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Bookwormohio · Mar 25, 2009, 10:47 AM

We are in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. We had a charge card with Lowe's several years ago. We weren't making the payments regularly, so Lowe's (or an assign) offered to settle for about half, which we did. Now, there is a law firm, affiliated with a collection agency, that is suing us for the balance. They filed suit in our municipal court, we filed an answer, which included a letter from the company that we settled the original debt with, stating that the debt was paid. The law firm then sent us a list of questions, i.e. please admit or deny the following, which we ignored, because they had not responded to our request for them to contact the original company to verify our response. So, now we get a "motion for leave to file motion for summary judgment, instanter". This is obviously a low rent law firm who buries regular citizens in confusing paperwork and gets their share of summary judgments, but I'm not paying them something that I don't owe. Should I file a motion to dismiss? If so, on what grounds? If not, what should I do? Thanks very much.

this8384 · Mar 25, 2009, 11:43 AM

Yes, file a motion to dismiss. Bring copies of your paperwork showing that this debt was settled in full.

Bookwormohio · Mar 25, 2009, 11:54 AM

Thanks for your reply. How do I file the motion? And on what grounds?

JudyKayTee · Mar 25, 2009, 02:43 PM

It's never a good idea to ignore Court papers, no matter what your reason. I also don't know that the Attorneys are bottom feeders. They only know what the creditor has told them.

Otherwise - This8384 has this covered.

this8384 · Mar 25, 2009, 02:51 PM

Call the county courthouse or stop in and ask them which form you need to fill out. Otherwise, you can attend the pre-trial hearing and enter your request for dismissal at that time.

Your grounds are just what you told us: you settled the account in full with the original creditor years ago.

Bookwormohio · Mar 25, 2009, 03:21 PM

Thanks very much for all the responses. As far as the attorneys being bottom feeders, the law firm and the collection agency are one in the same --- same address, etc. And, we have supplied them with the letter from the settlement company on at least two occasions, and they have yet to comment on it. You're right --- they may be okay, but all evidence on this end points to a company that buys bad or non-existent paper for pennies, or nothing, and, as I said, files suits all over the place. Once in awhile one works, they get a summary judgment, and they move on. Thanks again

Bookwormohio · Mar 25, 2009, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

It's never a good idea to ignore Court papers, no matter what your reason. I also don't know that the Attorneys are bottom feeders. They only know what the creditor has told them.

Otherwise - This8384 has this covered.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. These weren't papers sent from the court. This was what amounts to a questionnaire from the law firm, after we had supplied them with the answer, and the letter. These papers did not come from the court, and the questions were, among others, how much do you make, what is your main source of income, etc.

JudyKayTee · Mar 25, 2009, 03:27 PM

Those were, technically, papers as part of a Court proceeding and should not have been ignored.