Complaint Review: MIDLAND FUNDING / FCNB / JEROLD KAPLAN LAW OFFICES - Phoenix Arizona

I have 1 st hand experence with jklo and the way there accounts are being handled . trying to collector on accounts that are out of statued, They are just about the money not the fact that maybe midland credit and target, and several other companys was own theses accounts the fact that these companys wouldnt treat a CUSTOMER OF THERES LIKE THIS, SO WE SHOULDNT , remember customer service is what we are forgetting about. So, I understand what you are haveing to deal with . Just recored all phn calls with them thats the best advise I can give you. JUST RECORED ALL CALLS WITH ANY COLLECTION AGENCY,....IT WILL BE YOUR BEST DEFENCE ...

I hope you have better success. Midland's Attorney was willing do "whatever" it took to basically have me go away. Plans were in the works to have my case dismissed with prejudice with Midland's information removed from my credit. I heard from my attorney on Thursday, 5/14 that Midland does not want to dismiss the case! Let me know what happens at your court date. My attorney is now trying to vacate the summary judgement (supposely easier to do than having the case completely dismissed) and then go from there.

Thank you so much!!! I have a court date on May 29th to vacate the judgement. And you were 100% correct about them trying to argue the statute being 6 years. This will help so much!!!

Midland was coming after me for an old FCNB credit card that was settled with another agency years ago! I ignored the letters and calls - I didn't owe this. But when I was served with court docs from a sleazy law firm, I hired an attorney to fight back. Lucky for me I had all my documentation that the debt was settled and I don't owe anything. Midland is also on my credit report!! Anyway - long story short, my court date is tomorrow and today my attorney got a call - Midland wants to settle. They will pay my attorney fees and remove the bogus stuff from my credit report. I might have gotten a better settlement in court but maybe not. So I took the settlement. YEA - made the slime bags pay!!!!!! My advice - get an attorney that handles consumer credit. It's worth it!!!

Previously I had provided the case number in a RipOffReport rebuttal and it was removed prior to my post being viewable. Below is information (directly from the Attorney who brought the case to the Superior Court in AZ regarding the SOL being three years in AZ for credit card debt): ****Maricopa County Court Commissioner Eartha K. Washington recently dismissed a collection lawsuit stating that the First USA Bank credit card debt was an open account and therefor subject to the three year statute of limitations under A.R.S. 12-543. DSS Financial Group, LLC filed suit in the Arizona South Mountain Justice Court against an Arizona consumer on a credit card debt it claims it purchased from Unifund CCR Partners, which claims it purchased the debt from Chase bank, the predecessor to First USA Bank. The case went to trial and the Justice entered judgment in favor of DSS Financial. The court denied DSS Financial's request for attorney's fees and costs. The consumer appealed Judge Cody Williams judgment to the Maricopa County Superior Court arguing that the statute of limitations had run since the debt had been in default more that three years prior to the suit being filed, and that DSS Financial had not properly shown ownership of the First USA Bank debt. Commissioner Washington did not address the question of whether DSS Financial or Unifund had purchased the debt from First USA Bank or Chase, but rather ruled that the case should be dismissed based upon the three year statute of limitations. Commissioner Washington also awarded the Arizona consumer all her attorney's fees and costs of the litigation. Debt buyers are filing hundreds of lawsuits each month against Arizona consumers on accounts they claim to have purchased. Many of these credit card accounts are not collectable because 1) they are too old, meaning the statute of limitations has run; 2) they have no proof of ownership of the accounts; 3) they cannot prove the balance owed or how the claimed balance was calculated; and 4) the Arizona consumer either does not owe the debt because of identity theft or misuse of a stolen credit card. These debt buyers file suits against Arizona debtors believing that most consumers (over 90%) will not know their rights, and the debt buyer will be able to obtain judgment by default without having to prove their case. **** I am not able locate my copy of the actual pdf file of this particular case, but a copy of it was sent directly to me by the Attorney who wrote the above post.

Thanks so much for your response. I actually got a letter about their motion to dismiss my motion to vacate based on the SOL being 6 years. I am going to do my research though, and hopefully come back with a win. Any other advice is appreciated.

Wish was there was some way to communicate with you directly. RipOff report insures that email address, etc. get wiped clean from post. The way I understand the legal system, Kaplan has to motion to have the case moved from the Justice Court to the Superior Court and this motion has to be granted. They aren't suppose to willy nilly just go into the Superior Court and file for wage garnishments. The SOL you speak about in AZ being 3-years (AZ 12-543) is actually grey...VERY GREY as no appelatte court has ruled on this. In January 2009; however, the AZ Superior Court did overturn a lower court decision on the SOL (lower court cited six years - Superior said it was three). Kaplan will state that it is SIX. File reports with both the AG and the State Bar. Be very specific in your filings as the AG truly has no jurisdiction over how Kaplan runs its collection tactics. They will forward the complaint onto the State Bar. I speak from experience. While I don't have tons of money to hire an Attorney...I found one that was willing to except a payment plan.

I call the court this morning to find out why my motion to vacate has been ignored and I've been issued garnishment paperwork. They tell me they have NOTHING on file for a garnishment, and my motion to vacate is scheduled to be looked at today. What Jerold Kaplan Law did was go to a completely different court, the superior court, and file the garnishment paperwork, therefore moving AROUND my motion. They think they are slick, but I am going to the courthouse tomorrow morning armed with all of my evidence ready to fight this tooth and nail! Anyone who has any suggestions or advice, I'd appreciate it! We have to get these guys, they're horrible!

GO to the clerk of the court of the court that granted the judgment. You want copies of all documents in the case against you. You want to examine the "proof of service" documents to determine who/where service is claimed to have been performed. In matter such a judgments, always go to the court that granted the judgment or issued you the summons. Good luck.

No, I didn't sign any papers for an instant judgement. When I received papers talking about a default, I first contacted the company, which said ignore them, they were sent in error, you have payment arrangements, we won't file against you. I then contacted the courthouse who told me that the company hadn't filed anything. About 2 weeks later, I get a notification of default judgement. I call the courthouse and they say there is no default against me, on the same day the judgment was entered, according to the court's website. I also call the company again, and they tell me, no you're fine, you have payment arrangements. How is it that the court could not see the judgement and I was never notified there was even a court date when I called and specifically asked, twice? Now I am facing garnishment and I have no idea what my options are. I filed a motion to vacate judgement, but I never got anything back on that, the next thing I got was garnishment paperwork. How could they just disregard my motion and go ahead with their plans to garnish me?

No, I didn't sign anything for an immediate judgement. As a matter of fact, the day I received court papers, I called both the company and the court to find out what was going on. I was told by the company not to worry,t hey wouldn't file since I had arrangements. Then I was told by the court if the company said my arrangements were fine, then I was fine. I wish I would have researched this company more before I decided to do anything, because I went and made these arrangements and they filed anyway! I receive the next set of court papers saying there was a default entered, and I was never even notified of a court date! I call both the company and the court again and the courts tell me there was no default entered - yet, there was, so I'm completely confused as to why they would tell me the default was not granted, when it was. Afterwards, I filed a motion to dismiss on March 31 and they had 10 business days to respond, and that was completely bypassed and yesterday I received these papers for wage garnishment. Don't they have to respond to my motion to dismiss before they can proceed? I have no idea how I can beat this. I know the account is out of statute, and I can't afford an attorney. These people are crooks and their representatives are extremely rude and nasty! Any advice?

papers from the court a month later about a default judgement being entered against me, even though I had made payment arrangements. ================================== Did they serve you a summons and take you to court? If so, did you show up? Judgments don't come out of the clear blue sky....only a court can authorize a judgement. Please say you didn't sign papers authorizing an instant judgement as part of the repayment/settlement agreement.