Hearing on Credit Card Debt Lawsuit
My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Idaho
I am being sued by a credit card company. This is not my card.
I have filed reports of identity theft with the local police department and FTC.
I filed my response with a sworn denial and copies of the reports.
In addition to this I filed with the lawyer a validation request.
The lawyer did not respond within 30 days so I filed a motion with the court to dismiss based on the fact that they had not validated the debt.
The lawyer responded back asking for summary judgement based on fact that they had sent an initial letter (that I never received), and a copy of an email that was allegedly from me (which I never sent - and the font and signature on the email do not match my email), and an affidavit from the Credit Card company that states that the account is mine (only refers to me by name, no other information).
I have been trying since I received this last response from the lawyer to hire a lawyer to defend me with no success. I now just have two days to find someone!!!
But, maybe you guys can answer a couple of questions in the meantime...
1. What holds more weight - their affidavit or my sworn denial?
2. How would you go about fighting this email?
3. Doesn't a lawyer fall under the terms of the FDCPA even though they are representing the bank who issued the card?
I'm obviously going to the hearing on Thursday, but I don't know what my rights are at this time.
Thanks!!
Re: Hearing on Credit Card Debt Lawsuit
Ok, well that makes sense to me now...However, that was not my only defense. That was simply the reason for the motion to dismiss.
I had submitted police and FTC filings on identity theft, sworn denial, etc. Beyond that, what can I do to "prove" that a debt is not mine. It never showed up on my credit report, I've never received a bill. The lawyer submitted a copy of a demand letter (which I never received, but the judge wouldn't take that for an answer and didn't require proof of delivery), and an affidavit that listed my name (and nothing else) as applying for this card and defaulting on it. In addition, they had a copy of an email that appeared to be from me (I've spoken to a couple of IT security managers and through research myself have found that this is VERY easy to fake). Based on the fact that I did not receive the demand letter, I could NOT have sent this email.
What I feel like through this whole thing is that I was guilty until proven innocent - and the judge basically ignored any arguement I had against the debt being mine. I was judged before I even hit the courtroom.