Trail Mon 1-7. Being sued by junk debt buyer - help!

I would have to agree with the attorney that you spoke with. Just show up in court and tell the judge exactly what you told us, that you requested verification of debt from the CA and never got it therefore, you deny owing the debt or if they show up with the evidence or paperwork that you asked for, ask for an extension of the hearing. You will need time to examine the documents.
Don't look scared and confused, but look prepared and ready to "fight city hall".
I am not an expert or an attorney, but feel that sometimes CAs use scare tactics to get their money.
Goo dluck and keep us updated.

Thanks for responding. More questions -

Junk Debt buyer's only validation of the debt at this point is an affidavit from one of their employees stating the debt is valid. Can they win with just this?

Request a continuance as you have yet to retain legal council. Have you tried county legal aid yet? The easiest way to win this case is to motion to show cause in discovery by requesting debt validation documents.

Debt validation may consist of:

? What the money you say I owe is for;
? Explain and show me how you calculated what you say I owe;
? Provide me with copies of any papers that show I agreed to pay what you say I owe;
? Provide a verification or copy of any judgment if applicable;
? Identify the original creditor;
? Prove the Statute of Limitations has not expired on this account
? Show me that you are licensed to collect in my state
? Provide me with your license numbers and Registered Agent
? Proof that the collection company owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt. (You are legally entitled to collect this particular debt from me.) This is basic contract law.
? Complete payment history, starting with the original creditor. (I need to have proof of my payment history with original Creditor, what the amount of the debt was when the creditor assigned the debt to your company, and what fees/interest has been tacked on to this debt and how you/they determined these fees.) This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004..
? Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. (My contract with the original creditor establishing the debt between us.) This is also basic contract law.

This is an excerpt from my typical validation request.

Even though I have given you the information needed to give you your best shot I still suggest you seek legal council.

Also, you should file counter suit for attorney fees and court costs. They should be the ones to pay for your troubles.

Thanks for advice. I actually will have $ for lawyer next month. I will follow your advice & thank you for taking the time to help!

However, I'm still confused. In my eyes, meaning I'm not a lawyer (of course) I already requested debt validation. They didn't provide it. Instead of calling them on their failure to provide & dismissing the case the judge just set trail date. Is this common? And just what does a trail mean? Is there a jury panel or is it just me, them & the judge?

Unless requested otherwise (and granted by the judge) civil suits do not have juries. As for validation and fdcpa, this has to be brought to light during the hearing, or in your case during discovery.

We had that happen once on a loan that was passed from one company to another so many times we forgot we even owed it as there were times during the passing that we never got bills to pay. We never did pay off that loan although it was a small loan in the hundreds I would say.We just informed the company we had no loan with them and never heard from them again.

[quote=Guest]Thanks for responding. More questions -

Junk Debt buyer's only validation of the debt at this point is an affidavit from one of their employees stating the debt is valid. Can they win with just this?[/quote]

No. An affidavit from some employee is not legal validation of a debt. Follow the advice you've been given in this thread, and you should make out all right. Let us know how it goes.

Uncle Wulf is right, a affidavit without someone there to testify to it's authenticity in court is just hearsay, and therefore is not admissible in court.

It won't be hearsay unless you object to it.Please don't forget this step.

Yes, Cajun is right. Thanks for adding that.

I have a court date coming up for an unpaid credit that I dont remember having? I went to court they set a trial date, the woman who works for the law firm pulled me out of the room and said I could agree to the debt and have ten years to pay, I told her NO! and she said she would get the original contract, the statements, and a witness from WA MU, So I told her fine I will see you at trial, but so far all she got were my old statements (photo copies), they mailed them to my house a few days ago asking me if that would refresh my memory, and if I would like to call and settle, but I am not going to call, because I think that is all she could get, I think that was a last ditch effort to get me to settle, (scare tactic) they say most of the time the debt is old they cannot get all of the original paperwork, so I am wondering if they cannot produce anything else can I get my case dismissed? If anyone can help that would be great I live in illinois. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How long before a debt is considered "old"?
2 years... or more like 5 years?

In Illinois the statue runs out after four years, but that is not what I was asking, when I go to court if the lawyers have no original contract or witness from the original creditor will my case be dismissed, by the way I forgot to say I do not recognize anything on the statements I dont know who opened the acct and I do not recognize the purchases.

Thats not what I was asking (by the way statue in illinois is 4 years), I forgot to mention the statements jdc sent me I do not recognize I really dont want to go through a lot of junk to get this off my back, they are trying to scare me for a debt I do not recognize by sending me statements, when I went to court the first time the lawyers assistant told me she would get the original contract, the statements and a witness from the original credit card company, but if they had all that why are they sending me statement, I think thats all they have, so my question is if they have no original contract and no witness will the case be dismissed? Thanks!

You have to know how to make objections to the evidence they will try to get in. Lawyers are best able to do this, but you may be able to figure it out. Most of the time they will try to use an affidavit to get the statements into evidence. There are objections that can be made to those affidavits, but I don't know the details. They might dismiss the lawsuit, but if they move forward, some judges will allow evidence if you don't know the proper objections so you need to be prepared or find a lawyer.