For a free informational series (called “Seven Steps”) on what to do if the debt collectors sue you, go to https://yourlegallegup.com/pages/sued_for_debt_action_steps. It’s free and informative, and there’s no obligation. Along with the companion article at http://yourlegallegup.com/pages/Mediation, this video helps the pro se defendant prepare for mediation. warns of pitfalls that could cause you to lose your shirt in mediation and shows you how to come out ahead. Explains how the mediation process works, how the mediator will probably run the session and what he or she will say, and even what the debt collector’s lawyer is probably going to say. This video tells you exactly what to expect so you can prepare for some of the pressures you’re going to feel without being surprised by them. Don’t Lose Your Shirt in Mediation! http://youtu.be/fBcs7OrNfOU. Your Legal Leg Up is a website and business designed to help ordinary people defend themselves from debt collectors before or during a lawsuit. Many debt collectors rely on unethical and unfair collections methods that violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which is the first and best source of debtor rights, among other laws.
What makes everybody have a good chance against a debt collector is simply the way the debt collection business works. Junk debt buyers buy huge “tranches” or “portfolios” of debt — sometimes many millions of dollars of “nominal” debt at a time. “Nominal” debt means that is the amount that is theoretically owed, although the companies selling it, like the companies buying it, “discount” the value of debt depending on how long it has been in default (or based on other risk factors). Debt collectors buy huge amounts of the riskiest debt for pennies on the dollar.
Then they harass and dun the people who supposedly owe the money for a while, and then they file suit, often against dozens or hundreds of people at a time. Because the debt collectors are doing everything in “bulk,” they cannot really spend much time on individual cases. If you fight them, therefore, you have an excellent chance to make them go away — it’s simply too profitable for them to pursue the many who do not fight rather than the few who do.
If you hire a lawyer to fight for you, they are more likely to drop your case faster, but if you fight them intelligently even without a lawyer you will have an excellent chance to win the suit on your own. And this, again, is because every time you file a pleading, a motion, or discovery, or pursue any of your rights or potentials in the lawsuit, and every time you force the debt collector to appear in court, you are costing them money — money they hate to spend on you when there are so many others who won’t fight.
Thank you, thank you, it's a very informative video. I look forward to the next.