Plaintiff:  LVNV Funding LLC

Original Creditor:  Citibank

Plaintiff’s Attorneys:  Jeffrey Kahn

Plaintiff’s Law Firm:  Wagner, Hunt & Kahn, P.A.

Case Outcome:  Case dismissed without our client paying anything

Our client was sued by the law firm of Wagner, Hunt and Kahn, P.A. on behalf of LVNV Funding for claims of Account Stated, Open Account, Money Lent and Quantum Meruit.  While the original creditor for the credit card was Citibank, LVNV Funding claimed to have purchased the account and sued our client.  We served discovery including Interrogatories, Requests for Production and Requests for Admission on LVNV Funding.  We also successfully defended a motion filed by their lawyers.  Our client did not pay anything to Citibank, LVNV Funding, or their attorneys as a result of this lawsuit, which they dismissed.

If you need an attorney who deals in debt collection defense, FDCPA, debt collection harassment, credit reporting, identity theft, contractor fraud, breach of contract, warranty issues, or auto scam cases, contact us.  We also handle cases involving defective products, personal injury from car accidents and other consumer justice issues, call us toll free for a free consultation.  You can also view more information about our other areas of practice at www.CarSafetyLawyer.com and www.TheAirbagBlog.com.

Our client retained us when she was served with a Summons and Complaint for a credit card debt collection lawsuit on behalf of Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.  Attorneys Jason Dragutsky, Robert Orovitz and Dana Sterna from Hayt, Hayt & Landau, P.L. in Miami represented Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.  Their legal claims included counts for Money Lent and Unjust Enrichment.

We successfully represented our client, and were able to get the lawsuit dismissed without any payment by our client on the alleged credit card debt.  Helping Florida Consumers is what our firm is about.  Please don’t hesitate to call us on our toll-free number (1-888-834-5297) or just click here to go to our “Contact Us” page to submit your information.

Zakheim and Associates, P.A., now known as Zakheim and LaVrar, P.A., sued our client on behalf of Discover Bank in a credit card debt collection lawsuit. The Zakheim attorneys assigned to this case, Kimberlee J. Otis and Michele L. Nihiser from Plantation, Florida, sued our client under the legal theories of Open Account and Account Stated.  NCO Financial Systems had also been involved in this credit card account. After we applied our knowledge of the applicable court rules, statutes and cases, including those applying to Open Account and Account Stated claims, the lawsuit against our client was dismissed.

As a Central Florida Consumer Protection law firm, our mission is Helping Florida Consumers.  We would be honored to put our experience to work for you.

We have seen a recent increase in the number of consumers sued on an alleged debt arising from an old Providian credit card account.  Many people are surprised at these credit card lawsuits because those credit card accounts were so old.  Those lawsuits are not brought by Providian, which does not exist any longer; instead these credit card lawsuits are typically brought by debt collectors (for example, Arrow Financial) who have purchased the debt from Providian, or its successors: Washington Mutual (WaMu) Bank or J.P. Morgan Chase.

The good news is that you may have legal defenses if you are sued on an alleged Providian credit card debt.  However, you need to assert those affirmative defenses promptly, or you may lose the ability to use those defenses later in the case, including at the trial of the credit card lawsuit.

There may also be other ways to defend against a debt collector seeking to collect an alleged Providian debt.  For example, the lawsuit needs to comply with Florida’s court rules for the summons and complaint; often, they do not.  As another example, many debt collectors cannot prove their case as required under the applicable Florida laws and rules of evidence.  This is important, because debt collectors often try to collect on debts even when they do not have a legal right to do so, such as when the statute of limitations has expired.

It is important to use an attorney experienced in defending credit card debt collection cases to maximize your chances of winning.  We have had good success in defending Providian credit card litigation using our knowledge of Florida’s laws, including statutes, court rules and rules of evidence.  If you have been sued on an alleged Providian credit card debt anywhere in Central Florida, please call us right away for a free consultation about preserving your rights and a free evaluation of your case.  Don’t lose the ability to defend your case properly!  You can reach us on our office telephone (407-323-4949), on our toll-free number (1-888-834-5297), by fax (407-323-4955) or by clicking here to send us an email message.  Remember, we welcome your calls and emails at any time, including in the evening and on weekends.

In many cases, a consumer may have a legal defense to a lawsuit filed against them that seeks to collect on a credit card debt or other debt.  You may have defenses such as the lawsuit being too old (statute of limitations), the debt collector did not follow proper procedure in filing or pursuing the lawsuit, or others.  The question then is . . . how do you assert those defenses?

Don’t expect to just show up at trial and start talking about those defenses, as it may be too late by then.  The Court can decide that you are prohibited from asserting them at trial if you did not provide adequate notice about them before the trial.

In short, you generally assert those defenses by filing your Affirmative Defenses with the Court where the lawsuit is pending, as well as the debt collection lawyer.  This lets the debt collector and the Court know what your defenses are, and allows you to argue them at trial.  Filing them in writing prevents the debt collector from later arguing that they are unfairly surprised by your “new” claims.  If you properly preserve those defenses, and if you have the evidence to prove them in Court, you may be able to defeat the debt collector’s lawsuit even if they prove all of their allegations.  Don’t lose that right by waiting too long to file your Affirmative Defenses.