Would it be better to send an Intent to Sue letter or to simply have a CRA served with a summons? If you have them dead to rights on several issues and you have specific damages and a very clear papertrail, it seems to me that they would be more willing to seriously attempt to correct any and *all* errors that are contained on the credit report rather than just a quick fix of the one that perhaps caused the lawsuit? Also, with the choice of filing in small claims, supreme or federal court...which is more favorable for this type of lawsuit and eventual settlement? Other than the costs of filing...are there any benefits to filing in one over the other? My (one time)experience with small claims has been that they don't seem to take cases very seriously and don't even bother looking at the evidence half of the time. And last but not least...would it be better to sue two different CRA's seperately or together over the same issue? Also, should one enjoin the original creditor as a party because they are still verifying the account as accurate...even if their current agent has made an attempt to rectify the situation? Thanks for your patience! Laura P.S. Does anyone know the name of the agent and the address for service for Experian? Do I have to have them served through the Secretary of State in Texas or will any agent for any Experian affiliate do?
It depends on how much money you are wanting. If you file in supreme or federal court I would *highly* recommend you have an attorney to represent you. Small claims is usually for a much lesser amount of money and is resolved fairly quickly, federal court could take years to resolve...literally. You can't sue them together, because they are 2 different companies and you would have to sue the original creditor seperately as well. You need to find the registered agent for your state. Every corporation has RA in each state they do business, that is who you would serve, unless you hire your own process server and pay them to serve the headquarters. Depends on your court, I could have my court serve for me for an additional $8 and they take all responsibility for getting them served. Some people pay up to $100 for a process server.
Thanks for your reply Christi. One of the attorneys at the firm I work for does quite a bit in federal court so if went that route I would feel pretty confident about going pro se with his advise on the case...at least to the point of an actual trial...lol. Not looking for a lot of money...just deletion of the one account and a REAL inquiry (hopefully deletion) into the other accounts I have disputed. There are real errors contained there. Uhmmm...are you sure about that? We do it all the time. If there is more than one party involved, you don't have to file individual lawsuits for each person...that could get really hectic in some cases. (For example...if I was in a car wreck involving three cars and sued, I would name both the other drivers and each of their insurance companies in the same suit). I was just trying to figure out which way would be the best route to go. I could be missing something here...but just never heard of having to file a seperate suit for each party involved in the same case. We usually serve through the Secretary of State for out of state corporations and since the EQ I have dealt with this whole time is in Texas, I was trying to figure out the best way to proceed. I'll check to see if I can find an RA here. I appreciate your input, Christi....each situation is so different and I have never worked on anything lke this before (seems very different when you are personally involved, too) so I was hoping that some of you with experience in this area would help out with the best routes to take. I know I could ask at work, but I really don't want to wear out my welcome and if I *really* need them, I don't want to have bothered them with something I could have taken care of myself. Thanks again! L
OK I was talking about through small claims court. If you go the federal court route you probably can sue them together. And each state may be different. In Texas you can't serve 2 different corporations in one small claims suit, but it wouldn't be feasible anyway. The max in Texas is $5K and I don't want to split it 3 ways, I sued each CRA for $5K, then I can negotiate the settlement offer. If you work for an attorney in your state I would ask them, you'll probably get more accurate information, as each state has their own rules on small claims etc. If you are willing to go pro se yourself via federal court then by all means go for it. I just know the attorney I saw said they will play hardball in federal court and will subpoena everyone and depose everyone. I didn't want to spend that much time and money, if I can get deletions and some money. If the CRA's don't respond quickly to my offers to settle we will go the federal court route, but I just want an accurate report quickly It depends on your final motive I would say, to determine the route best for you.
