* Please be aware that you must file a lawsuit for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act within one year of the start of the lawsuit *
* Had I been aware of this, I probably could have recovered all of the fees paid to my lawyer to defend myself against this junk debt buyer plus $1,000. *
Last year, Cavalry Portfolio Services filed a lawsuit claiming to own an MBNA credit card account. My lawyer sent interrogatories to them and they initially responded three months later. Their majority of their answers to our requests for validation of the debt were that our questions were too burdonsome. Our questions were simple, what was the original account number, provide a copy of all charges to the account that led to their calculation of the debt, proof that they own the debt, etc. My lawyer mistakenly assumed that they had given up. He said that it seemed that the case was over. Five months later, they sent some affidavits signed by employees of their company claiming to have knowledge of my business account, a barely legible photocopy of a credit card contract, and a copy of an assignment from another "junk debt buyer" to Cavalry. They did not have proof of any assignment of the debt from MBNA to any other collection agency, including the one who claimed to have sold the debt (E Cast) to them. The credit card contract provided to me by Cavalry Portfolio Services stated that the Delaware statute of limitations would apply to the account. The Delaware statute of limitations is 3 years. They also filed the lawsuit well past the three years. My understanding is that their attempt to collect a debt they couldn't prove that they owned combined with the fact that they filed a lawsuit in attempt to collect a time barred debt is in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Unfortunately, I did not know until it was too late that the FDCPA violation suit needed to be filed within one year of the start of the lawsuit. I was trusting my lawyer, who knew that it was my intention to sue Cavalry Portfolio Services for violation of the FDCPA to keep the case on track. He kept delaying matters by not getting back to their attorneys right away, by not filing the Motion for Summary Judgement when I requested him to in writing, etc. Recently, I found out I won my case. Because it was 13 months after the suit
*If they sue you and you chose to get a lawyer, please be advised to chose carefully. Get an expert in the area of consumer law. My lawyer told me that he had knowledge in this area, but it turned out that he didn't.in the end, I will have to pay a lot of legal fees to fight this junk debt buyer, but at least they did not profit from their actions.
The fact is that many junk debt buyers can't prove that they own the debt. I wanted to share my story to prevent this from happening to someone else. If Cavalry Portfolio Services sues you, make them pay!!!
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