing the ambulance person wrote.. i plan to put all my issues with lvnv in that should they not drop it mon..i hope to get to actually talk to the new girl mon to give her my ssdi letter i sent to everyone else who is not suing me...i am thinking of sending it to target lawyer too..since i did not get a chance to do so before that cmc...

i have the target lawsuit going to trial exactly a year from mon....but we have not done discovery yet.. i said on that cmc i would do discovery by dec 31 2020...they did not even fill the form out completely which i dod not get to mention...but no discovery there as of yet....

hoping to get the lvnv dismissed mon if i can get that info to her...but if not, i am MUCH more confident of winning the lvnv if it goes to trial and more nervous of the target one that is scheduled for next year...

i mean the lvnv sent me the doc that said my alleged account went thru 3 supposedly different companies on same day and it was something i could have made up in 10 min..no header no addresses etc...but i looked up the names as someone here suggested and then made a sheet which i am now going to turn into my motion in limine because i also found 2 lawsuits where lvnv clearly says UNDER OATH that they have NO offices and NO employees...so anyways...he OC is the one i am most concerned about although they got my name wrong so it still says unserved but judge at cmc said i filed denial so it does not matter but they have never corrected it and they continue to send me stuff in wrong name...so i figure that is a great example of sloppy bookkeeping...