Citibank Lawsuit

[Creditwrench]

Citibank Lawsuit
Question: QUESTION: I got behind with Citibank last year due to
illness. Naturally they wouldn’t work with me and I gave up. I didn’t
fool with their collection agency. Then in December 2007 I received a
letter from their attorneys in our state (MS) demanding payment of
$3632.88. Here’s what has happened so far.
1. I sent a letter requesting a Validation of Debt.
2. Received copies of 12 months of statements
3. Received Summons and Complaint
4. Filed a graduated denial as a Response.
5. Received plaintiff’s Notice of Service of Written Discovery
6. Consulted w/attorney and given basically 4 options-pay in full,
make them a settlement offer (it’s my understanding they don’t accept
offers), Bankruptcy or go forward with a defense.
I’m kind of lost don’t know which way to turn. I just didn’t want to
lie down and let them run over me. I was hoping they would back off
when they realized they weren’t going to get a Default Judgment. I
don’t have the funds to pay them. I feel like the odds are against me.
I’ve read an articles that said their contracts are invalid due to
lack of mutual obligations and legal consideration. The attorney I
spoke with said he was aware of that defense, but wasn’t familiar with
any cases where it had worked locally.
Do you have any suggestions?


ANSWER: I'm sure you have read such articles as you describe. Such
theories sound really great. Theories such as lack of mutual
obligations and legal consideration sound good but won't stand up
because they have no basis in law. What is legal consideration? Can
you explain that one to me? Richard Cornforth who is a well respected
legal researcher and a close friend of mine claims that no bank has
authority to sue outside the state where they are domiciled so
Discover (for instance) can't file a lawsuit against some one living
in any state other than Delaware. The definitions section of Title 12
of the U.S. statutes says otherwise.

The number of schemes and scams and crackpot ideas will never stop and
people will continue to fall for them as long as there is a dollar in
their pockets. Government also has more than it's fair share of
schemes and scams such as bankruptcy, IRS, the federal reserve, the
banking system and many more with which to fleece the people while
appearing to do them great miracles and help them eliminate their
problems.

Yes, I am aware of most of the scams out there. I agree that our money
is a sham and a fraud upon the people. It isn't money at all. In fact
there really isn't even a definition for money or cash so how can
there be any? Nobody has any money. All we have is Federal Reserve
Notes which are by definition noting but worthless instruments of
debt, fiat currency foisted upon us by our government through the
Federal Reserve system. So what? Who cares about all that nonsense so
long as it can be used to trick others into giving us what we need?
Our daily bread, beer, computers, cars, gasoline to get to work and
then to Wal-Mart. All those arguments about fiat money sound good but
they are nonsense so long as we can buy what we want with them. If we
have enough of them we can even wave them in the debt collector's face
and he will take them and go away happily. So will the IRS.

So lets forget about all the nonsense arguments and get down to doing
it the right way. Learn the law and know it better than the other guy
and it will protect you. It isn't all that hard because the other guy
just wants your FRNs and don't actually know the law any better than
those who believe in the junk legal theories. The attorney was right
when he said he didn't know of any that worked locally or anywhere for
that matter.

You say you filed a graduated denial but didn't say how well it worked
so I have to assume that it didn't which isn't surprising. So is that
too nothing more than another junk legal theory? Depends on how you
present it and what you do after that. There are no defenses that will
work if the judge won't listen to them and most judges won't listen to
anything that a defendant has to say no matter how well written or
presented or how sound the legal theories behind them might be.

Why is that so? Simply because the judge knows that if the plaintiff
didn't have something to complain about he wouldn't be there. The
plaintiff is automatically believed to be correct in everything he
claims unless the defendant can prove otherwise beyond a shadow of a
doubt. Most can't do that and most are afraid to even try.

So what to do about it? How do you win against that kind of situation?
If you don't have an unbeatable defense such as statute of limitations
or can prove that you already paid the debt or that you are not the
person they think you are then most likely no defense will work no
matter how good it might seem to be.

If the plaintiff wins almost every time in every court all across the
land and almost no defense will work no matter how valid it might be
or seem to be what can be done? Obviously the defendant must become
the plaintiff in order to beat the crooked lawyer and the crooked
judge who really aren't crooked at all even though we would like to
believe that so we can have a neat excuse for why we lost.

We can't expect justice in the same court even if we do become the
plaintiff because that "crooked" judge will just shoot us down again.
We have to switch courts on them as well by taking whoever we can to
federal court where we can get a fair hearing and the justice we seek
but only if we have a valid cause or causes of action and the proof to
back them up. We cannot expect to win there either if we use the pet
theories of such people as John Gliha of Ocala, Florida or Edward
Godwin and his book about The Creature of Jekyll Island.

The only way to win is to know the law, know how the other person
broke the law, be able to prove s/he broke the law and know how to
present your argument in a court of law that will listen to your pleas
if you can present your case and prove it's theories and facts.

So why bother to mess with local courts or even go play their games?
You have to do that even knowing you are most likely to lose no matter
what you do because that is one of the places they make their
mistakes and don't follow the law. They do all sorts of things in
local courts that are wrong and you just have to be able to recognize
what those errors are and how to use them to your advantage.

You have to know and understand causes of action, affidavits and how
to spot phony affidavits. You have to know your rules of procedure and
your rules of evidence or you have to get help from someone who does
know them and most lawyers don't really know them all that well. They
know parts of them and use those parts that are beneficial to them and
their clients and forget about the rest of them because they are not
helpful to the case at hand. Some lawyers are much more knowledgeable
than the average lawyer and they get paid much more money but even the
cheap ones who don't know as much come with a very high price tag. If
you can't afford even the cheap ones then you have to find someone to
help you who might not be a lawyer and don't charge you so much money.

Its either that or just shut up and pay up however you can. Of course
you can also run, moving from town to town or state to state as the
homeless do or you can just hunker down and try to hide all your
assets, don't use banks, work for yourself at odd jobs or whatever
until they forget about you or can't find you anymore.

There are many different options available, most if not all leave
something to be desired and most are totally unacceptable for one
reason or another. Nobody wants to become homeless for example.

So what will you do? Your answer to that one will be interesting
indeed but naturally I hope that you will learn to stand up and fight
and learn how to do it the right way and become the plaintiff in a
federal court. It isn't all that hard to do.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I think you told me what I aready knew, but didn't want to
admit.

I've got one of the affidavits you mentioned. I don't know if it's
phony or not. Can you give me some clues to look for?

What could I do in federal court? I really don't have the resources to
do it right now.

What's your opinion on trying to settle with these devils? Would there
be any way to reduce the loan shark interest and penalties they've
packed on?

Thanks

Answer: First of all, I've just started a new egroup on Google. I'm
going to post all the questions and answers to the group after I
answer each one. That way people who wish to keep up with my answers
can do so easily. The group will act as a newsletter that will come to
the members by email. If you would like to keep up with all my answers
you must ask to be invited to join by sending me an email telling me
you want to be on the mailing list of questions and answers. You can
get them in individual emails or in a daily or weekly digest. However
you want them. It is up to you and you can pick and choose how you
want them to come to you and you can unsubscribe at any time. The only
way to get on the mailing list is to ask to be invited. To get on the
list send an email to c...@creditwrench.com and I'll put you on the
list.

Now then, on to your question. I'll be glad to look over the affidavit
for free to see if I can spot any errors and tell you what they are if
any exist. You can scan it and send it to me or you can fax it to me
at 405-684-9297 but you have to call me just before you fax so I can
turn the fax machine on. Right now I prefer that you send it to me by
email if you can.

The cost to file in federal court is $350. You might be able to file
in Forma Pauperus and not have to pay that filing fee. You can always
try and see if you qualify or not. You can file at any time up to a
year from the time the violation occurred so that would give you lots
of time to get the funds to file with.

I'd love to see you settle with them and I know you would too but they
aren't going to like the settlement one little bit. What would you
offer them to settle out of court? How about them paying you back that
$350.00 filing fee just to start off with? How about them paying you
attorney fees for the time and trouble you spend preparing your case
against them in federal court? How much and hour? $100? $125? $150?
How about them taking all remarks off your credit reports and signing
an agreement that they will never again report it to any credit
bureau? How about their dismissing or vacating that judgment they are
going to win if they go to court? How much are they going to have to
pay you to get you to just go away and leave them alone? $1000.00?
$2000, $5000, How much will you demand? Those are the kinds of
settlements you want and can easily get.

But that isn't what they have in mind, is it? (LOL) And it will get
rid of all those outrageous fees, interest and whatever they have
tacked on as well as all they claim you owe them.

Would I recommend you settle with them their way? I don't think so.

But that's up to you.