deep in the litigation process

Is this a large amount and what state do you live in? In some states they cannot garnish your wages based on a judgement.

 

It sounds like you're doing all the right things. I would file an objection to their motion and attach your paper trail as evidence that is contrary to their allegations.

If you show that they did receive notice and responses, you might point out that they purjured themselves in their allegations.

You might file a motion for dismissal point out that they have not participated in the mediation in good faith.

They've dug in and are going to take it to the mat. You'll have to dig into the civil procedure and look into some similar cases or strategies. You have them on the run so don't drop the ball. I'm just guessing but I'd bet that most pro se litigants fail when it comes to being aggressive and taking the offensive. So far, it sounds like you've been playing a defensive game so you might want to turn that around, especially now that you have some documented proof that they are the ones who are stalling and evading.

Hang in there, it looks like you're getting close.

 

Likely you'll find that only interrogatories that exactly follow your court's rules will be responded to and then you'll very likely have to battle to get any serious responses. This would likely include some form of compelling.

Dumb Bob is confused. Who is not serving who properly? It sounds like they are complaining that they don't get service from you but they aren't serving you properly, meanwhile you claim you are serving them. Does everyone have the other's correct mailing address?

It isn't uncommon for each side to claim it is white as virgin snow while the other side is evil and black as coal tar, all in hopes that the judge will become frustrated and do what they are seeking.

You are sending them the motions with the proper time allowed, right?

Do they have a point or not?

Are your affidavits in? A summary judgment is usually based on materials that are written and properly and timely submitted.

What are your state court rules and laws regarding putting assignment into play? Some states require an affidavit a certain number of days before the hearing.

Dumb Bob suspects that they won't until/unless you submit discovery following the rules for discovery. If you deviate at all from the rules, that will be used to not provide you what you ask for. Dumb Bob wouldn't count on them giving you anything of value even if you follow the rules.

You are into this big time, it would seem The contract that they will almost surely submit has terms that will claim that the winner gets attorney's fees out of this. At this point, you don't want to lose no matter what the original amount was for.

 

Often discovery isn't filed with the court, but it is certainly served on the litigants who are supposed to respond to it. If the other side is filing with the court materials that it isn't giving you and then saying you are ignoring those materials, something is very wrong. If this is intentional on the part of the other party, it would seem best to inform the judge. You have appeared, you say, therefore all materials sent to the court should be served to you.

You shouldn't have to do this. Something is wrong. Does the other party have your proper mailing address? Does Fido steal your mail for an afternoon snack?

If you don't respond in the required time denying the requested admissions, they would be likely looking to use that lack of a response to their advantage. But if you didn't respond because they didn't send you the discovery, that should be pointed out. This is a big deal because the entire case can rest on admissions that are deemed admitted because of a lack of response.

They aren't required to have every thing that they will ultimately have at the initiation of the proceedings. If you appear difficult, they may attempt to get more proof from the alleged original creditor. This may take time. Because of this, it can be difficult to understand whether or not you should push conclusion quickly or wait until you can learn more about the process.

There may be ways to attempt to end discovery and try to limit what new materials they might come up with late in the game, although you may wish to use discovery to understand what the other side has available. Since what they will try to do in the future isn't exactly known, it isn't really possible to know exactly how to go forward but you can improve your chances.

 

It would seem sensible to attempt to figure out what your total possible exposure to reasonable attorney's fees is depending on how far this goes. That would mean, what is "reasonable" for a default, for a summary judgment, for a trial, for an appeal? This matters because the $3000 might be ultimately an insignificant part of the judgment if you were to lose.

 

Do you have the court rules for your court? They should give some idea of what is required. Dumb Bob would make sure you have the right rules, if he were you, by going to the court and asking for a copy. When they say they don't have a copy you can have, ask where you should get a copy. This should increase the likelihood that the correct rules are available to you.

Did you say that they are seeking summary judgment? Dumb Bob doesn't know which rules apply to you. You said Texas. He found some rules, they might not be for your court, that referred to rule 166a as the rule about summary judgment.

This doesn't really explain exactly what to do but does give some idea:

If your plan is to seek a continuance, it looks like the materials to make that happen have to be submitted a week in advance, 166a subpart c:

So your affidavit says that you need a continuance because you have not gotten the materials that the plaintiff sent to the court and therefore you are way behind in preparing your defense? Dumb Bob doesn't know if that's enough. Often they want to know exactly what you'll get that matters if you are given more time. The rule that Dumb Bob was reading doesn't seem to go into much detail. This is why you should QUICKLY get to a law library with materials that explain how to respond properly in your state, in your specific court.

Dumb Bob doesn't know what you should do. But if you are still not getting all the materials that the plaintiff is filing with the court, how can you properly defend yourself?

1. Everything is generally written in a summary judgment hearing. So if you don't file anything with the court AND serve it to the other side, it won't be there to help you. This is why affidavits are so important.

2. Dumb Bob thinks that this must happen 7 days before the hearing, but he only gets this from reading the rules he found on the web, which might or might not be your actual rules. What 7 days means EXACTLY is unknown to Dumb Bob. For example, some jurisdictions add some number of days if you mail materials. That might mean you must send them 7 days plus some days before the hearing.

3. Your claims that you aren't getting materials seem interesting because if true, they would make defending yourself difficult.

 

Generally one would stand up and say "Objection" and then explain SPECIFICALLY what the objection is. The objection should be an actual valid legal objection. There are lists of what the most common ones are. In the case of written materials, one could write "Objection" and then state specifically what the objection is. These are important to preserve your rights in appeals and to hopefully get the judge to correct an error as it's occurring.

 

The written objections I've seen are simply in the standard legal format (e.g. with the case number, plaintiff, and defendant's name) and say, "Objection to Motion for Summary Judgment" or "Objection to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment."

In the body, the objector just states why they object, in this case you might dispute the grounds for the motion and present contradictory evidence.

As far as going on the offensive, I meant that you might start taking a more assertive legal stance and start objecting to their foot-dragging. e.g. filing motions so they have to start reacting to you rather than you always reacting to them.

You need to dig into the law books and find some similar cases to get some ideas. You can't stop now.

 

Arrow Financial Services, LLC of Niles, IL is ceasing debt collection operations. Sallie Mae, the owner, is said to have made a decision to close the company. Reports are that collectors have been laid off, or given notice they will no longer be employed there.

Arrow Financial was a purchaser of defaulted consumer debts, which were sent out to a group of attorneys for collection and litigation. They long had a reputation for not being able to validate purchased accounts they collected on and reported in consumer credit reports.

Arrow joins an ever increasing number of junk debt collectors who are closing due to their inability to purchase performing portfolio's to collect on, and the weak American economy.

Consumer have become more aggressive in demanding proof, while challenging the validity of court filings from debt purchasers than ever before, in part, because of the massive publicity generated by their illegal practices. It is widely held that the vast majority of purchased debts are completely worthless, causing the new purchasers to produce mass quantities of bogus documents that purport to give them life.

When you factor in the massive fraud perpetrated on consumers by Mann Bracken and the National Arbitration Forum, you have an industry void of consumer rights, ethics and credibility. Mann Bracken and the NAF did as much harm to the collection industry as the scam artists did to the image of Wall Street.
Additionally, many States Attorney General are now aggressively taking on the debt collection industry with increased over-sight and prosecution for their criminal behavior used in collecting these bogus debts.

Expect many more to follow Arrow into oblivion as the American consumer becomes more educated and aggressive in dealing with debt collectors.[/]