Re: Do I have a leg to stand on?

Posted by Prune Man (65.161.188.11) on March 12, 2004 at 12:03:12:

In Reply to: Do I have a leg to stand on? posted by mes1 on March 11, 2004 at 19:56:20:

You said you answered the summons and submitted interrogatories to the Plaintiff. Was the court copied on these interrogatories? If so, then you might need to enter a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the plaintiff cannot produce documents to support their claim.

Maybe you should send a second document request and be much more detailed. Ask for complete account statements, the agreement or contract, individual charge slips for each purchase, and a full accounting of the $ they claim as their loss. This is not out of line, and they should be able to produce these if they have a valid case against you. Don't ever use large paragraphs, just short and direct sentences, one for each item you request.

In my defense against Citi I have interrogatories requesting all of the above information plus information on insurance coverage on the account, and whether any claims have been made. Also I requested any Federal or State tax documents in which the loss might have been used as a deduction. Banks and lenders all carry insurance, so if you owe $10, and their insurance paid them $5 for their loss, then their loss is no longer $10. In civil court a Plaintiff can only claim their actual loss, which is probably much less than they can prove. Make sense?

Read their presentation of the evidence closely. If they present account statements in an Exhibit as true and correct for the applicable period, then the statement must be presented for the ENTIRE account, not just a few months or the last year or two. A half-truth is NOT a truth and you can request that evidence be stricken if you can show that part of it is untruthful. Eliminate the evidence and you eliminate their case.

Part of the goal of Interrogatories and document requests is to see how motivated the opposing side is to win. For your amount of debt the lawyer may not be inclined to ask Citibank to do a massive data dump to find the necessary paperwork you request. The lawyer may simply cave in and walk away from it all.

Also, after 30 days with no reply from your interrogatories, you should motion the court in writing with a request to dismiss the case based on the Plaintiff's willful failure to produce. If you don't request it the court will not dismiss.

Oh, by the way, I'm not a lawyer, just some freak with too much time on it's hands. If you want good information spend some $$ and go consult with a lawyer face to face. The internet advice is all very dubious.

Good Luck!

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