Boston Defendant Attorneys
Did you receive a summons in the mail from LVNV Funding? If so, then you are now the defendant in a civil lawsuit for money allegedly owed to a creditor.
LVNV Funding, LLC. is a debt collections firm that buys old credit debt from credit card companies or banks. LVNV Funding, like other collections firms, will buy the debts for pennies on the dollar and then file suit to collect on the original debt.
If LVNV Funding is suing you for a past debt, there is no need to panic. With the help of an experienced collections defense attorney, there is a good chance that your matter will get resolved in your favor.
How Do I Defend a Lawsuit from LVNV Funding?
First you hire a skilled collections defense attorney. This is a crucial step in the process because when you are served with a complaint and a summons, the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure state that you have only 20В days to file an answer. In the first consultation, we will gather all of the background information regarding the debt. Maybe it was an old credit card or a personal loan. Perhaps the debt is not even yours but belongs to someone with the same name. Believe it or not, this happens very often and the remedy is sometimes as simple as a motion to dismiss.
Furthermore, along with the answer to LVNV Funding’s complaint, we can assert affirmative defenses to LVNV Funding’s allegation and also assert counterclaims if you feel that LVNV Funding has harassed you in their attempts to collect the debt. These harassment claims are typical based on violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
What if the Debt is Mine? Can I Still Defend Against LVNV Funding’s Lawsuit?
The answer is YES! When creditor is suing for a debt, it must prove certain facts. First, the creditor must prove that it owns the debt and it has the right to sue on the debt. This is proven by providing the chain of custody from the original creditor to the present creditor.
The chain of custody will include Bills of Sale, Bills of Transfer, the original contract, etc. Creditors that fail to provide these items through the discovery process cannot establish ownership of the debt beyond a preponderance of the evidence. That is, it cannot prove that LVNV Funding more likely than not, owns the debt.
Furthermore, the creditor must provide enough evidence that would establish that you own the debt. This can be accomplished by providing the original signed contract or application for credit (sometimes judges will not except contracts that are filled out online). Frequently, original contracts are lost or inadvertently destroyed especially if they’re paper contracts.
So if LVNV Funding or another collections company has made you a party to a debt collections lawsuit, call Kelly & Soto Law. We have saved our clients thousands of dollars negotiating their debts and have been successful in dismissing cases similar to yours.
Call 617.807.0840 to speak with one of our skilled collections defense attorneys today.
