Texas Debt Defense

Assigned Debt Defense

1. Assignments Generally

1. What is an assignment – An assignment is “the transferring to another of one’s rights or property interest.”
2. to constitute a valid assignment there must be a perfect transaction between the parties, intended to vest in the assignee a present right in the thing assigned.” Mitchell v. Scott, 14 S.W.2d 916, 917 (Tex. Civ. App. 1928)

2. Challenging an Assignment

a. To set up a challenge to being sued by a company who claims to have purchased the debt from your original creditor you must challenge the actual assignment. This is generally governed by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 93(8).

• i. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 93 says what types of pleadings must be sworn to in order to properly bring them into issue in court. Regarding assignments – Tex. R. Civ. P. 93(8) says:
• 1. A denial of the genuineness of the indorsement or assignment of a written instrument upon which suit is brought by an indorsee or assignee and in the absence of such a sworn plea, the indorsement or assignment thereof shall be held as fully proved. The denial required by this subdivision of the rule may be made upon information and belief. Tex. R. Civ. P. 93(8).

b. If you are being sued by an assignee (the person or company who bought the debt from the original creditor/assignor) you must raise the denial of the assignment to protect yourself. If you do not you are prevented from stating that the person/company suing is not actually the assignee.

3. Why Hire a Lawyer

a. Hiring a lawyer to defend you on debt claims brought by an assignee takes the burden off you.

b. Lawyers know to ask the assignee questions in discovery like the following:

• How much did you pay for the debt;
• Send us the actual original assignment contract between your original creditor and the assignee (the company suing you).
• Lawyers know when it is appropriate to file a Motion to Compel when the company suing you does not answer the discovery requests on time.

c. Many times the Plaintiff suing you as an assignee will not want to answer these questions and will dismiss the suit. Other times they will settle with you for a lot less. Of course, it all depends on the particular case.

d. Bottom line – many times hiring a lawyer to defend you can save you more money than you will have paid a lawyer. Plus, hiring a lawyer to advise you on how best to settle provides certainty and peace of mind knowing that a case is closed correctly – even if the case is not dismissed.

4. What Companies/Assignees has the Crawshaw Law Firm had dismiss cases?

a. TD AUTO FINANCE f/k/a Chrysler Financial

b. CAVALRY SPV I, LLC as Assignee of Sychrony Bank/Walmart

c. TROY CAPITAL, LLC