Help - Got a Court Letter

[Anonymous]

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HappyDays wrote:

the court would not send CMRRR but it WOULD have a return address of the courthouse

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Right. Sorry I mis-understood OP. BUT if OP missed the call on Wed, he'll be surprised how it turns out. That's FOR SURE.

Rob

[Anonymous]

Right. Sorry I mis-understood OP. BUT if OP missed the call on Wed, he'll be surprised how it turns out. That's FOR SURE.

Rob
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What if I never get the order from the Judge to be on the call on that date??  They sent me a copy of the letter that I referenced above ASKING the judge to send an order and send copies to all parties.

Their letter was very ummmm fill in the blank with date/time etc they were requesting the judge to order the call...

Anyone ever had to to a call like this???   Also yes Happy Days it was from FL... not near me though

[Anonymous]

I dont know, here in Ga they can just drop a notice to appear in regular postal mail.  It usually has a little date mailed notation at the bottom.  So depending on your area, you may want to dig a little deeper.

[Anonymous]

Ok Fl. does allow testimony by phone BUT it has to be ok'd  and im not sure the this will wash.call AG  around 4PM tomorrow & ask about that rule  Motion for Telephonic Appearance Pursuant to Florida rule 2.071

This attorney is prob.  too busy or to far away to make it to the courthouse in time to file. Find out if this rule can apply to a creditor that has had almost 4 years to file.

Message Edited by HappyDays on 08-27-2007 05:53 PM

[Anonymous]

Okay reread it and I guess I have to appear and they want to be there by phone cause they are so far away??

This is the first time for this and man I wish I hadn't disputed the amount so watch out people! I just wanted to see why they said I owed so much...anyway

it says...

A pretrial has been set for August 29th at 10 am before the honorable court. It would be burdensome for them to send a rep. to my county to participate.

So this mean I have to go???? or this just where they want to file the motion??  I have tried to search it on the net and can't come up with anything..

Thanks!!!

[Anonymous]

An attorney can not order you to appear ONLY a judge can do that.I think the attorney wants a jusge to ok them to file by phone.

Call the courthouse tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

An attorney can not order you to appear ONLY a judge can do that.I think the attorney wants a jusge to ok them to file by phone.

Call the courthouse tomorrow.

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Any tips on what to say when I call???  This is my first.... Should I try and call the attorney and work out something? I do not want to go to court... Also is the SOL exactly 4 years from the DOLA? Mine was 9/2003 so does that mean 9/1/2007 it is out of SOL?

I just wanted to know why the amount was TRIPLE what I owed.... I haven't spoke to these people... they call all the time but I never answer and didn't know that they were handling this account until I disputed it on EQ

Thanks for any advise!

[Anonymous]

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Call the courthouse tomorrow.

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Any tips on what to say when I call???  This is my first.... Should I try and call the attorney and work out something? I do not want to go to court... Also is the SOL exactly 4 years from the DOLA? Mine was 9/2003 so does that mean 9/1/2007 it is out of SOL?

I just wanted to know why the amount was TRIPLE what I owed.... I haven't spoke to these people... they call all the time but I never answer and didn't know that they were handling this account until I disputed it on EQ

Thanks for any advise!

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Anyone? Should I try to settle with the Attorney? They asked the judge to file motion by phone so I guess it actually hasn't been filed yet??  They have tomorrows date on letter for pre-trial hearing.....

Any one have tips on which way to go?  I can't pay the total amount...just no way unfortunately so will they even try to work with me now?

[Anonymous]

Hi Want2BeDebtFree,

To give you a backstory of what is happening to you:

Collection agencies, particularly the JDBs, used to make their money easily because people were not aware of their rights under the FCDPA.   The unscrupulous JDBs would tack on outrageous (and sometimes illegal) fees on top of the debt, and they would get the money because people weren't aware of their rights.   Unfortunately for the unscrupulous JDBs, more and more people, thanks to this forum and many other sites, are becoming more aware of their rights and they are asserting them.   If an ethical JDB can't validate the debt, they'll follow the rules - they'll delete it from your credit report, but they may sell the portfolio to another JDB.  However, some collection agencies (particularly the unscrupulous JDBs who are tacking on outrageous fees) are acting on the offensive and filing suit against the debtor shortly before the SOL is about to expire.  They are trying to accomplish one of two things - the lawsuit will either scare the defendant into settling for an outrageous amount (to the CA's favor) or the defendant will ignore the lawsuit and the collection agency will get a default judgement.

What you want to do:

You definitely want to participate in this - you want to show the CA that they can't bully you into paying outrageous fees on top of what you owe.  Go to court ASAP.  Go to the courthouse and find out what it would take to file a motion for continuance so you can have more time to prepare your case.   

Get an attorney - ASAP! Particularly one that understands the FCDPA (like an attorney from NACA or a bankruptcy attorney).   What they can do is help you formulate a defense, and perhaps countersue for violation of the FCDPA.   When a collection agency tacks on fees, they are supposed to give you an itemized list of how they are calculating their fees (original debt, interest, processing fees, etc.).   If you want to pay your debt (good for you!), the attorney can help you use the courts to enforce a settlement (motion to settle).   That way, the CA can't try anything funny after the settlement, like telling you that they'll accept your settlement of what you actually owe, and then turn around and sue you for the remaining balance of the outrageous fees.  

The down side is the attorney will cost you money.   It's worth it to protect yourself out of getting ripped off.  The good news is if you show that you're willing to fight for your rights, they'll more than likely back off and dismiss the suit.  

[Anonymous]

Want2BDebtFree, sounds like the letter you received is a "second step". You said the event that's the subject of the motion is a pre-trial hearing originally scheduled for August 29, right? Based on what you've described, it sounds like the attorney wants to handle the pre-trial matters by telephone. In order to do this, s/he has file a "motion" (a procedural request) with the judge that the judge may allow or deny. Whenever a motion with a court is filed, a courtesy copy is also sent to the opposing party. So that's why you got a copy of this directly from the attorney. If the judge approves the motion, you'll get an executed copy from the court with the re-scheduled call date. Now, under Florida law, there's a very good likelihood that you would be able to object to the motion which would compel the attorney to appear in person. More on that later.

You need to get clear on the "first step". You never received a copy of the complaint -- a document indicating that a lawsuit has been filed against you? Because you can't get to the second step of pre-trial motions and all that without this first step of something being filed against you. I'd first contact the court house and reference the case number on that letter to figure out exactly what's on file. If the complaint wasn't properly served on you, that's your first defense (along with your other possible defenses like "I don't owe this much" and "The plaintiff's timing is off and the SOL has actually already expired" and etc.). Be nice to the court clerk and, even though clerks aren't allowed to dispense legal advice, the clerk may tell you something about the procedural rules in Florida. That is, whether you need to answer the complaint now or whether you can allege improper service at the pre-trial hearing without abandoning that or an argument that the lawsuit is time-barred as a defense.

After you're armed with this information, you might decide to fight it out in court because (1) you're confident in doing that; and (2) you've weighed your options and think you can show that because the original complaint (or whatever is required in Florida to start a law suit against someone) wasn't timely filed, the SOL has already expired. Or you might decide your best option lies in contacting the attorney directly to talk about a pre-trial settlement in exchange for his/her agreement to immediately dismiss the case with prejudice (but be prepared for the fact that entering into that kind of discussion may freeze the SOL clock; that'll make a difference if you can't agree on an amount). At any rate, learn everything you can about what's been filed so, that way, you can use their failure to serve you properly (if that's what happened) as a settlement bargaining chip if need be. Also, if you can object to the motion for a telephonic hearing, use that as a bargaining chip too.

At any rate, the attorney definitely will be interested in negotiating with you at any time before the judge bangs the gavel on a final decision. (About 90% of all lawsuits are settled.)