Portfolio Recovery Lawsuit

[Gerardo]

Hello, 

I filled a motion to compel private arbitration on a lawsuit that I got served from Portfolio Recovery. The judge set a pre-trail hearing "DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION AND TO STAY PROCEEDINGS PEDING ARBITRATIO" on July 29th. What should I do now? How can I win this case? can someone help me? I need to appear for the hearing right how do I prepared myself? what should I do if they do not appear? or are they not required to attend? Thank you 

[BackFromTheDebt]

You need to provide a lot more information. 
 

But, based on what little information you provided, you need to be able to convince the judge in the hearing that there is an applicable arbitration agreement.  Hopefully you already did this with your motion. 
 

If you did everything correctly in your motion, just be prepared to summarize what you said in your motion and to answer any arguments the plaintiff made in any response, if they made any.  

[Brotherskeeper]

@Gerardo Did you read Fisthardcheese's pinned thread on arbitration? If not, where did you get the information required to draft your motion to compel arbitration? 

Did you submit a copy of the agreement/contract that contains the arbitration clause with your motion? Where did you obtain the copy? 

[Gerardo]

@Brotherskeeper yes, that is how I drafted the MTC. I did submit the agreement which I got from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. However, they filed the same agreement highlighting a limitation of the Arbitration Clause- "Individual Claims filled in Small Claims Court are not subject for arbitration, as long as the matter stays in small claims court" I did read this limitation however I decided to go for it since my cases says to be a Debt Claim case and I read that they are different from a small claim case. I do not if I am correct or not. This case is in the Justice of the Peace court. 

Is the Judge going to denied Arbitration because of that or what should I do? what would it happen if he does deny it? Thank you for your input

[Bulldoger]

@texasrocker can explain the situation with Texas and small claims court. 

[texasrocker]

13 hours ago, Bulldoger said:

@texasrocker can explain the situation with Texas and small claims court. 

Yes simply put, Small claims courts were abolished in Texas in 2013 so it is therefore impossible for any case to be filed in a small claims court in Texas since they no longer exist. 

You can find where I explained how to defend it last month here-  https://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/329436-arbitration-overview-and-strategy-2018-most-up-to-date-info/page/10/#comments (scroll way down; my comments are closer to the bottom of the page)

 

[Gerardo]

@texasrocker I just had the hearing and the judge denied the motion since the agreement had that limitation of the "small claim courts" I made my argument like you said it but I guess I could convince her. She said that since they put it within the same it still applies. So, now I don't know what to do I don't have money to hire a lawyer and I guess they asked for a 60 day something when the judge ask them if they wanted a to schedule a trial. What should I do now?

[texasrocker]

4 hours ago, Gerardo said:

@texasrocker I just had the hearing and the judge denied the motion since the agreement had that limitation of the "small claim courts" I made my argument like you said it but I guess I could convince her. She said that since they put it within the same it still applies. So, now I don't know what to do I don't have money to hire a lawyer and I guess they asked for a 60 day something when the judge ask them if they wanted a to schedule a trial. What should I do now?

You haven't mentioned anything about the details of the case. 

What is the amount?  What law firm is it?  They actually showed up?

[Gerardo]

Hello, it has been a long time since the last post. I appealed the judgement, then it moved to the county court on a de novo trial. So I was able to ask for the MTC arbitration again and judge granted it. This is what it says, 

So, I am wondering now do I need to start the process for arbitration or do I wait for them to do it. This is something that I was not able to figure it out. Could you please help me with it? Thank you for all your input.

 

 

[Clydesmom]

You filed the motion to compel so YOU file for arbitration.  If you  sit around and wait for them to do it you risk that they don't and go back to court to have the motion over turned based on the fact you were not serious and didn't file.  The motion compels them to join you in arbitration vs. litigating.  It doesn't compel them to do all the work for you.

[Gerardo]

@Clydesmom

Great thank you so much for your response. Do you have any insight on how should do it? or other posts on how to file the demand for arbitration? Like what claims do I need to make against them. Thanks again

[Gerardo]

Great thank you so much for your response. Do you have any insight on how should do it? or other posts on how to file the demand for arbitration? Like what claims do I need to make against them. Thanks again

[BackFromTheDebt]

48 minutes ago, Gerardo said:

Great thank you so much for your response. Do you have any insight on how should do it? or other posts on how to file the demand for arbitration? Like what claims do I need to make against them. Thanks again

Check the arbitration thread 

[iluv2write]

On 3/7/2023 at 9:21 AM, Gerardo said:

Great thank you so much for your response. Do you have any insight on how should do it? or other posts on how to file the demand for arbitration? Like what claims do I need to make against them. 

The court approved your motion to compel arbitration. Your next step would be go to AAA or the Jams website (whichever one the cardholder agreement allows) and start a new case. For the nature of the dispute, put down “Billing dispute” if the debt buyer did not commit any clear violations. If you have proof that the debt collector/debt buyer broke the law put down “Violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act” or “violations of state and federal collection laws.” You don’t need to include a lot of detail at this point - you will have a chance to elaborate on the dispute if the case gets that far.
 

You’ll then send the completed form to AAA/Jams along with a copy of the cardholder agreement. Once your case is filed, you’ll get a case number. Send a copy of the completed AAA or Jams form to the court and the plaintiff’s attorney. Make sure you notify both parties of your case number.

With my case, I didn’t have to send payment in immediately and I got the case number right away. About a month after my case was filed, AAA advised me I would have to pay $200 within 2 weeks to continue the case. After I paid, the plaintiff was notified.
 

AAA/Jams also will reach out to the debt buyer advising their filing fee ($300)is due. If/when they pay that, a while later the debt buyer will be told they have to also pay a Case Management Fee ($1400) and an Arbitrator Compensation Deposit ($1500). As a consumer, the max you would pay is $200 for AAA and $250 for Jams. You could even get those fees possibly waived if you claim a financial hardship, or your cardholder agreement says the plaintiff will pay your fees.

I am familiar with this process because I was sued by an original creditor for (alleged) credit card debt and I took the case to private arbitration. I also compelled private arbitration with two debt buyers that sued me. Both debt buyers dismissed the case soon after I filed my answer and ran away. I didn’t even have to initiate arbitration with AAA with the debt buyers.