IN THE HAWKINS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

AT ROGERSVILLE, TENNESSESEE

 

 

DISCOVER BANK,

 

Plaintiff,

 

v.                                                                                             Civ. No. 05-CV0132

 

XXXXXXXXX,

 

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 attorney fees designed to exploit profits at the expense of unsuspecting members of the general public. 

2.  Defendant has rights under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692(g) (2002), that must be respected by this court.  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 for-profit consumer advocate organization, which is authorized to attempt settlements of Defendant’s debts on behalf of the Defendant. 

4.  The Defendant’s husband attempted to build a home in 1985 with the assistance of a construction crew.  The labor costs for the construction spiraled out of control.  In addition, the Defendant’s husband incurred very large medical bills associated with purchasing medical devices so he could walk.  The Defendant and her husband have earnestly tried to remain productive members of society and not spend more than their means, but the combined medical expenses and housing construction expenses have exhausted his savings and wiped him out financially.  The Defendant suffers from severe allergies and must take expensive medications for her condition.

  5.  Through no fault of her own and due to expenses and limited income associated with medical conditions beyond her control, Defendant fell behind on his payments to Plaintiff. 

6.  Defendant has set aside funds each and every month in a fund with DebtXS debt resolution company, but she has insufficient funds as of today to settle this account.  If the plaintiff does not cease its collection action, Defendant will be forced to file for bankruptcy, and Plaintiff will receive far less from a bankruptcy trustee than what DebtXS would offer as settlement.

7.  Plaintiff, being fully aware of Defendant’s financial situation, could and should have granted Defendant more time to accumulate funds for settlement, as they have been doing business for many years.  Instead, Plaintiff refused to work with the Defendant or her representative and proceeded to charge the Defendant with unspecified attorney fees that could amount to 33% of the total balance.

8.  Defendant was hit with unfair surprise by the demand for the bank’s attorney fees.  Any contract provision calling for the transfer of attorney fees was buried deep within the legalese of the credit card agreement.  Tennessee law requires a prominent display of such terms in boldface to alert consumers to this potential fee transfer, before it can be enforceable in a court of law.

            WHEREFORE, Defendant prays that judgment for Plaintiff be denied at this time, so that Defendant may have additional time in a sincere attempt to settle this matter and avoid the necessity of filing for bankruptcy.

 

 

 

            Respectfully submitted this ____ day of April, 2005.

 

______________________________________XXXXXXXXX, Defendant pro se
XXXXXXXXXX Rd.
Bulls Gap, TN

37711
Phone: (423) 235-XXXXX

 

 

Certificate of Service

 

            I certify that a true and exact copy of this Answer was delivered in person to John M. Richardson, 403A Madison Street, Clarksville, TN, 37040 on April ____, 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        ______________________________

                                                                        XXXXXXXXX, Defendant pro se