Make the debt buyer prove it exists.

Once an answer is on file, discovery is often where credit card debt-buyer cases are decided, because many buyers hold only a purchased-account spreadsheet rather than the original signed cardholder agreement or a complete assignment history. Well-targeted requests for production and admissions can force the plaintiff to either produce genuine proof of the debt and its standing, or fail to meet its burden of proof.

• State rules of civil procedure governing requests for production, interrogatories, and requests for admission (state analogs to FRCP 26/33/34/36)
• General assignment/contract law and UCC § 3-308 (negotiable instruments) — a party suing on an assigned or negotiable debt generally bears the burden of proving standing and an unbroken chain of title
• Best-evidence and burden-of-proof principles placing the burden on the party asserting the claim

• Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., 582 U.S. 79 (2017) (an entity that purchases defaulted debt and collects it for its own account may fall outside the FDCPA's "debt collector" definition, which is centered on collecting debts owed to another)

• Serve discovery requests within the time limits set by local rules (often tied to the case's discovery cutoff)
• Request the original signed cardholder agreement, the complete bill-of-sale/assignment chain from the original issuer to the current plaintiff, and account-level statements
• Request the basis of personal knowledge for any "records custodian" affidavit the plaintiff intends to rely on

• Draft requests for production seeking the signed card agreement, all assignment/bill-of-sale documents, and the full account statement history
• Draft requests for admission asking the plaintiff to admit or deny specific facts (e.g., that it does not possess the original signed agreement)
• Draft interrogatories asking how the plaintiff calculated the amount claimed and the basis for any supporting affidavit
• Track the plaintiff's response deadline and consider a motion to compel if responses are incomplete or evasive
• If the plaintiff cannot substantiate standing or the amount owed, consider a motion for summary judgment or dismissal for failure of proof, per local procedure

• Discovery deadlines are strict — missing them can waive the right to compel better answers
• Debt buyers sometimes respond with boilerplate objections; a motion to compel (or local equivalent) may be needed to get real answers
• Discovery obligations run both ways — the consumer-defendant may also have to respond to the plaintiff's discovery requests