Discover freaking me out!

[NewPage]

Today I got a Priority Mail envelope. I knew it probably wasn't good. Enclosed is a letter from Discover:

ATTORNEY PLACEMENT PENDING

Dear NewPage:

We have been authorized to proceed with legal action to secure the balance you currently owe us as of August 5, 2010.

If we do not hear from you by 8:00 PM Eastern time on September 30, 2010, your account will be forwarded to an Attorney to obtain a judgment against you.

To stop this action, call us immediately to make acceptable payment arrangements.

CALL NOW BEFORE YOUR TIME EXPIRES!

Patti Whitmer
DFS Services LLC

What do I do?! I can't file yet.

[Freddy03]

Well don't freak out yet

When do you plan on filing?

I have been sued 3 times by cc.

1st case - summons received early May - just lost case on 8/6/10
2nd case - summons received 3 days after 1st - case is still pending
3rd case - summons received 08/05/10 - still pending

It looks like you have at least till 09/30/10 until they plan to sue. So you have some time.

[987654]

Nah, don't freak out just yet. This is a common collections tactic. Usually they will send a few of these, then it gets referred to a law firm (which is actually a collection agency) who will send more letters, and so on.

Even if they filed tomorrow, if you answer the complaint (i.e. dispute it) then you buy additional time. Surely enough to get you to the point where you are ready to file, unless you have some reason not to file for 6-12 month.

[scsurfer]

I've seen this before quite common scare tactic. Have you looked at electing arbitration? this might put them on hold long enough til you file.

[NewPage]

I've seen this before quite common scare tactic. Have you looked at electing arbitration? this might put them on hold long enough til you file.

Could you expound on that?

[scsurfer]

First I am by no means an expert in any of this and I suggest google "arbitration" and "debtorboards" for more thorough information on your right to elect arbitration.

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution. In most unsecured and some secured contracts there is an arbitration clause. In essence you can elect your right to arbitration and waive the litigation rights of the OC/CA. Meaning they can't sue you and if they do you can get a montion to dismiss since you elected to arbitrate. Since NAF is gone, the OC/CA's rarely follow thru with arbitration w/ JAMS or AAA.

Do the google searching and educate yourself on arbitration and see if maybe it will work for you. It worked for me against 2 CA's.

[daytona]

1

[daytona]

Scare tactic...by the time they forward to an attorney it will likely be 30-60days before they file suit...if they file you can answer suit...this will buy you 3-6mo+ before it ever gets in front of judge for judgement, etc...there will be many settlement offers in the meantime for much better deals than you have likely seen to date. If they were to get a judgement this usually takes time before than can sieze or garnish wages. Depending on your state rules you can possibly wait until just before judgement and then decide to elect arbitration to buy many more months...you have plenty of time. In any case your ultimate BK will nuke their case and/or any judgements they get...don't sweat it.

You can have all sorts of fun with discovery and waste all sorts of their time and resources...if you are filing anyway you are just spending more of their money they will never recover...

[treehugger1]

Newpage, Be careful of taking any old advice that comes along. This is especially true since you are in Oregon. I am also in Oregon. The letter you received is definitely a scare tactic. However, Discover does sue in Oregon. If you want proof, just go down to your county courthouse and look up Discover on the legal network.

Now, it will ultimately come down to you having to decide whether you will file an answer. Since Oregon has its own form of mandatory arbitration, then you cannot elect another arbitration once you are sued. The sad fact is that if you choose to answer, you will need to pay the $200 to file your answer with the county circuit court and then you will need to pay for every motion, declaration, etc that comes along in discovery, etc. If you want to "play the game" in oregon then you will need to "pay to play."

In the event you are finally sued. you will have:

1) thirty days to answer the suit (this will cost you.)
2) If you don't answer then you will get a default judgment and discover can then purse its legal remedies (wage garnishment, bank levy, asset seizure, etc.)
3) If you answer the case will be forwarded to arbitration (this is not the arbitration that you hear about at the credit card national level.) If you elect this arbitration, then you will have to pay your share of the arbitration proceedings.

Bottom line, it is unlikely that if Discover sues you, you will win. It is more likely that if you answer, it will only tack on more dollars to your eventual judgment.

If you don't believe me, then contact any state BAR civil atorney in your area, and they will provide you with more details.

If this were me, I would send a request for debt verification to the address you were supplied with. You can also send a letter that they no longer contact you (Oregon allows for this with original creditors, unlike other states that only reinforce the FDCPA.)

In the end, it is likely that Discover will file suit. They file many suits here in this state. They do have their act together.

These are just opinions from a fellow Oregonian with much experience.

Once again, if you are sued and answer here in this state, you will pay for every little motions, etc that is required for discovery. You will not cost the plaintiff anymore money than you will cost yourself. It is a fair playing field here; plaintiff and defendant.

If you wish send me a private message.

TH

[JackFrostMI]

Out of all the CC's I've stopped paying on - Discover was very consistent in calling everyday-all day, sending "PRIORITY" mail 4 or 5 times - ALWAYS with the ultimate promise "to settle for pennies on the dollar - but you must act now" message. Turns out once Discover hit the magic *DATE* that they could no longer contact me & turned it over to a collector I RARELY ever hear from them & when I do it's a short form letter. It's been over a year & they've done nothing.

Chase on the other hand not only turned it over to a collection lawyer immediately - I've already been sued - they have a judgment & have attached my bank accounts (all emptied in advance of course) & have a lien against my house (which doesn't matter cuz' we're not selling it). So I just live with the daily phone calls from Chase & their random lawyer letters from the court.

I'm sure at some point Discover may go through the same process that Chase did & sue - but honestly I have -0- money (unemployed) & no assets to speak of so I'm waiting it out until I absolutely have to file BK.

Hang in there & don't let the official looking letters scare you - or even court papers. If you can't pay - you CAN'T PAY!! There is nothing they can do about it.

[packerfan]

I wouldn't worry about it especially if you are going to be filing bk..more than likely its just a scare tactic but from my experience from the time they threaten attorney to when it actually goes to an attorney can take months if ever..then usually the attorney will write letters etc trying to work something out before filing suit..Even then once you are served your 60-90 days out before any trial...Just getting the judgement and going after assets etc are 2 different things...if they are granted a default judgement and writ of execution then they have to go to work to find it...In my case I was sent a discovery letter asking me where I bank, work etc...I ignored it and filed my bk about a month later..

Of all the creditors I defaulted on this one was one of the smallest but the most agressive...i've been threatened with attorneys and lawsuits by at least 10 creditors and still 2 years later nothing.

[feelingnutsy]

Hey---NewPage---I got this same priority letter---and follow-up calls
reminding me of it---and asking me to call Discover to someone explain
the letter to me---like I couldn't read---and my deadline was July 30,2010.

I just got another letter from a law firm---saying the matter hadn't gone to
a lawyer yet.

[gacreditguy]

Today I got a Priority Mail envelope. I knew it probably wasn't good. Enclosed is a letter from Discover:

What do I do?! I can't file yet.

Scare tactic for sure.. Heck, let Discover spend that money to send Priority Maill... OOOOOH!! SCARY!!

But on a serious note, that letter they are not saying they "may" take legal action, they are saying they "will"..

I am in the process of suing a collection agency that said basically the same thing in a letter and that violated the FDCPA.. My attorney was all kinds of happy when he saw that letter from them.. Hold on to that and any other documentation you get form them.. You can use that at a later date, should you need to.

[frogger]

But on a serious note, that letter they are not saying they "may" take legal action, they are saying they "will"..

And there is nothing wrong with them saying that they "will" sue, provided that they do.

[AlmostAmos]

I received letters similar to those - MONTHS before I filed. And, I was never sued or anything. Throw it in the round filing cabinet...