“Who is Cavalry Portfolio (SPV) and why are they suing me?”

“Who is Cavalry Portfolio (SPV) and why are they suing me?”

Many consumers in Alabama have been sued by Cavalry Portfolio (often it is “Cavalry SPV”) which is a debt buyer (debt collector) based out of New York.

Cavalry files a good number of lawsuits in Alabama.  Just this month, from December 1 to December 20, there were over 80 lawsuits filed by Cavalry.

So if you have been sued by Cavalry, understand you are not alone.

Many have been also.

But where you need to “separate” from everyone else is in what you do now.

You must take action.

If you do nothing, Cavalry wins even if it can’t prove its case.

Because if you do nothing, then as a practical matter Cavalry does not have to prove its case.

It wins automatically.

File an answer or other response to the lawsuit within the time limits.

Here are the normal time limits to respond to a lawsuit in Alabama:

• Small Claims Court — 14 days from when you were served.
• District Court (State) — 14 days from when you were served.
• Circuit Court — 30 days from when you were served.

You must respond to the lawsuit within the time limits or the lawyers for Cavalry (normally Zarzaur & Schwartz or Nadler & Associates) will ask the court for a default judgment.

Some folks have heard that default judgments are not a problem and are not real judgments.

They received bad advice.

A default judgment is a real judgment.

It is a real problem — it is on your credit reports, can lead to bank accounts being wiped out and leads to wage garnishment.

So respond to the lawsuit.  Either figure out how to do it on your own or get with a lawyer.

Spend time or spend money on your defense.

I have defended hundreds of Alabama consumers who have been sued by debt buyers and a common question is “Do I need a lawyer?”

It depends.

It is much easier to represent yourself, if you are willing to do the work, in District Court or Small Claims Court than it is in Circuit Court.

But ultimately in anything you do — including defending against a collection lawsuit — you either spend time or spend money.

Here’s what I mean.

You can hire a lawyer and that will cost you money.

Or you can save money and instead you will spend time learning the law and the procedures that are used in the court where you have been sued.

There is no other valid choice so decide which you would rather spend.

Whichever choice though — respond to the lawsuit.

“Is it possible to beat Cavalry in the collection lawsuit?”

Absolutely.

We just filed a case in federal court against Cavalry for filing a time barred and bogus lawsuit against our client along with false credit reporting.

Cavalry sued her and she defended herself.

She won the case.

Then we sued Cavalry.

So yes you can win.

You can, of course, lose also.

The key is to get past the danger points without stumbling.

These include:

• Not answering the complaint;
• Not answering discovery if you are in Circuit Court;
• Or, not showing up to court hearings; and
• Not showing up to your trial.

If you get past these, you greatly increase your chances of success.

“So what are my options on what to do next?”

You have 5 options that may or may not apply to you and my suggestion is sit down with us in person (or by phone) and find out which options are legitimate ones for you.

Here is the “universe” of options for you:

1. File bankruptcy
2. Fight the lawsuit on your own
3. Settle the lawsuit on your own
4. Hire a lawyer to fight the lawsuit
5. Hire a lawyer to settle the lawsuit.

We’ll cover these options in a different article but whoever you talk to make sure you can get answers on which of these options are available to you in your unique circumstance.

“If I want to talk to you, what do I do?”

Give us a call at 205-879-2447 and ask to speak to Carolyn.

Or you can fill out our online contact form and we will get back with you right away.

Best wishes on whichever path you take!

-John Watts