Has anyone been sued for debt collection by Citibank (South Dakota) N.A. their attorney is supposedly Hunt & Henriques, (possibly in California) and won? If so, I am in the same situation and am filling out an answer to the suit.
If anyone has gone through this or a similar situation, any advice on the possible defenses that I can use in the answer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jane

I imagine several people have been 'sued' by Citibank, for delinquent accounts and if you have been delinquent, then I don't think there is much chance of you winning the argument, unless of course the charges were not from you and you can prove it. If you had another member of your family with a secondary card holding, then you realize you are still responsible for the debit even though you didn't initiate it.

You can explain a little more your circumstances to quality the answers you receive. Tell us the circumstances you are speaking of is what I mean. Otherwise, just asking if anyone else has experienced, etc. is not going to get you a decent response.

Tell us why you think you can offer a defence against a delinquent account, if that is the case; a lawyer would be a good idea, if you want to put up a defence, but then if money is an issue with you, then I wouldn't advise it.

Tick

Defenses depend on what you are being accused of... Can you prove the debt they claim is wrong and invalid... or are you trying to defend against a very real and valid debt you are trying to skip out on and not pay.

If it's the latter, its cheaper to settle before the court date which can have legal fees added to the original debt...

If it's the former... get them to provide details of the claimed debt and if you can prove its not you (or a secondary card holder), or something you never had on your card... you can take it from there by proving their info is inaccurate or invalid.

My husband had a payment arrangement with them, which he was paying (this goes back a few years and I think the last time the card was actually used was 2009). My husband accepted and switched to receiving online statements only (rather than in the mail) when Citi offered it. He relied on the monthly email of these “online” statements until one month he didn't receive one, which resulted in his missing the payment. Missing the payment resulted in the interest rate going through the roof. We are not arguing that we should pay them nothing, we understand and know we have a responsibility to the Citi card, however, the amount they are requesting is what we would like to dispute. The last time a payment was May 2010 that I have an actual hard copy of. Still need to confirm when the last payment was made. My husband has had this card for 10 years. We have records of older statement's that show his payment regularity. He also had a payment arrangement with them prior to this one which was fulfilled and not broken, however, this arrangement was broken as a result of online statements we relied on and when they failed to send one out and we did not make the payment, it kind of got out of out of control. We will not be denying paying what we owe, we just feel it should be a little re-adjusted to lower the amount because it seems like that now the card has a balance higher than what we probably charged (probably not really, but just saying). Can the reliance on the online statement's be used as a legitimate defense? I called them and tried to make payment arrangements and they gave me the minimum amount they would accept (over $400 a month) or a settlement offer (over $11,000) which we don't have. So the only option I feel we have is to respond to the suit and all I am asking of you guys out there is that if you have knowledge on what the best way to answer this complaint, I would be very grateful if you shared. By the way, the last page of the suit (below the part where the attorney's are supposed to sign but in this case, their names are just typed) it states the following in parentheses (if you wish to verify this pleasing, affix a verification). Citibank is listed as the plaintiff so it safe to assume that they are the real plaintiff's and the debt still belongs to them rather than the collections attorney's representing them? If you have more specific questions, please let me know. My husband and I don't have bank accounts together and we always just keep our financials and credit cards separately. This is his situation and I am trying to help him take of it since it's a busy time for work right now, so there is a lot I myself don't know. I'm just trying to get an answer filed ASAP!

By the way, this is a contract complaint and they have checked the cause of action as “common counts” and “other” under which they claim damages in the amount of $15,812.95.

SORRY FOR ANY BAD GRAMMAR.

@ Tickle: thanks for your advice, it does help as this is the first time I am ever using such a forum/site like this.

@ Smoothy, yes, it's a real and valid debt -is there a rule that says that you cannot defend yourself against a real and valid debt because there may be flaws in it, or is it always assumed that if it's a real and valid debt then one is trying to skip out and not pay?

I REALLY DO APPRECIATE BOTH OF YOU TAKING TIME TO RESPOND AND OFFERING HELP RATHER THAN JUST IGNORING ME. THANK YOU!

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Originally Posted by Janey12

@ Smoothy, yes, it's a real and valid debt -is there a rule that says that you cannot defend yourself against a real and valid debt because there may be flaws in it, or is it always assumed that if it's a real and valid debt then one is trying to skip out and not pay??

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When you are being sued for defaulting on a debt, the law applies. The law says that the only question is whether you contracted for the debt or not. You can dispute the amount of the debt. But not the terms of the contract. If they can prove the validity of the amount, they will win a judgment.

Frankly, the court will not accept an I didn't get notice of payment, defense. Notice of payment is not required by law.

On the other hand, I find it hard to believe you couldn't work this out at the time. I have 2 Citibank credit cards. A couple of years ago, I made a mistake and didn't complete authorizing payments before going on vacation. So my payment was not made on time. I called
Citibank immediately on getting home, explained the circumstances, and made the payment. They waived the late fees and didn't raise the interest. If your husband had a pristine payment record, they would have done this as their policy is to do it once in any 12 month period.

You might get a friendly judge to order that they cut some of the interest charges, but there is no law that requires it.

Thanks ScottGem. I just figured out where he went wrong:
He was having trouble making payments and his rate was high. He spoke with Citi who agreed to a payment plan and said that if he fulfills the payment plan, they will lower his rate when the plan is over considering he made all his payments on time. So he made his payments on time for the time of the agreement and at the end of the agreement, Citi refused to lower the rate. Rich (my husband( then said that he cannot afford to continue making payments with the a rate so high that it gets him no where -SO THIS IS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. So I am sorry, I was mistaken before in that he did not receive a statement and that was the cause of the default.
I called them to make a payment arrangement and was advised that if we accept the payment amount there are offering, it will include the stipulation fee they have to go through with the court to discontinue the suit on grounds of having agreed to a payment plan. But the reason why I'd rather take a chance to try and file an answer to try and possibly get some charges dropped is because the attorney advised that the approximate $390 (cost to file an answer to the suit for us and the same amount for the Plaintiff's stipulation cost) will be added to our balance because we will be responsible for that. So if I have to pay that amount anyway, I'd rather take the chances and see if the amount can be reduced and if not, it's okay, but I'm willing to take the “it doesn't hurt to try route”.
Thanks for your advice.

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Originally Posted by Janey12

is there a rule that says that you cannot defend yourself against a real and valid debt because there may be flaws in it,

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Hello J:

There's no rule... There's just no defense. The BEST thing you can do is raise some cash and negotiate a settlement.. IF you have REAL Cash to negotiate with, I'll bet you can settle your $15K bill for $5K, if you're any good. If you go to court and LOSE, which you ARE going to do, the $15K bill will probably go UP to at least $20K with legal fees and court costs added on. And, when they have a judgment, they'll just TAKE what they want from your bank accounts and your husbands salary.

excon

Not getting an email would be similar to a bill like a mortgage payment getting lost in the mail. Not much of a defense when you know the debt was due on a certain date.

If you can present proof (I.E. emails, phone calls, dates and whom you spoke with) that started when the email should have been received that would go a long way in your defense.

Keep in mind they are going to present proof they were in fact sent at the court hearing... did you send a payment anyway referencing the account number or did you send nothing that month? If you sent nothing this would be a clear indication of a default and why they proceeded.

Here is a REAL example--- Being a homeowner we get monthly mortgage bills... over the years a bill or two never was received by us for the next months mortgage. But we knew when it was due and we sent one anyway along with a note the bill was never received. If we had in fact not sent the check anyway, we would have had to bear the responsibility for what would have resulted, including penalties.

If in fact you DID make that payment anyway... and they didn't accept it then you have yourself something you can base a defense upon. Otherwise what you are going to try to do is plead on the mercy of the court for an adjustment. I don't think the odds are great you would win... but they are better than zero.

Tough call because if you have the money to pay a lawyer... you have money to pay them.. but your best chances of getting a better deal are with a lawyer. And there is the catch-22, you end up further in the hole any way around it.

@ Smoothy - I made a mistake in explaining what actually started this. I just spoke with my husband and clarified. Are you able to see my post to ScottGem? That's where I explain what actually happened. If you cannot see it, let me know and I will fill you in.
Thanks

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Originally Posted by Janey12

@ Smoothy - I made a mistake in explaining what actually started this. I just spoke with my husband and clarified. Are you able to see my post to ScottGem? That's where I explain what actually happened. If you cannot see it, let me know and I will fill you in.
Thanks

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I can see his... I have to go back and read it... those posts came in while I was typing up my response. They weren't there to read when I started.

Did you get the agreement to reduce the rate in writing?

Generally the court does not have the authority to reduce the amount of the award.

And the real story, is not going to help you unless you can prove the agreement to lower the interest.

Thanks for your advise excon!
Unless if I am wrong, various types of defenses that can be used vary from state to state. I am well aware of what will happen if we LOSE in court. We are past the “settle your $15K bill for $5” point. I am going to take the chances in court by filing the answer because there is no negotiating at this point (the negotiated amount is the amount the plaintiff's attorney tells you to pay) or get you know what. Taking into consideration everything surrounding this situation, even the court and judge, again I am just goon take the chance. You guys are all right and I agree with you, we're fudged and we will loose, but I'll loose trying rather than giving in to the demand of some attorney who is sitting there hoping we don't respond so they can get their default judgment. They can show up and bring their paperwork in order to earn their money.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR HELPING!!

They are legally allowed to charge those rates, those are governed by Federal regulations.

You do have an option of getting a loan at another bank or credit union (usually a secured debt) but with something going into collection... odds are slim anyone will give you one these days. My wife is a loan processor in a bank.

That's not saying there isn't a possibility of negotiating something better... just that they don't HAVE to do it.

Credit card statements are always available on line, and up to date. I check mine on a regular basis, but still get a statement in the mail, by that time I am paid up. So not getting an on line statement is not really a valid excuse, but I think someone already mentioned that.

Tick

Excon is correct by the way, Janey, if you can scrape the money together and negotiate a settlement that would be a lot better then having a judgment againt your husband and having the l5 to 20,000 taken out of your bank accounts. And I assure you, that will happen if Citibank are given a court ordered judgment; they can take their money legally anyway they can get it: having your bank accouts frozen or your husband's salary jeopardized to the point where no bills will be paid because it is just NOT going to be there.
Tick