By Jerry Lee
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November 22, 2024
Because we are on our way Court for you instead... . As New York Credit Defense Attorneys , we focus on helping clients navigate and resolve debt-related challenges without the need for bankruptcy. While bankruptcy may seem like a quick solution, we believe that most clients can avoid this drastic step by working through their financial difficulties. Bankruptcy often means relinquishing control over your financial life and facing long-term consequences that can be avoided with the right credit defense strategy. Each debt defense plan we design for you and will be a tailored solution for your particular financial and credit circumstances with the objective of reaching solutions that address our clients' unique financial situations. Our goal is to help our clients overcome their debt and debt collection issues and finding resolutions through negotiation or legal defense in Court, and, ultimately, move toward a better financial future. This is why we specialize in credit and debt defense and not bankruptcy. By working with the The Credit Card Derfense Center, you can protect your assets and avoid the pitfalls of bankruptcy, regaining control of your financial life. Common Defenses in a Debt Collection Case A defense is a reason why the plaintiff should not win the case. You tell the Court your defenses when you answer the summons and complaint or when you ask the Court to vacate default judgment. You must then prove your defenses in Court. If you prove your defenses then the plaintiff will lose and you will win the case. Listed below are examples of defenses to a debt collection case. Read the explanations carefully to see if any of them apply to you. Everyone’s case is different. Some of the defenses may apply to you and most may not. You can also tell the Court about a defense that is not listed below. You should tell the Court about all of your defenses. In defending you, we will use these defenses if appropriate in your case . You do not owe the money .
We'll u se this defense when you simply do not owe the money that the plaintiff is asking for. You dispute the amount of the debt - Plaintiff is suing for the wrong amount of money
This defense is used when the plaintiff sues you for the wrong amount of money in the complaint. All the amounts listed must be right, including interest, collection costs and attorneys fees. Plaintiff has been unjustly enriched.
This defense is used when the money in the complaint is much higher than what you think you owe and you've been, in essence, taken advantage of in the transaction in question. Remember interest can make the money you owe higher than the original money that you borrowed. But in dealing with these cases, we never have our clients wind up paying interest when we resolve these cases. The credito r is violating the duty of good faith and fair dealin g .
This defense is used when you think that you have tried to take care of this debt in a fair way, but the other side has not been fair or was not honest with you. Plaintiff waited too long to sue you . This is called laches, which is a defense used when the creditor waited too long on purpose to bring you to court or to sell your debt to the plaintiff. This case surprised you and the delay is very bad and makes it hard for you to defend the case. The amount of delay depends on the facts of each case. If the creditor has a good reason for the delay this defense will not win. Contract is very, very unfair or, in other words, unconscionable. This defense is used when the agreement was not fair and is very, very one-sided. “Shockingly” unfair. We use this defense mainly as bargains leverage in negotiating with the debt collector and the collection attorneys. Statute of limitations has passed. In other words, it's simply too late too for the debt collector to sue you. Statute of limitation laws are in place because waiting too long to sue you is inherently unfair because, a s time goes by, people and companies lose old records and people do not remember details as well. Because of this there is a struct time limit for bringing lawsuits. This is called the "statute of limitations". In New York, as of April 7th 2022, the Consumer Credit Fairness Act established a 3-year time limit on many kinds of debts including all consumer credit transactions. If you are sued in certain other kinds of consumer debts, longer statutes of limitations may apply. Contact us at the Credit Card Defense Center for more details about this defense. Also, as of April 7th, 2022, any additional payments on the debt after the statute of limitations has expired will not extend the limitations period for most types of consumer debts. And, if the company is based outside of New York State, of the contract is to be interpreted under the law of another state, the statute of limitations may be shorter depending on that state’s statute of limitations. We simply do a comparison and use the defense on the shorter statute for your benefit. You filed bankruptcy, and it included this debt. .
This defense is rare because once you file bankruptcy, your debts are dealt with in federal court and no longer in the Courts of the State of New York. Simply put, if the debt was discharged in bankruptcy you do not owe the money. The secured property (collateral) was not sold at a commercially reasonable price. This is our very favorite defense when it comes to vehicle reoissesions. in fact, if yr veggie as reposted and you are being sued for s defocilmcy, we can usually put up a very good defense based on the way the vehicle was repossessed and sold atmost likely, an auction. and most likely for less money that it was actually with at the tie of the sale. If you don’t pay your debt, the collateral is sold to pay back the money you owe. If the money from the sale of the collateral does not cover the entire remains debt, the plaintiff may sue you for the difference. The repossessed collateral should be sold by the debt collector or the debt collection attorney for a “commercially reasonable” amount, which is a fair, market price. You never had a contractual relationship with the plaintiff. We call this a lack of standing. In other words, the creditor or debt collector has no contractual relationship to you
This defense is used when you don't know who the plaintiff is and how the plaintiff got to own your debt. The plaintiff may have bought your debt from the person or company that you owed money to. Because you never signed a contract with the plaintiff who bought your debt, you can ask if the plaintiff can sue you (also known as standing to sue you). The plaintiff must prove to the court that it owns your debt. To do this, the plaintiff must have a contract of sale (assignment) that says your debt has been sold. You were only an authorized user.
This applies when the credit card associated with the debt is in another person’s name and that person gave you permission to use their credit card. If you were only an authorized user but never agreed to be responsible for paying the card then you cannot be held responsible for the credit card debt. You are a victim of identity theft or mistaken identity. Identity theft is when somebody steals your name and personal information and opens up credit accounts in your name pretending to be you. You are not responsible for debts that a thief made in your name. Mistaken identity is when you are sued for somebody else’s debts because you have similar names or identifying information. This defense is used when your identity was stolen, or if this is someone’s else’s debt. Full or Partial Payment of the Debt
. This defense is used when you have already paid all or part of the money that the plaintiff is suing you for. If the debt is paid off, you should not have to pay it again. Whether this is a full or partial defense to the lawsuit depends on how much of the debt you have paid. Special New York City Defenses Only If the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection shows no record of plaintiff having a license to collect debts in New York City, will prevent company which buys debt from another company or an original creditor buys debts, the company must be licensed by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. If the plaintiff is not licensed, that is a defense to this case. So, we will determine if the debt collector is license and tie that as a defense f it s not.
Most debt buyers, known in the legal world as "assignees", must be licensed by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and must list the license number on the complaint. This defense can be used if the plaintiff did not list a license number. The court may dismiss the case or may let the plaintiff change (amend) the complaint to list the license number.