U.S. Equities Corp. v. Suzanne Morrell nka Suzanne Quiroga (2013)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

The plaintiff purchased this credit card debt from Turtle Creek, the predecessor in title to the account at issue.

Prior to Turtle Creek, the account was held by Chase Bank and the account was essentially a credit card debt and/or debt for moneys to the defendant.

The claim is that the defendant has not paid the balance on the account in the amount of $7,352.10 plus interest @ 24% from March 31, 2008.

The second count is based on a theory of account stated, and a third count seeks $1,102.82 in attorneys fees in accordance with the contract.

The defendant claims there was no contract between the parties as alleged;  that she never used the credit card account;  that the account records produced were inaccurate;  that someone unlawfully had applied for a line of credit in her name and she was victimized by the fraud;  that she was confused because of medical conditions and mistakenly made several payments on the account before realizing it was not her account.

The Court is satisfied that the plaintiff has met its burden of proving, by a fair preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant had an account with Chase Bank which is presently owned by the plaintiff, and which has an unpaid principal balance of $7,352.10.

The defendant made eleven payments listed on the statements she received.   Her testimony that the one billing she did not make—the $739.00 payment—was not made because when she saw that amount, she realized or theorized, it had to be in error because she would not have charged that much, is not persuasive.   She did not, at the time, protest any specific charge.   In fact, in April 2010, she tried to arrange a payment plan to pay off the balance.

Her suggestion, at trial, that she had been the victim of an identity fraud, was not supported by any evidence.   The defendant was herself, her only witness.

Business records, these days, are admissible, albeit the weight given to them can be compromised.   In this case, the Court finds that the testimony and the business records introduced through its account manager were reliable and accurate.

In addition the defendant did not make any claim that between April 2010 through July 2011 this was not her debt.   In fact, during this same time, she wrote two notes to the plaintiff's attorney requesting additional self-addressed envelopes for her payments.

In sum, the plaintiff has proven a cause of action for an account stated when the defendant received regular statements without protesting their accuracy.   Judgment shall enter for the plaintiff as follows:

Debt $ 7,352.10

Interest @ 24% 8,822.52

Attorneys fees per contract 1,102.82

TOTAL:  $17,277.44

Plaintiff may file a bill of costs.

Klaczak, J.T.R.

Klaczak, Lawrence C., J.T.R.