Question regarding claims

[sophieanne]

Good morning everyone.
My claims bar date for non-government claims is today, so just out of curiosity i went into Pacer to review all the claims. What I noticed is that everyone (except 2 clams - being filed by Portfolio Management) have documentation to show who the claim is from, amount, owed, etc. etc. etc. and then there is a supplemental page filed that is usally a copy of the last statement that was sent

In the last couple days 2 claims have been filed by Portfolio Management who purchased the claims from Citibank (shell and Sears) and have the documentation pages that show who the debt is for, who they bought it from, etc. and then just a bottom line figure of what the amount they are claiming is. There is no backup documentation to show a statement or anything. Is that claim good enough??? The other thing is all the other claims show the amount of the debt, interest paid, late charges, etc. All this is showing is a bottom line figure that doesn't break anything down. I couldn't veriy whethher the amount is correct or not.

Could someone please give me their thoughts before I contact my atorney.

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[justbroke]

A "filed" claim ALWAYS enjoys status as prima-facie evidence of a valid claim. It is up to the debtor (the debtor's attorney) or the Trustee to object to a claim. Many of the ankle-biting debt buyers, like Portfolio Management, eCast Settlement, B-Real, B-Cast, LLNV, etc, just send in Form B10 (Claim) and a "summary" sheet of the debt. That is not in fact "evidence" of a claim, but just restating what's on Form B10. The reason why you see some claims with "proof" of a statement, is that further validates that there is a debt.

In either case, you could file an Objection and force the creditor to substantiate the claim. For example, some of the debt is sold and if they don't have an assignment of the debt, then they may not be entitled (under State non-bankruptcy law) to pursue the debt. Additionally, only a real creditor (or party in interest) prove a claim. If you can prove they are not a creditor, then their claim is invalid and "disallowed". The claim could also be "valid" but have the incorrect amount. For example, they can't prove that you owe them $10,000 but they have statements showing that you owe $7,000. That doesn't invalidate the claim. It just changes the value of the claim.

So, a claim is automatically allowed unless you object to it. If the value is wrong, the creditor is not recognized (it was sold), or it's not your debt, then you can object to the claim. Some people mistakenly believe that the creditor needs to attach the "signed application" to the claim, and that's just not true. Additionally, your admissions on Schedule A-G may also counter your assertion that you don't owe the creditor. In other words, you scheduled "Capital One" but you are denying their claim because you say you don't owe Capital One.

[sophieanne]

Hi Justbroke,

Thank you very nuch for your note. I think the reason these 2 claims stood out is that Portfolio Management did fiie other Citibank claims and had backup for everything and these two didn't. It just stood out, especially when one of the claims was filed on the last day to file a claim. I really do appreciate the help you give everyone here.

[justbroke]

They probably filed a "skeletal" claim. This happens where they file the minimal information to establish the prima facie right as a claim. If you object, they "may" be able to amend the claim by providing additional documentation. You and your attorney may want to object to the claim, but that's a strategy question in the long run.