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"Demand for Documents and Infomation"

Date: Thu, 06/04/2009 - 18:57

Submitted by wai9813
on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 18:57

Posts: 44 Credits: [Donate]

Total Replies: 7


I went to my court free legal counsel last week and was instructed to send a Demand for Documents and Information to the plaintiff. The lawyer there said that that is same as motion for discovery.... OK. He gave me a template to work with. Looks like this:

Civil Court of the City........ Case Index

Plaintiff
vs
Defendant Demand For Documents And Information


Date



From:


To:


"I the defendant in the above captioned action. Please provide me with all records pertaining to the alleged debt......"
Basically asking the plaintiff to send me the entire records of the account and the credit agreement and so forth and how they arrived with the amount including interests and fees. I may even add that they should send the original documents from the original creditor as required by the FDCPA. The legal aid added also that they have to send me all the documents within 20 days.

-------------------
My question is that what makes this "motion" different than a debt validation letter? I was told that I just need to mail this to the plaintiff and not even needed to be notarized. I thought that I am filing a motion and it requires a judge approval or some sort of affidavit of service....


Discovery is a process of the judicial system. Your debt validation letter is a creature of statute. If you don't send it with 30 days of their dunning letter, they don't have to provide the information to you. If they don't answer discovery, the judge can sanction them in some way, usually by not allowing them to put on their evidence. Might get you the same result but they come at different stages of the game and different rules.

Honestly, if you have an attorney that is too busy to do this for you, you are doing a disservice to yourself. The attorney, regardless of whether they are free or not, should be doing this for you, not giving you a template and wishing you luck. I'm really not challenging your intelligence, but if you don't know what you are dealing with now, it will be very hard for you to come out victorious in the end. The problem is that the judicial system is not meant for the everyday person to navigate - it is for the lawyers and a good chunk of them are no good at it. You are playing a game that you don't know the rules to, no one will tell you what they are, and by the time you figure them out, you have lost. The best advice I can give is to go back to the attorney who set you up and make them actually represent you rather than giving you a thumbs-up.


lrhall41

Submitted by on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 20:14

( Posts: | Credits: )


Thanks. But the "order" wasn't issued by a judge. A template I could easily write it up. I am just confused that a piece of paper which looks like a legal document seems to have more weight than a debt validation letter.

I just realize that after reading from this link on the Defense
http://www.nedap.org/hotline/defenses.html I could file a motion to dismiss and requesting a traverse hearing. However, that's a not a guarantee that the plaintiff won't sue again. My other option is for case dismissal with prejudice.


lrhall41

Submitted by wai9813 on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 20:21

( Posts: 44 | Credits: )


It's called Discovery and yes, it is far more comprehensive than Debt Validation (which is murky at best). DV is a provision of the FDCPA and Discovery is a normal court procedure.

If the attorney is not representing you, you should still take their advice into consideration. On the website of the county courthouse, they will have their procedures up if you wish to double check exactly how the particular court wants its documents, motions, etc., presented and processed.

That's a wonderful site you mentioned. Just realize that courts are very particular about procedure so make sure you cross all your "t"s and dot all your "i"s.


lrhall41

Submitted by Chrys Henderson on Fri, 06/05/2009 - 04:51

( Posts: 2538 | Credits: )


Thanks again Chrys. :) I think I am overthinking this too much. I will send the Demand for Document to the plaintiff on Monday, and to see what original documentations they can send me. Judging from the nervousness of the plaintiff when I refused a settlement and intended to force him to show proofs, I am quite confident this will turn out well.....

I am somewhat disappointed by some of the legal advises I got from the court resource center. They don't sound like an advocate with a mission.


lrhall41

Submitted by wai9813 on Fri, 06/05/2009 - 06:57

( Posts: 44 | Credits: )