On dec 16th i have to appear at a hearing for a motion for summary judgment just like you did recently.I too did not file an answer to the motion for summary judgment but did answer the complaint/and summons.Can you fill me in on what i can expect if i decide to appear?How long was the hearing and did the judge allow you to defend yourself? Anything you can tell me about that hearing would be helpful.Thanks for your reply
The judge let me talk but he eventually cut me off when he realized my defense was a list of state laws that the debt buyer broke because he didn't care about those. He said that since it was a summary judgment hearing the only issue was the about material facts. Since the debt buyer had all of their paperwork including statements, I lost big time. The whole thing took probably ten minutes. Good luck. Obviously I don't recommend my approach. Can you still settle? I would have saved five figures if I had settled.
That result proves what some of us here have been trying to teach. Take your FDCPA complaints to federal court. What laws they might have violated are not material facts (pertinent to the issue ) before the court.
Is it easy to win in federal court, or is it a crap shoot? In my case, as I said, the company doesn't even have a license to collect in my state and admit they broke laws, but said the laws don't apply to them since they're not debt collectors.
I won't say that it is easy to win but it is anything but a crap shoot. Winning the case isn't at all difficult if you have the proof and it seems to me that you have more than enough causes of action. The good part is that you will not have to fear actually appearing before any judge. It is all done over the internet using the Pacer court system, mail, email, and telephone. The hard part is learning the ropes. You must either hire an attorney who specializes in consumer advocacy matters or learn how to do it yourself. I know of one person who has won 40 straight cases against debt collectors and another who has won 6 or 7. It isn't hard to find people like that who have won multiple cases against debt collectors using Pacer. Most of them have learned how to do it, prepare their own paperwork and file their own cases. I happen to know the man who has the 6 or 7 wins and he says he can prepare a new case from scratch in about an hour or two. The fact of their not having a license should have made a difference to the court. Did you bring it up at trial? While the court may or may not have dismissed their case it may have demanded that they get a license within a fairly short period of time or the case would be dismissed. That would be up to the judge. But that fact would not have been a viable defense. You were not the injured party simply because they didn't have a license. The state was the injured party because it's laws were broken. I suggested that you go to Craigslist to find someone to help you. Did you ever do that?
