Plaintiff requesting to appear by telephone

[SharkUW]

Wisconsin. Dane county.
Small claims case for $9000 for an alleged credit card debt.
It's from a debt buyer and I actually don't know if this debt is mine. (There's another lawsuit in the works from another firm (representing different debt buyer) for $12000 but they claimed it was a marital or dependent debt, definitely not me, but that hasn't gone anywhere since I brought that up as a defense in my answer)

I'm being sued in small claims and it's scheduled for a hearing. The firm representing the plaintiff already requested a 2 month extension for the hearing which I was fine with but they've now requested to appear by phone for the hearing. This is both confusing and annoying for me. Can I object or argue against their request?

This bothers me because I don't understand what their plan is since they certainly will need to prove the debt with the appropriate paperwork regarding the debt existing, being mine, amount owed, the transfer to them, etc. Yes? These issues were addressed in my answer as affirmative defenses. How would they even possibly do that over the phone?
And it annoys me because they've already pushed it out 2 extra months.

It's labeled as a "hearing", is there possibly something I don't understand in the process where this is some form of hearing that doesn't involve introducing any evidence to prove their case? Should I be wanting to fight their request?

I do foresee a "get a lawyer" for this amount of money sort of response which I understand. However I'm broke and don't have anything that wouldn't be exempt from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, so in the case that I do owe a lot of money, I need to save for a bankruptcy attorney.

 

[sandyclaus]

Wisconsin. Dane county.
Small claims case for $9000 for an alleged credit card debt.
It's from a debt buyer and I actually don't know if this debt is mine. (There's another lawsuit in the works from another firm (representing different debt buyer) for $12000 but they claimed it was a marital or dependent debt, definitely not me, but that hasn't gone anywhere since I brought that up as a defense in my answer)

I'm being sued in small claims and it's scheduled for a hearing. The firm representing the plaintiff already requested a 2 month extension for the hearing which I was fine with but they've now requested to appear by phone for the hearing. This is both confusing and annoying for me. Can I object or argue against their request?

This bothers me because I don't understand what their plan is since they certainly will need to prove the debt with the appropriate paperwork regarding the debt existing, being mine, amount owed, the transfer to them, etc. Yes? These issues were addressed in my answer as affirmative defenses. How would they even possibly do that over the phone?
And it annoys me because they've already pushed it out 2 extra months.

It's labeled as a "hearing", is there possibly something I don't understand in the process where this is some form of hearing that doesn't involve introducing any evidence to prove their case? Should I be wanting to fight their request?

I do foresee a "get a lawyer" for this amount of money sort of response which I understand. However I'm broke and don't have anything that wouldn't be exempt from a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, so in the case that I do owe a lot of money, I need to save for a bankruptcy attorney.

First and foremost, are you absolutely SURE it's a Small Claims case? Per the Dane County, WI Small Claims website, the jurisdictional limit is $5,000. If they are demanding more than that, then either it's not a Small Claims case or they are suing in the wrong court, or they are willing to accept a maximum of $5,000 on their case if they win.

As for whether or not the debt is valid or yours, if you have been contacted by this firm previously, that was the time to request a debt validation. But you would be correct, it would be very difficult to prove the elements of this type of case if they do not appear before the court in person. How they would expect to present their case would be a very interesting question to have an answer to.

Your best bet, since there are so many questions about this case, is to seek an attorney to represent you in your case. They can probably answer a lot of your questions and possibly even resolve the case before it reaches your court hearing date.

 

[SharkUW]

First and foremost, are you absolutely SURE it's a Small Claims case? Per the Dane County, WI Small Claims website, the jurisdictional limit is $5,000. If they are demanding more than that, then either it's not a Small Claims case or they are suing in the wrong court, or they are willing to accept a maximum of $5,000 on their case if they win.

As for whether or not the debt is valid or yours, if you have been contacted by this firm previously, that was the time to request a debt validation. But you would be correct, it would be very difficult to prove the elements of this type of case if they do not appear before the court in person. How they would expect to present their case would be a very interesting question to have an answer to.

Your best bet, since there are so many questions about this case, is to seek an attorney to represent you in your case. They can probably answer a lot of your questions and possibly even resolve the case before it reaches your court hearing date.

Yeah, filed as small claims. I don't know why they filed it like this. It's actually the second time they filed. First was in the wrong county and I informed their server, who called me, of the error and gave him my correct address. They then proceeded to file in Dane with the wrong but close enough for the post office (including wrong zipcode by changing a 6 to a 1 which is valid for for neighboring Fitchburg, so that's just malicious...) address for me and served by mail. I don't know if that sort of a scam is improper serving or not, but I did address that in my answer and don't know if that needs to be followed up with anything. There is a check box for "under 10,000" and the header for stuff is required to state the "amount claimed is 10,000 or less". Is it possible this was recently increased?

My problem with getting an attorney is that I really don't have the money to pay for one since there's a good chance of me filing bankruptcy to get rid of this mess. I take it you agree that it's favorable for me to allow their questionable choice to attempt their case via phone?

edited:moved statement about zipcode to the right spot

 

[sandyclaus]

Yeah, filed as small claims. I don't know why they filed it like this. It's actually the second time they filed. First was in the wrong county and I informed their server, who called me, of the error and gave him my correct address. They then proceeded to file in Dane with the wrong but close enough for the post office (including wrong zipcode by changing a 6 to a 1 which is valid for for neighboring Fitchburg, so that's just malicious...) address for me and served by mail. I don't know if that sort of a scam is improper serving or not, but I did address that in my answer and don't know if that needs to be followed up with anything. There is a check box for "under 10,000" and the header for stuff is required to state the "amount claimed is 10,000 or less". Is it possible this was recently increased?

My problem with getting an attorney is that I really don't have the money to pay for one since there's a good chance of me filing bankruptcy to get rid of this mess. I take it you agree that it's favorable for me to allow their questionable choice to attempt their case via phone?

edited:moved statement about zipcode to the right spot

I'm getting conflicting information on different sites for Wisconsin.

On the Dane County, WI site (Small Claims Court Frequently Asked Questions - Clerk of Courts - Government of Dane County, Wisconsin) it references a $5,000 limit.

On the "Basic" Small Claims Court Guide for Wisconsin (https://www.wicourts.gov/formdisplay/SC-6000_instructions.pdf?formNumber=SC-6000&formType=Instructions&formatId=2&language=en) it says $10,000. I would personally defer to the specific guide for Dane County on the jurisdictional limit, but you could also call the county clerk to verify (the number is on the Dane County website). Both sites show a revision date of August, 2011, only a few months ago.

I don't necessarily think that a difference of a digit on your zip code makes a difference to the courts. You were served, you received the notice, and now you need to respond.

You can hire the attorney to just advise you rather than represent. That way, you could get the best advice on how to proceed and get a feel for what will be needed. You could also talk to them about whether or not bankruptcy is the way to go about getting out of your "mess".

 

[SharkUW]

Searching around I found this State budget increases small claims limit, effective July 1 | State Bar of Wisconsin

So the most recent budget included a provision to increase some of the limits to $10,000 for small claims. In particular, money only judgments. Claims greater than $5001 have a larger filing fee.