Our daughter is being sued by a collection agency for a debt she does not think she owes.
We had a pretrial hearing this week whereby the plaintiffs attorney was present via telephonic hearing. That is to say, we were in chambers with the Judge, while the plaintiff attorney was on "speaker phone".

The judge asked both parties if we could "settle" the matter before trail. We indicated to the judge that the plaintiff attorney had received on Jan. 7, 2008 a letter requesting them to produce evidence (all documentation) regarding/proving the debt. The judge was also informed that the plaintiff failed to respond. The plaintiff told the judge that they did not have time to "get the evidence file". The judge then asked my daughter if she would like to immediately proceed to trial. We thought it was better to wait for the plaintiff to produce the evidence, so we so no.

It seemed like the judge was trying to steer us toward an immediate trial, but we weren't sure why.

When the judge disconnected the call and we were alone in chambers with him, he told us that the plaintiff probably did not have the evidence to back up their claim and that it was in my daughters best interest to go right to trial. He explained that if we went to trial, under the rules of evidence, the plaintiff would have to produce all their evidence and we would get to see it BEFORE trial. Since he did not believe they had any evidence (the debt is from 1999), my daughter would most likely prevail. He told my daughter she should:

1. Motion the court for a speedy trial
2. Invoke the rules of civil procedure
3. Motion a request for the plaintiff to produce evidence
4. File a request for admissions

At least that's what we took away from it.

Can anyone help us out :
A. What are the specific documents we need to file?
B. Where do we get the forms (Florida Practice Book - Law Library)??
C. Do we have it right? Did we understand the judge?

We have spent hours already in the law library. We know this falls under Florida Statute 95.11 and we think that this is beyond the SOL which would be five years from the breach. We don't think there was a breach but if it did occur it would have been over five years ago.

Thanks in advance for any help.

BTW: to others in similar situations, please know that anyone can go to your local law library where they can be very helpful to you and provide you with a wealth of information and resources.

The Judge was correct in wanting it to go directly to trial first off. He knew that the plaintiff could not produce the doucments prior to the trial date. He was a huge help to you and I guess you didn't recognize it. He was being extremely kind as well. Most judges tend to be "helpful" to defendants who don't have attorneys as a rule.

You need to be looking under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure to see what I'm talking about. I'll look to see if I can find examples of what to file online so you may copy them for your case.

There is nothing online regarding the particular forms you will need. The next best thing for you to do is to go to the Law Library at the Court House or Law School (if one is nearby) and look through this book:

http://west.thomson.com/store/produc...ct_id=40120990

This book is your best bet. You can make copies of the pages at the copy machine in the library for 25 cents a sheet. Well worth it. This book is what the professionals use so it's not online for obvious reasons.

This information is a follow up to my previous post. Please see that question first:

Here is a great resource for others out there. It is FLORIDA LAWS OF CIVIL PROCEDURE and all of Florida Statutes for those who need to reference them. The Florida statute that contracts and SOL is 95.11. And you can do a search to see how tolling applies.


Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2007->Chapter 95 : Online Sunshine



I am a little familiar with West's Law.


Do you know which motions I have to file and in which order?

I am thinking I need to file
1. Motion for trial
2. Motion to produce

I don't know how to invoke the rules of civil procedure but I am guessing that the above does that. And is the motion to produce the same as filing request for admissions? Is it admission of evidence?


1. Motion the court for a speedy trial
2. Invoke the rules of civil procedure
3. Motion a request for the plaintiff to produce evidence
4. File a request for admissions

Here is a great resource for others out there. It is FLORIDA LAWS OF CIVIL PROCEDURE and all of Florida Statutes for those who need to reference them. The Florida statute that contracts and SOL is 95.11. And you can do a search to see how tolling applies.


Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2007->Chapter 95 : Online Sunshine

First, please do not start different threads for the same issue. Its better to keep everything in the same thread so I've merged the two.

If this is in small claims court, the rules of procedure are more relaxed. You don't need to use specific forms. You want to file a motion for a speedy trial and another for Discovery for the plaintiff to produce verification of the debt.

That's all you really need and the court clerk can help you prepare them.

One other comment the Judge made to us.

The judge stated that, at least in our instance, the plaintiff most likely purchased the "rights" to collect on the debt for approx. 5 cents on the dollar. For that they most likely only got a computer print out with minimal information. That is why he did not think the plaintiff could prove that the contract was breached. They have no solid evidence. And that he said is the way most of this cases are.

If your summons did not have details attached and a copy of the contract then they most likely have nothing.

The judge was being very nice to you, and was right on. If you read the many threads here about similar situations you will see this is a common circumstance. A lot of these companies exist that buy charged off debt for pennies on the dollar. Then they try to intimidate people into paying or try to slip a default judgement through and grab a bank account. If people fight the judgement they generally win, because the documentation they get is not going to satisfy a judge.