Hi, heres my problem, i had an account that was charged off by providian in 2003. i had a balance of around 1500. it was a personal card. i had broken my wrist and had to have a titanium plate and 8 screws put in my wrist to repair it and to make long story short i could not pay on the card. I have not had contact with providian since but i recently found out thru a lawsuit against me earlier this year, that a company called First resolution had bought the account and are seeking judgement for $5800. I went and hired a local lawyer out of the phone book. he answered my lawsuit. a couple of months passed and today i found out that the lawyer i hired switched firms and some other lawyer in the firm is gonna handle the case. now here is my problem, after i was informed of this i did some homework and checked the docket sheets for my case to see what had actually happened and found out that all he had done was a couple of phone confresses with the court and plaintiff. a couple of days ago the plaintiff filed for motion on judgement and some papers for me to sign or fill out from what i understand. the heading on the papers say "REQUEST FOR ADMISSIONS" on the top and have a total of 17 request that they want answered.These papers seem like they want me to give them a written cofession that i do owe them!!! I kinda feel like the lawyer I sat down with breifly today has no expirience in this type of case and was quick to ask me if i would be willing to settle. When i origanally hired the other lawyer i was very specific that 1. i was disputing the amount of the debt. 2. i wanted them to show me proof of this debt "validation" . 3. i did not want to settle unless it was a last resort. when the lawsuit was filed by First resolution, they had attached a computer statement of the account and filed a disket they got when they bought the account containing that info. that was it!! I have to meet up with my lawyer again when he finds out exactly where the case is, but he did tell me the next hearing is in Jan 2007. so i want to do some research before then and see exactly what my options are. if anybody has any advise please help. if you need any other info ill add it to the post. please forgive my grammar or any mistakes!!
Sad to say that you may be to far into the litigation to establish any violations. You may be able to amend your Answer but I would doubt it. If you are able to, request validation of the account from the law firm and the Plaintiff. Go ahead and dispute the tradelines on your reports associated with this account. Use any violations (FCRA, FDCPA) to amend (if your still able) your Answer to assert Counter-Claims. Other than that, you may consider having your answer amended to include equittable estoppel as an affirmative defense (if your still able). This essentially means that you're alleging that it would be inequitable for the Plaintiff to collect that amount in the prayer. Finally, the requests to admit is a part of the discovery process. Deny them or claim you lack sufficient knowledge to answer. The "Motion for Judgement" is just another word for Complaint (unless it's a Motion for Summary Judgment) which you've already answered.
So im assuming is too late to have this lawyer actually validate the debt in this lawsuit even doh the first lawyer never did what i asked him to do? funny thing is the plaintiff already offered my new lawyer a settlement for 3800 plus 6% intrest from date of judgement. i didnt even offer to settle, wich leads me to believe that they dont have any proof of this debt and just want to get what they can. i did a little more research and look at all the cases they had filed in my local court and every single one "total of 108" had been won by them by default judgment because defendents never showed up or answered the lawsuit. Im thinking of having this new lawyer take it to trial, but wanted to educate myself first.
Request for admissions are often sent out in preparation for a motion for summary judgment. You need to have a talk regarding the future plans for the case. Collection agencies often don't have the evidence to establish that you owe the debt and start gathering evidence after the lawsuit is filed. Original creditors most likely have the evidence to establish that you owe the debt and upon receiving an answer will quite likely file a motion for summary judgment to dispose of the case before trial.
Ok , i left massage for lawyer to call me monday after the holidays and im going to ask him about doing what asked my original lawyer to do wich is validate this debt. i want First resolution to prove that i owe them the amount they are asking for. I was even thinking of telling my lawyer monday to offer them 1500 to settle this. still thinking about it !! below is the a copy of the docket sheet of what has happened so far. Actions Date Description -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 04/03/06 FILING COMPLAINT FILED. 04/06/06 SUMMONS SUMMONS W/ COPY OF COMPLAINT SENT CERTIFIED MAIL TO: xxxxxx x xxxxxxxxxxxx CERTIFIED MAIL # xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 04/18/06 RETURN SIGNED RECEIPT FOR CERTIFIED MAIL RETURNED AND FILED. xxxxx xxx xxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx (04/12/06) 04/19/06 ANSWER ANSWER FILED BY DEFT, xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx 07/07/06 (MAB) CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE SET FOR AUGUST 22, 2006 AT 1:30 PM. SEE JOURNAL. VOLUME # 985 PAGE # 986 08/22/06 (MAB) CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE HELD. AUGUST 22,2006. ALL PARTIES PARTICIPATED BY PHONE. ALL DISCOVERY DEPOSITIONS SALL BE COMPLETED BY THE PARTIES ON OR BEFORE NOVEMBER 16,2006. SET FOR PRE-TRIAL ON: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16,2006. AT 9:00AM (SEE JOURNAL) VOLUME # 988 PAGE # 1608 09/11/06 FILING NOTICE OF SERVICE OF REQUESTS FOR ADMISSIONS FILED. 09/11/06 FILING NOTICE OF SERVICE OF PLAINTIFF'S INTERROGATORIES AND REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS FILED. 11/16/06 MOTION MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT FILED BY PLAINTIFF.
Well , I didnt get a chance to talk to my lawyer today, but i left a massage on his voice mail to offer 1500 to settle. I hope thats not taken as a admission of guilt because it isnt. i just want to get this lawsuit over with!! I know they dont have anything on file because of what they filed with the lawsuit has no merit in court. i hope they take the offer and leave it at that.
