Who is LVNV Funding and why are they suing me?

LVNV Funding is a debt collector. They are a subsidiary of a company called Sherman Originators. LVNV Funding is a company that files lawsuits on old credit card accounts that their parent company has purchased. In other words, their sole business function is to bring claims against people like you on old accounts that they really have nothing to do with.

If you are faced with a lawsuit from LVNV, or even faced with just a collection letter from them, your first course of action should be to call a consumer attorney for a consult. Most of us offer free initial consultations on these cases. Take the 15 minutes or so that is necessary and call my office. We can explain, in detail, what you need to do.

In most instances, the proper course of action is to DEFEND the case. A good consumer attorney can defeat an LVNV claim in almost every instance. You have MANY defenses available to you, and they are good ones. To start with, LVNV has the burden of proof in these cases. That means that they have to prove several things…that you had an account, that it is in default, that it has a certain value, and that they are the proper party to pursue you. Believe it or not, it’s quite a burden for them to prove all of these issues. Part of the reason that it is such a burden to them is because the account that they purchased were bought for pennies on the dollar. Most often, the sale price is 2 cents per dollar. That is a significant discount… imagine if you were paying 2 cents per dollar on anything… would you really expect to receive quality? They are faced with this problem on every single case that they file. They have no idea whether the information that they receive as part of the sale is accurate, authentic, or trustworthy. At best, they are “guessing” when they file lawsuits against consumers like you.

The other reason to defend these cases is because our firm, along with a few other consumer law firms, has set precedent in many counties regarding these junk debt buyer cases that makes it very difficult for them to win. In other words, the law is on your side in most of these cases.

A big issue that we face on many of these cases is that the client believes that they “owe” the money. Well, we don’t agree with that assertion at all. At one point in time, you may have had an account with Chase, or Capital One, or whomever. And yes, you may have defaulted on it. But when that default occurred, Chase, or Capital One, or whomever, had a choice to make. They could sue you, or, they could sell the debt. If they sued you, then yes, perhaps you owe some money. But if they sell the debt, they are receiving money for your old account. They are paid… and then you are left to deal with a scavenger, a junk debt buyer, a company whose sole purpose is to purchase accounts for pennies on the dollar and then come after you for 100%. Its shady, to say the least. We take the position that you do not owe the debt to this debt buyer, this scavenger, and we hold their feet to the fire when they file these claims against our clients. Don’t pay a scavenger, defend the claim… its cheaper and its better for your credit in the long run.