[chidiadi]

In March this year, Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, wrote to me to collect an alleged debt, which they claimed their client, Midland Funding, LLC, had prchased from HSBC. In my response, I disputed the validity of the alleged debt, and requested the proof (a) that the alleged debt is my debt and (b) that Midland Funding, LLC, has been assigned the alleged debt and has the right to collect it.
Cohen & Slamowitz wrote back to acknowledge the receipt of my letter; they added that they had contacted their client and were awaiting a reply.
But, instead of providing the proof that I requested, Cohen & Slamowitz filed a summons & complaint against me, in my city court. This action, by Cohen & Slamowitz, is a flagrant violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). I answered the complaint immediately, citing the FDCPA violation in my affirmative defense.
The court has scheduled a Pre-trial Conference for November 12, 2009. What do I do now to prepare for this conference? What is the format for a pre-trial conference? What am I supposed to say during this conference?
I am a pro se defendant: I cannot afford to hire a lawyer. I live in New York State.

[excon]

Hello C:

I'm going to approach this from a different angle. That would be primarily, because I don't know if this loan is YOURS. You didn't say. I'll assume it is, so I wouldn't know how to defend a suit wherein there's NO defense...

You may have OTHER complaints, such as your FDCPA violation, but they're NOT defenses to the action at hand.

So, my advise is to NOT defend it, because it's going to cost you MORE money in the long run to contest it, IF you owe the money. You KNOW they're going to add legal fees and court costs. You'll wind up owing TWICE as much as you do now.

Instead, my advice is to get hold of some CASH and negotiate a settlement. If you do that, you could wind up paying HALF what you owe now.

That is assuming that you HAVE wages, bank accounts and other assets to protect. If you have NONE of those, that changes things...

excon