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When you get sued by a debt buyer like Midland Funding you often feel like it is you against that world – that you don’t know how to deal with it let alone win your case. In this podcast episode I go over three advantages that you have as a consumer that can help you not only survive your debt collection case but make it go away. Here are the three advantages you have over Midland Funding (and all the debt buyers):
1. Size
It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but sometimes, when the dog is just flat out too big, it is clumsy. That is how many of these debt buyers and the law firms that represent them are. They have thousands or tens of thousands of cases going on at one time, and virtually all debt buyer cases are exactly the same. And when I saw exactly, I mean exactly. Due to the large volume and high case-to-attorney ratios mistakes happen. And if they do happen the court will often hold them accountable. You need to make sure you are in a position to capitalize.
2. The Law is on Your Side
I have beat this one to death, but you really should win your case. The lawsuit that the debt buyer filed against you usually not legally sufficient to justify a judgment being entered. That being said, over 90% of debt buyer lawsuits end up in a default judgment. This means that Midland Funding doesn’t have to prove a thing and they get judgment in full. But if you act, and press them on it, you may just win your case.
3. Bankruptcy
The nuclear option. When all else fails, you can always file bankruptcy. And bankruptcy will completely eliminate your debt buyer lawsuit. Even if they already have a judgment you can likely eliminate it and the underlying debt completely.
Resource of the Week
This week’s resource is Google Scholar. It used to be that the only way to get information on how courts had ruled in prior cases (called “case law”) was to to go a law library and look it up in the books or to have a very expensive subscription to a company like Lexis or Westlaw. With Google Scholar you can get access to most cases and numerous other legal documents. You can find it at www.scholar.google.com .
