being sued - need help asap !

I understand how you feel, but you need to move past this point and focus on defeating them.

 

You might want to have an attorney in your area review this:


ANSWER AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

DEFENDANT YOUR NAME, appearing pro se, answers the complaint of Plaintiff and, in responses to each numbered paragraph thereof, states:
1. Without knowledge.
2. Admitted.
3. Defendant is without information or knowledge sufficient to form an opinion as to the truth or accuracy of the allegations contained in this paragraph and based on that denies and generally and specifically each and every allegation contained herein and demands strict proof.
4. Denied.
5. Denied.
6. Defendant is without information or knowledge sufficient to form an opinion as to the truth or accuracy of the allegations contained in this paragraph and based on that denies and generally and specifically each and every allegation contained herein and demands strict proof.
7. Defendant is without information or knowledge sufficient to form an opinion as to the truth or accuracy of the allegations contained in this paragraph and based on that denies and generally and specifically each and every allegation contained herein and demands strict proof.
8. Defendant is without information or knowledge sufficient to form an opinion as to the truth or accuracy of the allegations contained in this paragraph and based on that denies and generally and specifically each and every allegation contained herein and demands strict proof.

AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

1. Plaintiff failed to allege ultimate facts to establish existence of a contract.
2. Pursuant to Rule XXX of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff failed to attach notes, bills of exchange, account statements, contracts, or other documents upon which an action may be brought.
3. The complaint fails to state a claim against defendant upon which relief can be granted.

------------------

You might consider filing a Motion to Dismiss based on paragraph 3 of the complaint.

 

After filing your answer and if the rules allow move for discovery.

 

The XXX refers to the section of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure that would apply. You will find them here: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/CourtRules/NRCP.html

You need to read and absorb the rules as they apply to you.

You will file the Answer and Affirmative Defenses as written in accordance with the rules.

 

SWORN DENIAL

Defendant, XXXX, appearing pro se, denies this is her debt and if it is her debt, Defendant denies that it is still a valid debt and if it is a valid debt, Defendant denies the amount sued for is the correct amount.

 

Motion to Dismiss Failure to State a Claim



The defendant moves the court as follows:



1. To dismiss the action because the complaint fails to state a claim against defendant upon which relief can be granted.

 

Request for Admissions

1. Admit that you failed to confirm that the Defendant was liable for payment of the Account.

Response:

2. Admit that the Defendant is not personally liable for any amount allegedly due on the Account.

Response:

3. Admit that the Account is an obligation, or an alleged obligation, incurred primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and that it arose from a transaction or alleged transaction.

Response:

4. Admit that you are in the business of collecting or in soliciting for collection debts that are due or alleged to be due a creditor.

Response:

5. Admit that you do not own the Account.

Response:

6. If you allege that you purchased the Account, admit that the Account was in default at the time of such purchase.

Response:

7. Admit that you did not originate the debt evidenced by the Account.

Response:




8. Admit the Defendant never maintained an open account with you.

Response:

9. Admit that you contend that the Defendant was able to use the Account to purchase goods and services from persons or businesses other than the original creditor of the Account.

Response:

10. Admit that the Defendant never signed a written contract with you.

Response:

 

DEFENDANTâ??S FIRST DISCOVERY REQUESTS TO

______________________________
DEFINITIONS

For these Requests:

A. The terms ″personâ? or â??personsâ? shall mean all entities, including but not limited to individuals, groups, or associations however formed.

B. The term â??youâ? refers to Plaintiff ________________________, including all past and current employees and agents of this Plaintiff, and any person over which this Plaintiff exercises the power to control and direct.

C. The term â??documentâ? means any written, recorded, or graphic matter whether produced, reproduced or stored on papers, cards, tapes, belts, or computer devices or any other medium in your possession, custody or control, or known by you to exist, and includes all originals, and all prior drafts. It includes all original business records, non-identical copies, computations, memoranda of oral or telephone conversations, tabulations, records of correspondence, notes made on other documents, microfilms, etc.

D. The term â??identifyâ? when referring to a person asks for the following information:

(1) Full name;

(2) Present or last known residential address and present or last known business address;

(3) Present or last known telephone number;

(4) If an individual, the present or last known occupation, job title, employer, and employerâ??s address;

(5) If an entity, the present or last known description of the type of entity (partnership, corporation, etc.) and main purpose of the entity.

E. The term â??identifyâ? when referring to a document asks for the following information:

(1) Form of the document (letter, notation on card, etc.)

(2) Title or heading of document, if any

(3) Date of creation of the document, and date of any alteration to the document

(4) Complete information to identify creator and recipient of the document

(5) Present location of the document and custodian of the document
INTERROGATORY

Defendant, appearing pro se, propounds the following interrogatory to Plaintiff pursuant to Rule XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, to be answered and responded to under oath within SPELL OUT # OF DAYS (xx) days of service.

This Interrogatory shall be deemed continuing so as to require supplementary answers if you obtain further information between the time answers are served and the time of trial.

1. How many other collection agencies has Plaintiff contacted in regards to this alleged debt?
2. List each and every collection agency, omitting none there from, that has been contacted regarding this alleged debt..
3. Has this alleged debt been sold to any third party?
4. If the answer to #3 is yes, what is the name, address and telephone number of that third party.

REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS

Pursuant to Rule xxxxxxx, Defendant, pro se, requests that Plaintiff produce and permit inspection and copying of the following documents at the offices of the undersigned counsel, within #days (xx) days after service of this request.

These Requests for Production of Documents shall be deemed continuing so as to require supplementary answers if you obtain further information between the time answers are served and the time of trial.

1. Any and all documents and things, omitting nothing there from, that are identified or sought to be identified in or that relate in any manner whatsoever to or are referred to in your answer to Interrogatory No 1.

RESPONSE:





2. Any and all applications for credit, omitting nothing there from, made by or on behalf of the Defendant to _______________________.



RESPONSE:




3. Any and all charge slips, omitting nothing there from, signed or alleged to have been signed by the Defendant under the open account with _______________________________.


RESPONSE:




4. Any and all charge slips, omitting nothing there from, whether or not signed or alleged to have been signed by the Defendant, that relate in any way to transactions that you allege are part of the balance sued for under the open account with _______________________________ ,

RESPONSE:



5. Any and all periodic billing statements issued to anyone, including the Plaintiff, omitting nothing there from, both those showing actual purchases and those merely showing the balance brought forward, under the open account with _______________________ , or in any other way related to or part of the balance upon which you are suing.

RESPONSE:



6. Any and all correspondence between _____________________________ and the Defendant, omitting nothing there from, related in any way to transactions that you allege are part of the balance sued for under the open account with ___________________________ , or to the account sued for in general.

RESPONSE:



7. Any and all correspondence between the Plaintiff and Chase, omitting nothing there from, related in any way to the open account with ________________________________ , or to the account sued on in general.

RESPONSE:

 

Clean these up and put in proper form as per the rules. I would have local counsel review them too.

 

If the court records are on line or are searchable on line, you might be able to look up similar documents from a previous case filed by the plaintiffs to get an idea of:

a) the proper format

b) how they respond

For example, if you see that the suit is dismissed after the plaintiff receives a detailed response and motions for discovery, etc. that could indicate they don't want a fight and are just hoping for a default judgement. OTOH, if you see that they take every case to the mat, then you might have some homework or legal fees waiting for you.

 

You can send a DV letter at anytime. However they will claim their letter was sent to your last know address.

You either need to file your answer before the deadline or they will have a default judgment against you, or pay them.

 

enigma:
> You either need to file your answer before the deadline or they will
> have a default judgment against you, or pay them.
>
In fairness, they did serve her hamster and therefore it isn't clear that waiving that is sensible. You've got her into discovery and admissions when that would end her claims, which are valid I suspect, of poor process.

Of course they will just try again, but make them work for this.

 

James the courts are biased against debtors.Without a lawyer by your side speaking on your behalf your facing a david vs goliath showdown.If you owe the debt and it is still within the sol your going to need a divine intervention to prevail.

 

I beg to differ

If this person does respond to the action, I know for a fact that in California, the commissioner/judge is very sympathetic to a pro se defendant. More than likely, they will ask the attorney if they could come to a settlement before a judgment is in place. Trust me, I just had to continue a case til March 08 so that the defendant could provide proof of the debt being paid or settlement amount if she can't pay, which the court will review and determine if this is reasonable. Basically, when we take anything to court, there is a 50/50 chance that the ruling will go our way when a defendant shows up or answer a complaint.

 

This is my first time to post here. I worked for a debt collection company several years ago as a mid-level manager. I would approve settlements with debtors and the credit company.

All you are doing is praying that when the debt was bought/sold so many times that the proper paperwork didn't transfer with the debt. If the company can come back and prove that this was you, and that you agreed to the terms when you first opened your account, then they have you by the hair. The judge will enter a judgement against you and you will be forced to pay or file bankruptcy. I have seen this happen many times. It usually doesn't go in the debtor's favor.

This attorney is probably just out of law school and trying to pay off student loans. He/She is probably handling hundreds of these accounts and is suing every last one of them. You may be able to pay this debt off for $.10/dollar. It was probably purchased for $.06/dollar since this is the first debt collection attempt on it. If you do get a judgement against you, they can tack on attorney and court fees, making your debt even higher. You could then make payments on the judgement, which they could continue to charge you interest on. Or they could ask the judge to sieze your bank account and wipe you out right after payday.

It may be best to call the attorney, and ask him if you can settle the account. He/She may offer you to pay 50%. Tell them that if you settle for 50% you would have to make payments over the next 5 years. This will prolong him/her getting their money back. Ask for a settlement of 10% for a payment in full letter. The attorney will decline and make a counter offer. Tell them that the most you can come up with is (fill in the blank, but you need to get to $1500 or so to make it a one time payoff, rather than a monthly payment). Stick to your guns and offer 10%. Be brave, remember that they do this as a business. They want the cards stacked in their favor. They also want to get a payout as quickly as possible. The less effort they have to put into this, the more money they will make. Start negotiating with them, see what happens. And RECORD THE CONVERSATIONS. In most states recordings are admissable if one of the parties knows of the recording. Make sure they FDCPA you. They payment if full letter will be something you need to keep for many years. It will be your rebuttal if this chargeoff shows up on your credit as still owing.

This will get the attorney back the money plus a reasonable investment for his/her time/effort. You will have legally paid the debt and this will all be a lesson learned.

I have settled many accounts for $.15 - $.80 on the dollar. The more we got from the debtor, the better our quarterly bonuses were.

 

Why would you pay someone, who, based on the information provided, cannot prove the account belongs to the OP?