LVNV Funding is a very large company that buys bad debt from credit card companies like Credit One, Capital One, HSBC, WebBank/Fingerhut among others. LVNV isn’t actually a “buyer” but rather they are a subsidiary of a large debt buyer known as Sherman Acquisitions or Sherman Originator. Sherman is typically the buyer, who then transfers the accounts to LVNV.
This group of companies buys large portfolios of delinquent credit card accounts for under 3 pennies on the dollar. They often pay more to file the lawsuit against you than they do to acquire your account. They then file dozens of lawsuits across Pennsylvania daily in hopes of collecting on old debt claims that have been charged off by the original creditor. (Charge-Off is an accounting term, it DOES NOT mean that you do not owe the debt). These lawsuits can be filed at your local Magistrate (District Justice) or in the Court of Common Pleas. As of Spring 2023, LVNV has been filing about 300-400 cases per week in Magistrate Courts across Pennsylvania.
The first thing to understand is that debt buying is a numbers game. As mentioned above, companies like LVNV buy these accounts in bulk and inexpensively. In most cases, they are buying accounts from a third party who bought some accounts from the original creditor. When they file one hundred of these cases, they have an expectation that 90% of the cases will either result in the defendant (YOU) calling them and making payment arrangements or the defendant ignoring the lawsuit and doing nothing and allowing a default judgment to be entered. Of the remaining 10%, LVNV knows that half of those people will try to represent themselves in court (BIG mistake). LVNV knows that they are going to win most of those cases. That leaves about 5% of defendants who actually hire a consumer attorney to defend their rights and interests. The debt buyer business model relies on the fact that most people will not call or hire an attorney.
The key for you then is obvious, to obtain a consultation and then hire a consumer attorney. You are not an attorney and you don’t know the law, that’s why you’re on this site looking for help. A defendant should not represent themselves in court because the opposing attorney can use their testimony to prove a case against them, therefore putting themselves at risk.
In order to beat you in court, LVNV has to prove three specific things. 1) they have to prove that you owe money; 2) they have to prove how much money you owe) and 3) they have to prove that you owe the money to LVNV. They must prove these issues with documentation. They need statements, contracts, terms and conditions, cardmember agreements, revisions, and most importantly, an assignment. The assignment is the document that shows that they bought your old credit card account from someone. In almost every single lawsuit that we see, LVNV is unable to produce most of this information and the documentation that they do produce is incomplete. These are very winnable cases if you hire the right consumer attorney.
LVNV has the burden of proof. You DO NOT have to prove anything.
Do not make the mistake of contacting LVNV or their Attorney. Call or email our office for a free consultation so you can have a better understanding of what is happening.