J
Lakewood,#2Consumer Suggestion
Sat, December 23, 2006
In your discovery request, did you ask for a copy of this payment they claimed was made? Request the court not to give a continuance, to them, that they already had 5 week, and there request was made well after any deadline to file this request, This is stalling on part of the plaintiff, keep up with all court dates and you file everything, within the time limits. you should get another attorney, and you let the court know as to why, and file a complaint with the Ky bar. It sound from what your saying that your attorney would rather not piss off the collection agency, maybe wanting them to throw him some work. has he ever did any work for this collection agency? All courts have civil rules, and in these rules, you have so many days to file your responds, you even have so many days to request a continuances, you attorney should know this. you can't come weeks after that deadline and want more time, well if the court is not aware of this and your attorney is giving them the time, then there is nothing that can be done, your attorney is letting get away with this. You attorney is and must work, in what is in your best interest. within the rules of court and law. He took a oath to that. I'm not an attorney, but is sounds like the one you have isn't much of one either. You need to see if the court is aware of what is going on.
Anthony
Berea,#3Author of original report
Thu, December 21, 2006
I am going to try and get a referral to another attorney. This lawyer wants to wait until he hears back from them before doing any motions and he's pretty much set that it's a written agreement. I just don't undestand why the attorney will not listen to me on this and file the motion to dismiss. I have told him all about AAC from what I have read here and hundreds of other places. The AAC attorney even put a bogus date of last payment in the letter than actually SOL's the whole thing (march of 2001) and then said for us to avoid endless discovery and litigation, we should settle!!
Steve
Bradenton,#4Consumer Suggestion
Thu, December 21, 2006
Anthony, I have fought this battle several times. A written contract is almost always a fixed amount over a specified period of time with a fixed payment amount. If they say it is a written contract, tell them you want to see the written contract. Open ended is just that. No fixed payoff date. Revolving accounts are always open ended. Thats why they are called revolving accounts. This is a simple argument to make in front of a judge. And, they have already exposed their hand in offering you a deal after filing the lawsuit. They know they cannot win if you fight them. If they were confident they could win, AND actually get paid, they would never offer a deal. Hammer them with validation requests and dispute every peice of validation they offer. You CAN win this, even if you have to do it yourself.
John
Califon,#5Consumer Comment
Thu, December 21, 2006
I wouldn't give them any time. These companies put the time restraints on people with paid off accounts unneccessarily in hopes of panic and unwarranted payment. Hold them to the same 30 days they are holding you to for a response. Aren't they REQUIRED to respond in 30 days anyway?
Anthony
Berea,#6Author of original report
Thu, December 21, 2006
Steve, The amount is $7,500. Yes this is a PPL lawyer and he suggested I give them the extra 30-60 days the AAC lawyers asked for. I told him to file a motion to dismiss but he wants to wait to give the AAC lawyers an opportunity to send documentation. I used the NACA site and found 1 lawyer who is 90 miles away and left her a message. No call back after 2 days. The few lawyers I have talked too all say it's a written contract. I haven't been able to find any with collection law experience.
Steve
Bradenton,#7Consumer Suggestion
Wed, December 20, 2006
Anthony, Once a lawsuit is filed, sending letters does nothing at all. You must file motions. I have to ask, what is a "prepaid lawyer"? Are you talking about a participating lawyer in the PPL network? Your lawyer simply needs to file a DISCOVERY motion. OR.. The max SOL in KY is 15 years, however CC debt is considered an "open" account, meaning open ended. These are junk debt buyers who paid less than a penny on the dollar for this debt, and are trying to claim it is a written contract to get the max SOL. Your lawyer needs to file a Motion to Dismiss based on expired SOL of 5 years on an open account. It is increasingly popular for credit cards to be treated as written contracts by the courts, instead of open accounts. Your state law will determine how it is treated. You may want to research other CC collections lawsuits and see how they were treated. Your lawyer is an idiot if he suggests settlement. There are too many ways to easily beat this. Get a different lawyer. It sounds as if your lawyer has no experience in collections, and does not know the difference between dealing with original creditors and junk debt buyers. Junk debt buyers are very easy to beat. Go to budhibbs.com and click on the links tab to go to the NACA where you can get a lawyer referral in your area who specializes in collections matters. And, you never said what the amount of the debt was. This is very important and is a determining factor as to whether they will proceed with the lawsuit or not, especially if they cannot document it.