Expert: Creditwrench - 10/5/2008

Question
I have confusing question I hope you Can help me with. I have a default CC from about 3 years ago.It was sold and Finaly stuck with a Company in Michigan, they inturn hired a law firm(Deals with collection only) in my state(missouri). They served me Today(10 days ) before my court date. last day they could by law.

Here's where it gets tricky. They sent me the summons and stated the usual bullet points stating How i never disputed any of the charges with the orignal creditor,I accepted charges, and failed to perform under the terms of the original credit card. During this they state they are seeking the  balance $4000.00 plus $2000 interest. So they are asking for $6000.00.

Here is where it is questionable. At the end of the summons there is a affidavit form the "Portfolio Supervisor" from the Company that owns the debt. Remember, they are out of state so they have forwarded this to the Lawyer that has it now in my state. The affidavit amount they claim I owe  is $11000.00.  So this summons has a amount they are suing for that is $5000.00 different than the amount on the  sworn affidavit. This makes zero sense.

Obviously they are confused  and have no idea what I really owe. I think they pulled the 11k from an entire different CC that another company has against me, the amount is  identical.

Does this open the door for me to ask the judge for Discovery since the amounts on the summons and affidavit are completely wrong. And when I do ask for previous statements that verify the debt I doubt they can obtain them because the original creditor is out of business now. Should this be my angle?

What should me next step be? I have only a week until the court date. Do i file a sworn denial? And when is the proper time to ask for discovery?  I image if i show up in court I can get a extension or at least ask for trial due to discrepencies...dont you think?
Thanks for your help.

Answer
Lots of things I have to know before I can start to give you any suggestions. So here goes.

1. What state do you live in?
2. Who is the plaintiff in the case?
3. Who is the debt originally owed to or is the plaintiff and the original creditor one and the same?
4. Who is the affiant on the affidavit?
5. Who is the notary and what state and county is the notary from?
6. How many days does the summons say you have within which you must file a response?
7. Would the proposed court date fall within the time allowed for response or is it after that time has elapsed?
You don't have to ask the court for discovery. All you have to do is prepare it and send it to the lawyer along with your response.

When should you demand validation of the debt? That depends. Was the summons and complaint the first communication you ever had with the lawyer? If so did it contain the full Miranda warning?

I seriously doubt there will be any hearing in only a week if the court date is prior to the number of days you have to respond. If you have just been sitting around wondering what to do then maybe you are almost out of time.

Let me know the answers to my questions and we can go from there.