Hello I am new to this group and to these processes so I need some help and guidance. I went to court on Tuesday 6/8/2010. The credit collector had originally filed in the wrong county and finally filed in the correct county, however, not in the 20 days mandated by the Indiana Rules of Court. Therefore, they started over in my county. They did not serve me with the standard documents of THEIR proof that I owe them money. They did however; send me, an offer letter that if I paid they would take 40% off the total bill (of course with the interest of 8% for 3-4 years). I responded with â??Validationâ? letter(s). No responses to either letter. They did not show up for court 3 weeks ago and the judge continued the case --- even though they did not request a continuance. On Tuesday, the Credit Collector did show up and said they did not serve me properly but, they would agree to Dismiss the case â??WITHOUTâ? Prejudice. I had requested that the case be dismissed WITH Prejudice. The judge said â?? Okay and proceeded to Dismiss Without Prejudice. I stated to the Judge, but, your Honor, I am entitled to this case being Dismissed WITH Prejudice because I went through all the Fair Credit Actâ?¦ bla and the Plaintiff did not. Why should they get to start this case over again when they are in dishonor? The Judge said; â??Do you have case law for this â?? ie; Dismiss With Prejudice). I said, no, it is the law according to the Fair Credit Actâ?¦ bla and the UCC. He said, if you owe this then they should have the right to re-file and left the bench. Before he could get completely off the bench, I said Your Honor, you said that if I did not like the ruling that I can appeal. I then said, how long do I have to appeal. He said, I cannot give you legal advice. I said, Your Honor, I am asking what does the law state, not legal advice. He looked at the lady who runs the tape recordings and said, â??donâ??t they do so, and so, and she said, no they first must file and then do such and suchâ?. The Judge said to me, you will need to research this or get counsel. I said, well I guess I will research this as I do not have the funds to hire an attorneyâ?¦. This is my very first time in court and I am like a deer in headlights.. not nervous but just not knowing what the He_ _ was going on. So, do I appeal and if so, what groundsâ?¦ or do I wait until the Credit Collector files again and start with the entire â??Validationâ? process -againâ?.
So they dismissed the case and you want to appeal? I don't get it. The case is dismissed. They can re-file, but after losing this time, why would they spend the money only for you to come back and put up a fight again? Clearly they are not really motivated to pursue the case or they'd have been there the first time with the neccesary (i.e. ANY) documentation. The bar to "prove" a case like this is pretty low (e.g. show up with some faded fax). The fact that they couldn't even reach that bar says to me that they were just hoping you wouldn't show up so they could get a default judgment. You showed up. They lost. Be happy with what you got. If they come back and file another suit, at least you'll have had this go-'round to practice and you'll be more prepared for the next one.
