IN THE GENERAL
SESSIONS COURT
FOR DAVIDSON
COUNTY, TENNESSESEE
DISCOVER BANK,
Plaintiff,
v. Civ. No.
(not listed on summons)
SUSAN SMITH,
Defendant
ANSWER
Comes the Defendant and answers the Complaint of Plaintiff as follows:
1. The Defendant acknowledges that she has an account with Plaintiff; however, Defendant disputes that the amount she owes Plaintiff equals the relief sought in the complaint. In particular, the amount sought by Plaintiff appears to include excessive interest charges (the effective annual rate of interest is NOT readily apparent from the documents filed by Plaintiff and the 19.8% annual interest is not the effective annual interest rate with monthly compounding of interest), $2,524.25 in attorney fees, and additional fees designed to exploit profits at the expense of unsuspecting members of the general public. In particular, Defendant was not aware of any contract terms that required her to pay the bank’s attorney fees. Any contractual terms calling for Defendant to Plaintiff’s attorney fees were buried within the legalese of the credit card application and were not prominently displayed in boldface type. Tennessee law requires a much higher standard of disclosure to consumers before discretionary costs, such as attorney fees, are passed on to the opposing side.
2. Defendant has rights under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692(g) (2002), that must be respected by the General Sessions Court of Davidson County. In particular, Defendant hereby demands verification of the debt, and a strict accounting of all interest and fees charged by Plaintiff expressed in an effective annual percentage rate, so that she can determine whether the Plaintiff is charging usurious and unenforceable amounts of interest and fees.
3. The Defendant is suffering severe financial hardship but does not wish to file bankruptcy. She has engaged the services of a non-profit consumer advocate organization, which is authorized to attempt settlements of Defendant’s debts on behalf of the Defendant.
4. Defendant suffers financial hardship because she was laid off from two jobs within the last year and could not find one for two months. She began working in January, and was laid off again in July. Again, she was out of work for four months and was receiving unemployment. She did temp work, but it was not enough to pay all of her bills. Through no fault of her own and due to expenses and limited income associated with economic conditions beyond her control, Defendant fell behind on her payments to Plaintiff.
5. Defendant has set aside funds each and every month in a fund with this non-profit consumer advocacy organization, but there are not sufficient funds at present to settle this case. Plaintiff, being fully aware of her financial situation, could and should have worked with defendant to set up a payment plan, as they have been doing business for many years. Instead, Plaintiff refused to work with the Defendant or her representative and proceeded to file suit against the Defendant.
WHEREFORE, Defendant prays that judgment for Plaintiff be denied at this time, so that Defendant may be given her statutorily guaranteed right to a strict accounting of all charges and fees on this account, including the effective annual interest rate.
Respectfully submitted this 18th day of December, 2003.
______________________________________
SUSAN SMITH, Defendant Pro se
Address goes on this line.
Nashville, TN, 37219
Phone: 615-XXX-XXXX
Certificate of Service
I certify that a true and exact copy of this Answer was delivered in person to Opposing Counsel Name, Address, Clarksville, TN, 37040 on Dec. 18, 2003.
______________________________
SUSAN SMITH, Defendant Pro se
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