I’ve read a lot of these forums and the information is amazing and a bit overwhelming. I’m looking for advice before filing my Answer with the court on Friday and to see if the documents included in the Complaint are anything to worry about.

STEPS TO TAKE

1. Submit Answer with court, addressing all stated Complaints. Be sure to list under Affirmative Defense “Lack of subject Matter Jurisdiction due to a private arbitration clause”.  

2. File an MCT with my answer or within 14 days.  Get a  notarize copy of affidavit of Synchrony Bank term agreement.   

Hello,

I am in Nevada. I sent a DV letter to Midland Credit Management in July in response to a letter from them. It was within the 30 days received. I sent the letter via certified mail and confirmed they did receive it. Yesterday, I received a letter from them with payment plan options and the opportunity to settle for 5-10% less than the full balance. That's all they sent - no typical DV response. How do I proceed? Is this a violation of FDCPA?

Thanks in advance!

PRA is suing me for a charged off Walmart credit card issued by Synchrony bank. I have received no snail mail or phone calls from PRA; however they may have called but I do not answer unknown numbers. I have received no snail mail from their filing attorney or representative of same, either.  

I have reviewed the Arbitration link, and have saved a MTC/Order of Arbitration I found in another thread posted by someone in FL who was successful in getting their case dismissed through demanding the arbitration. Since I have not been served at this time, do I file the MTC now, or do I wait till the pre-trial hearing?

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit?

Portfolio Recovery Associates

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.)

Pollack & Rosen, PA 806 Douglas Rd. Coral Gables, FL 33134

3. How much are you being sued for?

$1,491.32 + costs & any other relief the Court deems just and proper

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

SYNCHRONY BANK

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?)

I have not yet been served. I received an advert from a "mediation" attorney, then found the filing on the Clerk of Courts website. 

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

I have not yet been served. 

7. Was the service legal as required by your state?

NA at this time

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?

None. 

9. What state and county do you live in?

FL, Polk County, 10th Judicial Circuit

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

July 2016

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

November 2015

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).

Case is set for a pre-trial hearing on 09/13/2019.

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?

No questionnaire was inluded in the Statement of Claim. They state they are the current debt holder pursuant to an assignment from OC on or about May 21, 2017. Plaintiff states I as sent correspondence, its representatives or both more than 30 days prior to their filing. (I received no such correspondence.) Plaintiff states $1,491.32, plus costs and any recovery the Court deems appropriate, is owed them. The filing shows Count I-Account Stated. The July 2016 statement is attached to the filing. 

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.

I have not yet received a summons. 

18.  How did you find out about this site?

Via Google search. 

18. Read these two links:

Links reviewed. 

I received a summons from a debt collector/lawyer for a credit card debt. I never received any initial communications from the firm. However, I got a summons handed to me at my front door. The summons had my old address on it. I had not lived at that address for months. I don't know how the process server found me at my new address. Anyway, I only had like 5 days to respond to the summons. I got that in on time. In my response, I wrote that I never had a chance to ask for validation/verification of the debt? So my question is:  if there were any letters sent to me they would have went to the old address.  Is this not a violation and unfair practices on the debt junkies end? 

Here is their website...

http://www.vincilaw.com/

One of my accounts was sent here. At this point they are just doing standard calling every once in awhile to try to collect. But I'd like to create a plan of attack based upon the experiences of others.

Is anyone familiar with a company by the name of Unifin. They called me over a debt from 2003, said they are collecting on behalf of Jefferson Capital.

I have a Crediit One account that was charged-off in 2016 and sold to Midland I believe in 2017.  I have received (not the first one) a settlement letter from Midland with three options.  They are 40%, 20% or monthly payments.

Do I validate and take the risk of being sued since it is not past SOL?  

Hello all,

this is my first post but I have been reading through the site for a few months trying to find similar cases to help me. But it is all getting a little confusing. I think my case differs from most I have read here because of the amount of my bad debt. It is $10,000 owed to Lending Club, that has been sold to Velocity Investments (I live in South Carolina). So any hopes of arbitration scaring them off due to cost probably doesn't apply to my case because they can still profit off of me. I tried to work with Lending Club in 2016 but was told they could no longer accept my payments and I really don't want to pay a JDB that bought my debt for pennies on the dollar. I wouldn't hesitate to work with Lending Club.

I received a Summons filed by Velocity Investments representing law firm, Clarkson and Hale, delivered by a Sheriff's Deputy. It was the usual respond in 30 days or we will seek a default judgement against you. That was in June and after reading here I responded with a Debt Validation letter, which I also gave a copy of to the Clerk of Court.

The law firm has now responded with Plantiff's First Set of Interrogatories to Defendent, Plantiff's First Requests for Production to Defendent, Plantiff's First Requests for Admissions to Defendent, and Certificates of Mailing. I now have a copy of my contract with Lending Club and have 30 days to respond.

I'm not sure what I need to do next, I have been reading here and I'm still unsure. I think they send all of these forms with legal terminology to intimidate. Do I respond to them with a request for arbitration and file with AAA or Jams for arbitration? I am sure they will accept arbitration in my case due to the amount, should I just try to settle with them and save myself the hassle?

I am getting close to the 30 day response time, I did find a consumer advocacy lawyer on this website they I am going to give a call tomorrow to see if he can review my case. At this point, would it be devastating for me if I go past the 30 days?

Thanks guys for any help.

FredG.

My husband has at least 30 collection accounts from USCB on his Experian report.  Most are small but a few for $80 and $100.  They were for deductible amounts for labs, appts, etc.  We are now attempting to clean up our credit and not sure what to do with all of these.  What is the best way?  

Hello,

About a month ago I was notified via mail that my wife was going to be sued by JDB. I quickly contacted the law firm representing them to find out if we could settle the account some way (Never admitted to owning the account). After going rounds over email (in which they sent me validation docs) they recently (40 days later) told me again that they are pursuing litigation over email.

My question is, should I mention the fact that I will pursue arbitration to get them to back off? Or should I just wait until served and file a MTC with arbitration via JAMS?

Also if I do need to wait, is there a CA specific template for a MTC that I can use to draft the docs and submit?

I need some help. I've answered the questions below. I really can't afford an attorney, and I don't know if the amount even justifies the expense of one. Basically, I'd like advice on what to say in the Answer and if/how/when I should ask for arbitration. I cannot find the original contract as I have since moved from CLeveland to Kentucky. The account was originally opened in Cleveland, Ohio.

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Absolute Resolutions Investments LLC

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Stenger & Stenger

3. How much are you being sued for? 2,516.74

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

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) Served by Fayette County Constable 

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

7. Was the service legal as required by your state? Yes

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? None

9. What state and county do you live in? Kentucky - Fayette County (the court listed is 22nd Judicial District)

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) - 2017

11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? - May 2016

12. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 5 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). The website just has it listed as an active case with no status or details 

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? 20 days from 8/26/19

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. Absolutely nothing is attached besides the summons/complaint. The complaint just has the account listed as XXXXX... "Account" no account number

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

18. Read these two links:

Using Arbitration To Defend A Debt Collection Lawsuit

Sued by a Debt Collector - Learn How to Fight Debt Lawsuits

A few months ago, I received a debt collection letter from Midland Funding.  I found a validation letter on another site and sent it to Midland.  All they sent me was a copy of the original creditor’s charge off statement.  

I have been doing more research and from what I have found on this and other sites, the letter I sent requested things that were not required for Midland to send me.  

Does anyone have any opinions about this article?   I know the letter is wrong   What do you think about the rest of the advice?

 https://toughnickel.com/personal-finance/You-Can-Beat-Credit-Card-Debt-Collectors?utm_source=maven-coalition&utm_medium=hubpages&utm_campaign=liftigniter&utm_content=hp-related

So long story short. I fell on really hard times at the end of last year job loss for a few months. I had stopped pay my credit cards.

once I found employment some creditors decided to help me out and some did not. Hence, I have been receiving letters from Midland for the

past two months about a Synchrony Bank ($4,000) account that was charged off in January of this year . Last week I got a Final Pre Legal notification stating that they are moving my alleged account to an attorney review process.

From this boards experience with them how long before the sue? I would rather resolve this before it gets to court as I have no experience in legal affairs.How much would they typically settle for?

I received a collections letter for a debt owed to Paypal. Earlier this year I noticed 3 fraudulent charges on a checking account and they were from Paypal totaling $90. I called Paypal to question the charges and it was an account that was just opened that day and somehow they had my debit card information tied to that account. The bank ended up removing the fraudulent charges and I thought it was over. Now Paypal tells me that I need to file a police report for the incident in order to cancel the collection.

Is it really necessary for a police report? I have free legal services through my employer and was thinking of letting them handle it.

Has anyone been summoned to court by Advance Financial in Nashville?   They are a horrible, unethical creditor ( check BBB & other credit sites) with a ruthless & very "famous" debtor attorney, apparently.  They've already been paid 2.5 times the amount loaned, have not contacted me for 7 months, then a summons comes from a lawyer with very little info or notice.   I don't have time or $$ to be  more thorough with them, so will do a Sworn Denial for now.   This attorney has a gazillion other former customers on the docket that day, so I am wondering if the judge will just blow me off & give a summary judgement?!  Help. does anyone here have any experience with  Davidson Co, TN General Sessions and/or fighting Advance Financial?

I went to court two weeks ago and my MCT was granted by the judge and no argument (they agreed) from the JDC.  As I'm reviewing the Synchrony Bank cc agreement under the heading 'How to start an arbitration, and the arbitration process'. Am I reading correctly (see pic #2) that the JDC would have to file the arbitration and notify me in writing?

I got a call today form someone saying they were a courier coming to my house to drop off paperwork from a company name - i think he said Goldman something... i didnt really hear the name very well.  He had my street address and asked if i was going to be home tomorrow to receive these papers.  I am freaking out.  I checked the Orange COunty courts and i dont have any cases against me, I checked my credit report, there is nothing against me in my credit report.  Could this be legit?

So my first court date was 27 August. I was definitely out of my depths. I walk into the court a guy calls me over. This is a small town court so I proceed to talk with him. He finds me on a doc sheet ask me my phone number and address. Now mind you I don't know who this guy is. So not trying to make any waves in this small town court I answer him. Finally my brain kicks in and I ask who he is. He's the damn opposing counsel. I then state that I shouldn't be talking to him and sit down. Final my name is called and then opposing counsel ask the judge to reschedule the court date to Dec 10. 

Now as I said I'm out of my depths. Sorry for the long story. 

Original summons included one credit card statement, the summons, Sworn affidavit, military status affidavit. The venue is Carroll county, TN. The amount is old credit card debt from Capital One in the amount of 4,150.87

Javitch Block then sent a gesture of good faith letter asking me to settle. Two bill of sale my name nor any information about my account are on it. Looks like a generic copy, another sworn affidavit, and a mountain of statements. I'm guessing this is a scare tactic to get me to settle. I've done two tours in Iraq. It's not going to work. 

Just wondering what advice I can get on how to deal with this.

So my husband was sued by Velocity Investments LLC for a debt owed to Prosper in the amount of approx $1200. The kicker is about a year ago he fell 18 feet and suffered a TBI from it and now lives in a care facility. I did not know this debt existed but have since found the paperwork. I came home to find the certified letter slip in the mailbox and looked it up online. 

I am am not denying the debt is owed, but what would be my best course of action here- do I call Velocity and try to settle with them outside of court for a payment plan I could finish up within a couple of months or file an answer with the court asking for a payment plan? I don’t want them to go after bank accounts and empty them out or anything. Thanks for any help! 

Edited to add- I live in Ohio, this was filed in a local muni court. 

I was involved in an auto accident and I had not known my insurance had lapsed. I contacted the other insurance company and they said they will send my bill directly to a collection agency. Can I not work out payment with them directly? I have not yet even received the amount for the damages since they said it was still in the process of being assessed. If it has to go to a collection agency will it hurt my credit score? It is not an outstanding debt where I failed to pay.