Stories of how you won against a Collector in court:)

Submitted by porboy on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 23:53
Forums

Can anyone reading this who has won in a summons or court situation against a collector please share your stories? We could all use the encouragement and a good lesson. Just want to know people really do come out on top!

I have never went to court on a summoms but I think it would be a good topic. Have you gotten anything figured out with yours Porby? How about calling the courthouse or anywhere to show this is a past statute of limitations law suit.

Wed, 11/26/2008 - 03:01 Permalink

I too have never gone to the court but I have heard instances of winning a court summon. There are some CA who do not have proper debt validation and tries to collect the debt by suing the debtor to the court. Now if the debtor asks for debt validation in the court and the CA cannot provide it within 30 days, the judgment may go in the favor of the debtor. Again if the SOL for the debt has already expired, and the CA sues you for the debt, then also the judgment will be in your favor.

Wed, 11/26/2008 - 11:36 Permalink

Hey Fire -I have not found anything further out with my current CA suit. I did get a copy of my intent to defend the next day with the same date in Dec. We shall see where it goes -a little fearful of giving to much info to the CA prior to the court date. Was hoping others would give us some in`s and out`s of how their court or hearing appearance turned out.
I did go to one last year for Cap 1 after being sued by a collection laywer. As I know you read it before -he didn`t show up and I won by default -however he is still sending me legal looking stuff with the next highest courts info on top-one to reverse the lower court judgement -and two to have Capitol One allow him to own the debt? Not sure whether these are scare tactics or the real thing as I have not seen anything directly from my county court?
But others please share if ya would -thanks

Wed, 11/26/2008 - 15:47 Permalink

Wow I hope someone stops in and gives you an answer. I am not sure that they can throw out a lower courts ruling on this. I would think they would have had to given up their right to sue upon not showing at the hearing. Maybe someone will answer. If not post it a few times on different threads and see if you got any responses.

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 00:58 Permalink

Besides the one that I am still waiting on to go to court, I had one that file a summons at the local magistrate. I worked with the local magistrates wife and had her ask him the best course of action. He said that they probably would not show up at the magistrate level and that I would more win by default, however they almost always file for an appeal on that decision and they show up there so it would be better if I took care of it.

Funny thing was that this company would not work with me with payment arrangements, however after they filed suit, they did payment arrangements and forgave about 1/3 of the amount, which was mainly fees, nothing that I charged.

So they would file for a continuance every month, when they got the payment they would do this. After the last payment was made I received a paid in full letter .
Look for the laws in your state, they may give youl

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 03:49 Permalink

I ha e some information ya'll should know. I don't know if anyone else has received this info or not. I had gotten an e-mail. The 'Subject' just says "Juan Medina': the e-mail was an 'ad' from 'Attractive Secrets' (saying that you can buy this tip for very little money. ALSO...the e-mail says it's a good idea to start disputing items, through the CB's, during the holidays because the CB's are "so busy during this time, they REALLY don't pay attention to what your disputing. You have a 90% chance of getting items removed, during this time." Now.......here's the problem I have with this. I know there was someone, on this forum that had posts something about 'AttractiveSecrets'. I just don't remember who it was who posted. I think the person who posted this ( on the forum) said the 'tips' would "cost a measley $65.00." Does anyone remember this information being posted?

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 06:36 Permalink

Careful -stuff like that is probably a waste of cash. There seems to be no easy way out from my angle. I have one judgement from Walpolf that has changed to Mann Bracken and I`m f-ed on that. One I thought I won but now realize there is a court case at the next level which I thought was bull and have only now checked to find myself late to act and will probably get f-ed on. And one pending which hopefully will be SOL according to findings on my credit report. You posted elsewhere about SOL on your account -check your reports at www.annualcreditreport.com for free and carefully find your last payment date. Thanks to the others posting here like Fire and GN I am now armed with some info. Won`t know till mid Dec. if I`m right and off the hook but I will post my results for others to learn. Of course GN makes a good point that even the one I thought I won at the Mag has been pushed to the next level and it gets even scarier. If they win at the next level payments become less likely and full amount +cost are gonna be inflicted. Nothing is easy or cheap about this info we are learning. Anyone with good news stories please help us by telling your stories! Thanks

Thu, 11/27/2008 - 18:27 Permalink

Believe me.....I KNOW to stay away from 'ads' like that, PORBOY. I even remember ( now) who the person was that posted the same thing, on this forum. .....I don't know if I can say the name, though. Of course ( as many things), it's probably a scam.

Fri, 11/28/2008 - 12:29 Permalink

Even if you are pushed to the next level of the court system you mat not be fked. If your debt is past the SOL then there is no court going to rule on the behalf of the collector. It is a law in the fair debt collection act and as ;ong as you are armed with a copy of your credit report showing the last payment on that debt (proving they can not sue) then you should not have a problem. I can not say you would ever hear a judge say. "Yes I know you are past the SOL but I am going to make you pay anyway". They are not allowed to do this.
Porboy...why will you not know until mid Dec if you are off the hook? What is the date of the last payment listed on your credit report by the original creditor?

Sun, 11/30/2008 - 04:32 Permalink

Not only are most suits initiated by collection agencies defendable, there almost ALWAYS exists an opportunity to counter sue and win...

Tue, 12/02/2008 - 12:09 Permalink

Okay...lets see if you can prove your just not here to sell things to the community. I am calling you to the plate since I have seen your web page. If you are truly here to offer your advice and assistance then why not go into a little more detail on the opportunity to counter sue the debt collector. If you took time to read through any of the posts around here you would see that some are dealing with some pretty nasty debt collectors. We all have been through to the fair debt collection act web page..can you offer us sny information that we do not know on how to counter sue?

Tue, 12/02/2008 - 13:27 Permalink

I would hope that you would read the posts I have already posted (while you were "calling me to the plate [carpet?])... I've offered quite a bit of FREE info already... I also offered anyone the opportunity to ask me any question they had...

Specifically, in regard to your question about countersuing, there are literally dozens of ways to successfully countersue... It just depends on the situation...

Tue, 12/02/2008 - 13:32 Permalink

Ok I was succsessful in the summon court hearing with a defense of SOL and debt validation. Their lawyer show`d up with a copy of the original agreement application and that`s it. I acknowledged that was my signiture -then he asked me why I couldn`t settle right now -I suggested I did not agree with the debt due to SOL. He mentioned the date they provided which was the end of 2004 as my 1st delinquency(take note fiery-date swapping!) and I said yes I had seen their date but disagree with it. He said do you have any evidence -yes my free credit report from Trans. represents that it was charged off/paid/closed with a balance of $0 due as of early 2004 -4+ years before this suit was brought. That was about it -the mag. said to them that they need to bring more prove reguarding the burden and judgement in my favor. They now have the right to appeal in 30days to reverse judgement. Two things still bothering me -1 is the statue really 4years in PA as I can not find it in state law -and 2 is that they represented my account was delinquent a year after when it really was 30 days past. I know for a fact my last payment was at the end of 2003 and they C/O the account in early 04 but these collectors have opened a report in my credit reports indicating their dates-this should be illegal and a violation of the debt coll. act! Still gonna keep me up at night -I really appreciate the help Fiery/GN/Mary/Etc. This is a really good site for info and everyone is so nice and helpful. I would not recommend taking my course of action as if I filled BankRup 4+ years ago I would have saved so much harrassment/a judgement I ageed to/and one in the SOL which is still pending a higher court. Hopefully this one will go away and the collector who buys it or either of my other 2 out there will recieve a cease/decist letter to avoid anymore court summons. This stuff is so upsetting as knowing the law is hard to comeby and collector`s operate in a gray area. Honestly I don`t know who to go to lawyer wise that I could trust , nor can I afford it! Needless to say their lawyer attempted to work a deal with me prior to -NOTE : I played dumb and mentioned I was poor and that I felt more comfortable allowing the Mag. to rule on the case as I don`t trust lawyers -giving no defense info to the lawyer pretrial!! Goodluck everyone -I will further update things as they come about.

Mon, 12/15/2008 - 17:19 Permalink

Yes the statute of limitations is DEFINATELY 4 years. I know this for a fact..100%. As long as you have never made a payment since the end of 2003 you are safe. You must be positive you never sent another payment. If they do appeal and take this back to court they would have to show you made a payment. Thing is porboy is that they would have brought the proof with them if they had it instead of wasting time and going to court again. Also chances are if they produce a phony document you can deny it is yours. I would not let this worry me. Hopefully another will stop in and put your fears more at rest.

Mon, 12/15/2008 - 19:28 Permalink

Hi porboy
Since the court has given the judgment in your favor, you can relax till the creditor or the collection agency. Moreover, I am sure that the SOL in PA if four years for all types of debt, be it credit card debt or written contract. Even if the last payment was made in 2004 instead of 2003, four years have already expired and you need not worry about the debt. But one thing you should note that if they sell off the debt to any other CA and they call you up for the loan, never even pay them by mistake because if you pay them, the SOL will rewind.

Tue, 12/16/2008 - 08:57 Permalink

So you see porboy it really is 4 years here in PA. I know you are worried that they will file an appeal but more than likely they will just sell off the debt. You alread y beat them once in court so you can do it again. Also if there was any documantation given to you when you won your case always keep it handy. You never know if you will need it in the future and its best put up in a safe place along wiht a copy f your credit report showing the last payment on the debt. This way you will always have proof. The good thing is the older this debt becomes the less you will be hassled over it. In a few years you may find they may only bother you once a year.

Tue, 12/16/2008 - 14:47 Permalink

Whelp they filed a appeal -I went thru the trouble of researching a appeal reponse memo to make sure they didn`t win in higher court by default. Filed it at the courthouse and since pretty much nothing. They did send me a use your income tax letter to settle just the other day which prompted me to look at it again. I did notice that my previous suit had a Cert of Service in the papers of appeal-this notice to appeal didn`t include a Cert of S -humm? I also can`t find a active docket number on my county website like the previous case which I`m still watching. Can`t imagine how many of us there is out there with the recent economy situation -goverment should declare a aminesty day for all this old debt to clear everyones slate as a stimulas!

Tue, 02/24/2009 - 15:34 Permalink