Weltman Weinberg & Reis Summons for plaintiff Discover Card

[airahcaz]

Received summons via regular mail from Superior Court of New Jersey
Special Civil Part
Jersey City, NJ

Plaintiff shows Discover Card
Date served 3/10/2011
July 2010 Statement was attached, and it shows Internal Charge off -6,225.89

I have given it to my attorney who will file an answer, but still want to be educated by others, and thus my post.

I have read that after a charge off, that the OC doesn't necessarily own the debt anymore and it is an attorney tactic is to list Discover as plaintiff. Is this true? Do we pose this question as part of our answer or discovery?

Secondly, received a separate letter from WWR:
"As you are aware, this firm has filed a lawsuit against you on behalf of the client referenced above. We recently learned that you were properly served with a copy of a complaint. At this point, we would like to work with you towards a resolution of this matter. Please call toll free 877-612-7138 to discuss, etc... "

I wonder if this is part of their tactic as well, meaning, do they really want to go forward with litigation.

For reasons that I've vetted, I cannot file CH7, and do not want to file CH13. I suppose I need to work towards settlement, and would have been willing to deal with Discover directly.

Please let me know your thoughts - thanks so much.

[Freddy03]

Received summons via regular mail from Superior Court of New Jersey
Special Civil Part
Jersey City, NJ

Plaintiff shows Discover Card
Date served 3/10/2011
July 2010 Statement was attached, and it shows Internal Charge off -6,225.89

I have given it to my attorney who will file an answer, but still want to be educated by others, and thus my post.

I have read that after a charge off, that the OC doesn't necessarily own the debt anymore and it is an attorney tactic is to list Discover as plaintiff. Is this true? Do we pose this question as part of our answer or discovery?

Secondly, received a separate letter from WWR:
"As you are aware, this firm has filed a lawsuit against you on behalf of the client referenced above. We recently learned that you were properly served with a copy of a complaint. At this point, we would like to work with you towards a resolution of this matter. Please call toll free 877-612-7138 to discuss, etc... "

I wonder if this is part of their tactic as well, meaning, do they really want to go forward with litigation.For reasons that I've vetted, I cannot file CH7, and do not want to file CH13. I suppose I need to work towards settlement, and would have been willing to deal with Discover directly.

Please let me know your thoughts - thanks so much.

Discover could still own the debt. Have you received collection letters from other companies about the debt?

They would love to settle with you instead of going forward with litigation.

[airahcaz]

I'm not sure about receiving other offers. What should be my approach from here?

[Freddy03]

I'm not sure about receiving other offers. What should be my approach from here?

If you are not able to file BK then I would try and offer a settlement. Make sure you check the NJ court procedures to see what your time limit is to answer the summons. In FL you have 20 days. If you ignore the summons you will receive a default judgment then the judgment creditor will start the collection process (ie: bank levies and wage garnishments).

It sounds like Discover still owns the debt so they won't be willing to settle for less than 50% (or at least that was my experience with an org creditor).

If you need to buy time then answer the summons and there are ways to drag a case out.

I have had 3 CC cases all with org creditors. I lost 2 and was able to get 1 dismissed. It wasn't easy and I'm still filing BK soon.

Good Luck

[GoingDown]

Oh, I had Weltman, etc. after me for awhile, and they were extremely aggressive against me, but they never filed a lawsuit against me. They gave up after I informed them I was Judgment-Collection Proof, and then cancelled my land line phone, and started just using a pay as you go cell phone.

Once they have filed a lawsuit, nothing short of a settlement agreement will get them to back off. If you choose to go down this route, make sure you get it in writing before you pay them anything, and pay with a money order or cashier's check. Make sure the agreement states that the creditor agrees to forgive or cancel any remaining balance of the debt, and agrees to not sell the remaining balance to anyone else. Keep in mind, you will get a 1099-C for any amount over $600 that they forgive. If you were insolvent at the time of the forgiveness, you should be able to file a form along with your 1040 and not have to pay any taxes on it.

[catleg]

Discover (in my experience) hangs onto their bad debt accounts, and goes to court to get a judgment.
Unfortunately, you are in NJ; Special Civil Part is extra friendly to creditor lawsuits (like, they wrote the rules for that court).
Don't waste a whole lot of money on your attorney defending this one, you will lose.
Best time to settle was before Discover sent it to their attorneys.
Now they have the state acting as their collection agency for a 10% commission.
Try and make the best deal you can with them.

[airahcaz]

Discover (in my experience) hangs onto their bad debt accounts, and goes to court to get a judgment.
Unfortunately, you are in NJ; Special Civil Part is extra friendly to creditor lawsuits (like, they wrote the rules for that court).
Don't waste a whole lot of money on your attorney defending this one, you will lose.
Best time to settle was before Discover sent it to their attorneys.
Now they have the state acting as their collection agency for a 10% commission.
Try and make the best deal you can with them.

How is one to know that they would actually pursue a lawsuit prior? Not all OC's pursue, correct?

[catleg]

Correct, in fact, my wife and I both had Discover cards (individual accounts) and they sued her but not me.
Both debts are claimed by Discover in our BK and Discover still owns them.