Hi my name is Tony any help on this matter would be appreciated:
I was summoned, I mailed Answer to Complaint the allegations don't pertain to me one to the court and one to the attorney. Then I received a letter from court for a pre trial and now a trial date has been set. I don't recall the debt is mine. Plaintiff claiming account was opened 1996 and sent me a copy of computer generated excel type format showing date and charges from 2000 to 2002. On my credit report I have 2 closed paid as agreed accounts from plaintiff from the same time and there is no mention of the alleged account showing that I owe amount being sued for.

Can you offer any help as to what my legal rights are? Please advise

Tony D

Look at your credit report to determine the last time those accounts were updated, and if they have been updated since the purported debt, then I would use a copy of your credit report as evidence against the complaint.

Other sources of proof would be bank statements showing where you paid your credit card or credit card transfer if applicable.

I would imagine the information on your credit report will benefit you in court.

Keep in mind that just because someone sues you, especially a creditor, it doesn't necessarily mean their case is solid. It just means they had enough to get themselves a court date to be heard by the judge.

Going to court will be about settling this matter, so don't fear it. You just need to take with you everything which might demonstrate this debt is invalid. You said they provided a computer print out of supposed charges during that time, see if you can find bank records showing payment after the particular charge occurred. Any thing of this nature will help you prevent judgement against you.

Best wishes!

Hi Thanks, I would like to add to the credit report part, when in pre trial not being familiar with the process I pointed out to the judge that I have a copy of my credit report and that there was no mention of the alleged claim he answered me saying just because it's not on my credit report it doesn't mean I don't owe the debt, I feel that this judge maybe one sided.

I read something about Notice of intend to file motion not sure how this would help me and I don't think plaintiff will be appearing in court do I have any legs to stand on? Please advise.

The judge is correct in saying, "just because it isn't on your credit report, doesn't mean you don't owe the debt."

Keep in mind, the pre-trial is not the place to assert your evidence. Once the ball is rolling, it is often difficult to stop without simply seeing it through. Judges tend to get grumpy when civilians try to assert their case at the wrong time. And sometimes the judge who sits on the pre-trial, isn't the judge who hears your case. So, I wouldn't fret about the prior interaction having any bearing on your case.

Now, what the judge said is true, but because he wasn't trying to discern your case, he did not address the validity of your evidence. You have something on your credit report about the accounts in question... the judge was addressing when there is nothing about the account on your credit report. That is a big difference.

The reason why it matters having the information on your credit report is because creditors are not free with good reports... so it was out of their way to report your satisfactory report, which gives more credibility to the debt being invalid.

Of particular importance will be whether the account was updated on your credit report after the alleged debt occurred. This would negate their claims, and the validity of the debt would boil down to who has more credible paperwork.

Also, a big thing, too, is trying to get records of your payments to the account holder. These could greatly help your case.

I think you have a leg to stand on with your credit report, but definitely show up to court, or otherwise they will give a default judgement against you. Stand up to the challenge and make them prove the debt is valid.