Hi, I received advice from another board then read something about this board and now I'm confused. Let me explain my situation and I hope someone can help. I received a summons from a collections agency for debt. I have not filed my answer yet and now I've just received a default if I don't respond in 10 days. The other board told me to deny or lack sufficient knowledge and someone said that was not right and to come here. What should I do? They want 3K which I don't have and the attorney said I could pay 300/mo plus 800 in legal feeds which I cannot do either. Do I file an answer saying I need more information or proof that they can sue me for this debt? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is a list of their claims: Complaint Breach of Contract; Account stated; Open-ended contract Plaintiff Claims: 1. Plaintiff is authorized to do business in Arizona, the Defendant is resident of Maricopa County. 2. The defendant made purchases which were financed by Ultimate Electronics. Further, the Defendant has defaulted by failing to repay the Plaintiff, and that the Defendant has been unjustly enriched. 3. The plaintiff took an assignment of the Account in good faith, for value and in the regular course of business. 4. The defendant failed to make the monthly payments due. 5. The accounts owing is in the amount of $2,780.83 6. All payments have been credited as received. 7. The plaintiff declared the account to be in default and demands payment of the $2780.03 8. If any defendant was or became married during the time extensions of credit were made on the account, Plaintiff alleges the debt on the account to be both community and separate in nature. If the debt is pre-marital one, the non-debtor spouse is joined only as a necessary party pursuant to Arizona Law;
If this is your first post....you left out a lot of info in order for some of the more experienced people to help you. Such as..... When they were contacting you before...did you request evidence that the debt is really yours, is the statute of limitations up on this debt, did they indeed provide you with the correct and valid evidence before?....ect. If you do not appear in court, then they win by default and they will garnish your wages. It happened to me once. If they did provide you with sufficient and valid evidence and it's within the statute of limitations, ect....then if I were you...I'd try to negotiate a payment with them. If you can't win in court, then you have the added expense of paying a lawyer in addition to the debt. I'm new here....and new to all of this, but this much I know.
The statute of limitation is not up and I did request more info but that was not until they sent me to the attorney.
What other board gave you advice. You must at least make an appearance and if the only evidence if an Affadivit, file a Motion for a More Definitive Statment.
What you need to file will vary depending on your state and on what division of the state court system you are in. If you have summary procedure, you won't get discovery and you will have to show up and orally object to any hearsay (or otherwise incompetent or incomplete) evidence. Paperwork without a records custodian on the stand to swear to its maintenance in the ordinary course of business ... is hearsay and inadmissible. If you have full (plenary) court procedure, you need to file for discovery, potentially file motions to suppress evidence, etc. You will definitely also need to file an answer, which is not necessarily the case for summary procedure. In either case you may be diverted to mediation. A favorite judge's trick is to ask you point blank if it is your debt. If you aren't prepared to lie and answer "no" you had better have something brief and pithy to say about their need to come forward with appropriate proof and not just say "yes". An acknowledgement on your part while under oath may be all the court needs to grant judgment to the other side.
Well, here is the thing. The debt is mine but the problem is I can't afford to pay 300/mo + another 800 in legal fees. What do you suggest? It's not that I don't want to pay my debt it's that I don't have the money to pay it which is why I defaulted in the first place.
There's plenty of time to negotiate for payments if the court rules their claim is good. But a lot of people stipulate to a settlement or an agreed judgment if they think there's no way they can win. In many states the court will bless an agreement that gives you a payment schedule and lets you avoid a judgment. But winning the case and avoiding a judgment is even better.
Filed answer I filed the answer today and the court said I will be getting a trial date? I thought this would allow me to ask for if they have a contract to own this debt? If I do get a trial date then what do I do? I mean, I don't want to go to court, I'm hoping they either drop it or offer me a fair payment plan.
Which state's law does the cardholder agreement invoke? You may have a shorter SOL than you think, and you still may be able to raise that issue... Other than that, you will need to object to the JDB getting any of their documents into evidence on the basis that it's hearsay without a records custodian of the original creditor to testify to its authenticity. There are other things that might be tried. But those are the two most commonly successful defenses nationwide.
It means you're going to have to go in front of a mediator and they generally push the issue of settlement. Push for proof of the debt and how much they paid for it.
Filed answer now they. are asking me for documents? Well I filed the answer like everyone advised me to denying most things. Now I've got a mediation hearing and the attorney has sent me 3 pages of questions requesting for documents. Again I know I owe this debt and it doesn't look like they are going to back down. My only issue is I can't afford to pay $300/mo for 12 months. I can afford $150/mo barely.... What should I do? I don't want to keep dragging this on and racking up the attorney fees they are going to make me pay.
You might owe the debt you think you owe. YOU MIGHT NOT OWE THE DEBT to the entity that is sueing you, they might not be the legal owners of the debt. Just because you owe the debt does not mean anyone has the right to collect it, if john sued you, do you owe him the debt? see my point. You have time now for discoveries to find out if they have the legal right to collect the debt or if they bought the right to collect the debt from someone else and DO NOT have the proof of debt and therefore do not have the right to collect the debt. I don't have much info, just remember, unless they prove you owe them, you don't owe them. you might owe the debt, you do not owe the debt to them without proof.... and never ever ever admit in any way shape of form that you owe the debt. deny due to lack of information. If you do not know, deny. who is the plaintiff? PS - be careful of what they ask for and what you give them. Please post the request for information they sent you (edit out your info and case info please)
Arrow Financial Arrow Financial is the plaintiff. Let me give you some more info. I did pay Arrow a year ago so does that show Arrow that I've admitted it's my debt? How do I know if they have proof? What is proof? The signed contract? There is no signed contract, it's a receipt that I signed which I guess is the contract?
Once you sign something that can be lifted and put on a contract illegally.Would arrow do it?Hell yes they still try to contact me on a bill that was discharged in bk. It just shows you paid on a bill.It's not against the law to pay on someone's bill.It just shows your name or a name that could or could not be yours.Would it hold up in court maybe maybe not.However they have to produce a signed contract.Also you can demand the name address and phone number of the person that furnished the information to arrow.So if it go's to court chances our that person isn't going to be there.
The signed receipt is going to be proof enough, if they have that plus a payment from you. Yes, they assume you've admitted the debt unless you sent some sort of disclaimer that said "I don't believe this is mine but I'm paying it to get it off my report" or something like that.
If I am understanding the poster correctly. It sounds like the debit was included in bankruptcy. If it was a chapter 7. He could file a counter complaint and possible get attorney and court fees back.
