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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    2

    Default Summons to Small Claims for Credit Card Debt

    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Maine

    Good Morning, looking for a little help regarding a recent summons to Small Claims Court. A little backround -I've settled Credit Cards in the past and have settled a lawsuit of my own with another creditor and thought I was out of the woods with all of this and have since "bounced back" in regards to credit/responsible spending. At the same time my wife had a few issues that I helped her through and apparently 1 card slipped through to cracks which I thought was in good standing and/or closed out.

    She was just summons to small claims court by a law firm supposedly representing the credit card. It has an affadavit attached along with a small printout from what looks to be her credit report. She hasn't used this card since we think around 2006 maybe even later then that.

    Here are my questions:
    Being Small Claims can I still request a Validation of Debt?
    Can we request a Discovery?
    The summon's did not have a court date yet, it is going to be mailed to us by the court.
    How can I find the last activity on the account to figure the SOL- would a credit report go back that far?

    I've researched the affadavits which seem to be just a scare tactic if anything. My understanding is also that if I request the contract then it will be difficult for the firm to attain and may possibly cause them to not show up in court. I've also seen where we can possibly go to court and ask for a signed contract from the law firm showing we owe them money since that is what they are claiming.

    As you can possibly see my head is spinning trying to get this info in line. I want to help once again since I'm honestly not scared by all of this nor the court system. I just want to be well prepared.

    She supposedly had a credit line of around $1500, she is being sued for around $2200 which I do have in savings, so worst comes to worse I can pay it off but I'd rather do what I can to lessen the blow and or get it dismissed.

    Thank you in advance, I'll be checking this thread through to day to answer any questions you may have to help

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Summons to Small Claims for Credit Card Debt

    Your right to validation of a debt is entirely separate from the small claims case. If you have the right to validation from a collection agency under the FDCPA, you can exercise that right whether or not you are being sued. The Maine Court rules suggest that there is no discovery right in small claims court, although you can check with the clerk or judge (if you have a pretrial hearing) to see if you can obtain discovery by motion.

    You should have a pretty good idea of when you last made a payment on your card - you can see if you can get records from the issuer, check your old banking records, etc. You can see what's on your credit report, but that's a hearsay document with limited evidentiary value.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Summons to Small Claims for Credit Card Debt

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    Your right to validation of a debt is entirely separate from the small claims case. If you have the right to validation from a collection agency under the FDCPA, you can exercise that right whether or not you are being sued. The Maine Court rules suggest that there is no discovery right in small claims court, although you can check with the clerk or judge (if you have a pretrial hearing) to see if you can obtain discovery by motion.

    You should have a pretty good idea of when you last made a payment on your card - you can see if you can get records from the issuer, check your old banking records, etc. You can see what's on your credit report, but that's a hearsay document with limited evidentiary value.
    Thank you for the reply. I've been researching almost all day for the past few days.

    I pulled her credit report and it states the card was opened in 2008, last payment made in May 2009. Account was Charged off in 1/2010.

    What do you think my course of action should be? Do I bother requesting a validation of debt, or just wait till the hearing and state that we have no agreement signed stating we owe what they are sueing for? Also, the affadavit has no breakdown of how the amount we are being sued for was calculated.

    From what I've read on the Maine Court's websites/rules is that small claims is almost like traffic court - your name is called, you have a pretrial meeting to see if a settlement can be made, if not then a trial is held with the judge and both sides state their evidence.

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