Recent Uptick in Collection Lawsuits from FIA Card Service (Bank of America) in Arizona

Lately I have seen an pretty significant increase in the number of lawsuits filed by junk debt buyers like Midland Funding, Unifund, and CACH, LLC on old charged-off Bank of America credit cards here in the Phoenix area. When junk debt buyers place accounts to be sued on with local attorneys here in Arizona they will often do so in batches, and thus we will see a spike in the number of cases filed by a specific creditor like FIA Card Services / Bank of America.

Another thing that I have noticed with these debt collection lawsuits is that they tend to be for amounts in excess of $10,000.  Most lawsuits filed by debt buyers are filed in Arizona’s justice court system which requires that the amount be less than $10,000.  If the amount being sued for is more than $10,000 then the case must be filed in the superior court.

This recent batch of Bank of America lawsuits seem to be for larger amounts and filed in the superior court.

What Should I Do if I Was Served?

The good new is (if there can be good news about getting sued) is that you have options with fighting back against junk debt buyers like Midland Funding, LLC, Unifund, or CACH, LLC.  Many of these cases can be won due to the little evidence that the junk debt buyer has in support of its claim or even settled at a very low amount.

The vital first step that you must take is to write down the day that you were served with the lawsuit (the day the process server dropped it off) and then count out twenty (20) calendar days and circle that as your deadline when your written response to the lawsuit (called an Answer) is due to be filed with the court.  This is important because if you don’t file an Answer (or get an attorney to do it for you) you risk having a default judgment entered against you.

Check out my video below on some of the do’s and don’ts of drafting an Answer to a junk debt buyer lawsuit.