Being sued by NCO! Need help.

[valley_man0505]

Well, just when I thought I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I received a summons to small claims court.  NCO Financial is suing me for an old MBNA account.  The account was charged off in 2004, and MBNA is reporting a $0 balance (listed as Bank of America now).  It is within SOL and the amount they are claiming I owe is over $4000.  NCO used to be listed on my CRA, but I disputed the account about 5 or 6 months ago and it was deleted, so I am guessing I should have a pretty good chance at getting out of this one.  Also, if I remember correctly, BoA bought MBNA (which is why I am assuming the account in question is the one showing as BoA on my CR's).  Does anyone remember when this happened?  I am hoping it happened BEFORE the debt was sold to NCO, which would probably decrease the chances of them tracking downt he documents they need (I would assume that records like that would have a tendency to get lost through the course of some buyouts).

My question is how do I start?  If I DV them, will the court hearing be delayed until they validate?  If so, do they have a certain amount of time to come up with the validation papers before the court will throw the case out?  If they do manage to come up with the validation papers, do you think I can work out a settlement with them?

Well, I have to get to scouring these forums for similar situations.

[Anonymous]

A DV request will not slow or stop the legal process- the FTC has opinions or this.

You should try and settle it before court and go to court.

[Anonymous]

My advice would be to call your county court and find out how to properly answer the summons.

Also, you might want to seek a free consult with an attorney.

As Timothy mentioned, it is likely time to start negotiations.

I don't think they would have took the time to file a suit if they couldn't prove the debt.

Message Edited by sidewinder on 09-14-2008 07:06 PM

[valley_man0505]

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sidewinder wrote:

My advice would be to call your county court and find out how to properly answer the summons.

Also, you might want to seek a free consult with an attorney.

As Timothy mentioned, it is likely time to start negotiations.

I don't think they would have took the time to file a suit if they couldn't prove the debt. I have been under the impression that companies do this all the time even if they can't prove it in hopes that people will either a) panic and call to reach a settlement or b) not show up for court and get a default judgement.  Remember, they apparently couldn't validate when I disputed with the CRA's cuz they were deleted.  Of course, I really don't want to take the chance of that, though.

Message Edited by sidewinder on 09-14-2008 07:06 PM

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[valley_man0505]

How can I be sure that settling would be the right idea when I don't know if the amount owed is even valid or if they are even the legal owners of the debt?  I don't have any time to ask them for validation since the court hearing is coming up in 3 weeks.

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I was served a summons by a junk debt buyer. At the time I wasn't sure who this JDB was. So, I answered the summons by writing a letter to the county court house and expressed my desire to challenge this summons.

A few weeks later I received my court date.

At this point I mail out a request for disclosure and/or debt validation I also CC'd the plaintiff's attorney.

My court date came and I informed the judge that I challenged this and was awaiting documentation. The plaintiff's attorney was also waiting on discovery so the case was continued for 3 months.

I never received an answer to my request and at my next court date I found out that the attorney never received anything either. At this point she informed the court of her intention to dismiss the case with prejudice.

It is my belief that this JDB did not have any documentation to prove they owned the debt let alone win a lawsuit or they would have provided it. They were hoping I would not go to court so they would win by default or call them to arrange payment.

I don't know my case applies to you or not but as you are already aware, Yes certain debt collectors do proceed with fraudulent lawsuits hoping for a default judgement

Message Edited by mainemedic on 09-14-2008 06:04 PM

[Anonymous]

Just because it was deleted due to a dispute doesn't mean they couldn't validate.

It could simply mean they didn't respond within the required time frame.

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valley_man0505 wrote:

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sidewinder wrote:

My advice would be to call your county court and find out how to properly answer the summons.

Also, you might want to seek a free consult with an attorney.

As Timothy mentioned, it is likely time to start negotiations.

I don't think they would have took the time to file a suit if they couldn't prove the debt. I have been under the impression that companies do this all the time even if they can't prove it in hopes that people will either a) panic and call to reach a settlement or b) not show up for court and get a default judgement.  Remember, they apparently couldn't validate when I disputed with the CRA's cuz they were deleted.  Of course, I really don't want to take the chance of that, though.

Message Edited by sidewinder on 09-14-2008 07:06 PM

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[Anonymous]

If you are not sure on the validity of the debt, then you have the right to ask them to prove it.

Are you challenging just the amount, whether they own, or your ownership of the account?

It is a gamble, beacause when you get to court, if they do prove the debt, you could get a judgment.

I would seek the advice of an attorney and do what you feel is best.

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valley_man0505 wrote:

How can I be sure that settling would be the right idea when I don't know if the amount owed is even valid or if they are even the legal owners of the debt?  I don't have any time to ask them for validation since the court hearing is coming up in 3 weeks.

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[Anonymous]

negotiate now if you have the ability to pay it off or make payments.  If you do owe the debt, they are more than likely able to prove it.  You can of course ask for prrof of the debt, etc at the court on the day of since they would have to prove the debt is valid for the judge to rule against you..

As far as the whole "they do this all the time"  that is not really true.  They do call and say they are going to sue you, but they do not usually sue unless they have ownership, etc.  it costs them very little to make annoying calls to you.  It costs them alot more to actually file a lawsuit against you.  Usually when they it gets to that point, it is time to make ammends.  By all means verify with the,. but you probably are stuck with it and it is better to pay it than to get a judgement.

[valley_man0505]

It seem like a no-win situation for me.  Essentially, I can either a) agree to a settlement for a date with a collector that may or may not actually own the debt and I have no idea if the amount is accurate or b) have a judgement filed against me.

It really doesn't seem fair that they can put me in this position without allowing me a chance to get them to validate.  I don't have a problem paying them if they will allow me to set up a payment plan.  I just don't want to pay them more than what I really need to--especially if it turns out they are not even the rightful owners.  I am already in the middle of two other payment plans on two other debts and I can barely make it by as it is--I don't know how I can afford to pay more.than I am right now, but I know a judge won't give a rat's *$&%.  Also, the two debts I am paying now did the same thing to me--they filed in small claims court, so I called to settle.  Now, after the fact, I found out I am paying them a LOT more than I probably had to.  But, since I didn't have a chance to get them to validate, I had no choice.  It just really doesn't seem fair that they could put me in this position.