Sued by Crown Asset Management in Georgia? Here’s What to Do

Crown Asset Management, LLC is a debt buyer headquartered in Duluth, Georgia. Crown is privately held and focuses on purchasing defaulted consumer debt portfolios — typically credit card accounts and personal loans — from original creditors and other debt buyers.

Crown has a smaller national footprint than the largest debt buyers (LVNV Funding, Midland Credit Management, Portfolio Recovery), but they are particularly active in Georgia and the Southeast. Industry data shows Crown Asset Management is one of the top debt buyer filers in Georgia state courts, alongside LVNV and Midland.

In Georgia, Crown files cases in Magistrate Court for amounts under $15,000 and in State Court or Superior Court for larger debts. Their attorneys in Georgia are typically Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, P.C., one of the largest debt collection law firms in the Southeast.

The most important thing to understand about Crown: they bought your debt for a tiny fraction of what they’re claiming. They have a strong financial incentive to settle for less than the full amount, and an even stronger incentive to abandon cases where the defendant fights back with documented defenses.

In December 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Frederick J. Hanna & Associates and its three principal partners to pay $3.1 million in penalties and consumer relief. The CFPB found that the firm had operated as a "debt collection lawsuit mill" — filing approximately 350,000 lawsuits over a five-year period using a process where attorneys spent only seconds reviewing each case before filing.

The CFPB consent order found that Hanna’s firm had filed lawsuits without meaningful attorney review, used affidavits from witnesses who had no personal knowledge of the underlying debts, and engaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in violation of federal law.

Why this matters for your case: if Crown Asset Management is suing you and Hanna & Associates represents them, demand to see the affidavit filed in support of the case. Demand to know whether the affiant has personal knowledge of your specific account. Demand the underlying account documents the affidavit references. Hanna’s documented history of lawsuit-mill practices is part of the public record and can be raised as part of your defense — particularly relevant when the documentation Crown produces is thin or inconsistent.

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-12(a), you have 30 days from the date you were served to file an Answer with the court. Miss this deadline and the court will enter default judgment for the full amount plus interest, court costs, and attorney’s fees.

Default judgment is permanent. It can be collected from your wages through garnishment, from your bank account through levy, and as a lien against your property. It also damages your credit for 7 years.

The 30 days starts on the date you were personally served — not the date the lawsuit was filed. If you were served by publication or substituted service, you may have additional time. Check your summons carefully for the exact deadline.

For Magistrate Court cases (under $15,000), the procedure is slightly more streamlined and does not require formal motions practice. For State Court and Superior Court cases, formal pleadings under the Georgia Civil Practice Act apply.

Crown’s biggest weakness in Georgia is the chain of title. To win their case, Crown must prove they actually own the debt they’re suing you on. This requires producing the complete chain of assignment from the original creditor to Crown.

In practice, this chain often looks like this. The original creditor (e.g., Capital One, Synchrony Bank) sells a portfolio of debts. The portfolio may pass through one or more intermediate debt buyers before Crown acquires it. Crown must produce every assignment document in this chain.

Georgia courts have been increasingly skeptical of debt buyer affidavits when the underlying assignment documents are missing — particularly given the CFPB’s findings about Hanna’s lawsuit-mill practices. When you file your Answer and demand discovery, Crown must produce these assignment documents. In a meaningful percentage of cases, they cannot.

When Crown cannot prove the complete chain of title, your Motion to Dismiss should be granted under Georgia pleading standards.

Georgia has different statute of limitations periods depending on the type of debt — and the distinction matters significantly in debt buyer cases.

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-24, the SOL on written contracts (including most credit card agreements) is 6 years from the date of breach (typically the date of your last payment).

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-25, the SOL on open accounts (without a signed written agreement) is 4 years from the date of breach.

This split matters because debt buyers often cannot produce the original signed credit agreement. If Crown is suing you on a credit card debt but cannot produce the original signed agreement, your defense may argue the case is governed by the 4-year open account SOL rather than the 6-year written contract SOL — and may already be time-barred.

Demand the original signed credit agreement in discovery. Whether Crown can produce it determines which SOL applies and may determine whether your case is time-barred.

Statute of limitations under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-24 (written contracts, 6 years) or O.C.G.A. § 9-3-25 (open accounts, 4 years). The applicable SOL depends on whether Crown can produce the original signed credit agreement.

Lack of standing. Crown must produce the complete chain of title from the original creditor. Without it, they cannot prove they own the debt.

Failure to state a claim with proper documentation. Given Hanna’s documented history of lawsuit-mill practices and inadequate attorney review, demand specific documentation in your Answer and discovery.

Motion to Compel Arbitration. Most consumer credit agreements contain mandatory arbitration clauses. Filing a Motion to Compel Arbitration moves the case out of Georgia court and forces Crown to file with the American Arbitration Association (AAA). When Crown fails to comply with AAA’s procedural requirements, the case can be dismissed.

Georgia Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-390). Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce, including in debt collection. Violations can support both defenses and counterclaims.

In 2025, I was sued for $2,892.96 by Plaza Services LLC, another debt buyer, in Eau Claire County Small Claims Court in Wisconsin. I had no lawyer. I’d never been in a courtroom before.

I read my original credit agreement carefully. It contained a mandatory arbitration clause requiring all disputes to be resolved through the American Arbitration Association. I filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration in Wisconsin Circuit Court.

The plaintiff didn’t comply with AAA’s procedural requirements within the deadline. The court dismissed the case.

That same playbook works against Crown in Georgia. Most consumer credit agreements have arbitration clauses. Crown often fails to comply with AAA when defendants invoke them. The case gets dismissed.

I built Answered specifically because I went through this process and realized how few defendants know they have these defenses. Most pro se defendants either default or panic and settle for amounts they don’t actually owe.

File at the court named on your summons. For most Crown cases under $15,000, this will be Magistrate Court. Larger cases go to State Court or Superior Court.

Magistrate Court filing fees are typically $30 to $80. State and Superior Court filing fees are higher, around $200 to $300. Georgia offers fee waivers (called "in forma pauperis" applications) for qualifying low-income defendants.

Georgia courts increasingly accept e-filing through PeachCourt or eFileGA. Check whether your county requires e-filing or accepts paper filing.

Your Answer must include numbered paragraph denials matching the complaint, your affirmative defenses (statute of limitations, lack of standing, etc.), your verified signature, and a certificate of service. After filing, serve a copy on Crown’s attorney via U.S. Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested or e-service through the court system.

The court schedules a status conference or pretrial hearing. Crown must produce evidence supporting their claim — the credit agreement, account statements, and assignment documents.

You can request discovery, demanding Crown prove ownership and the amount they’re claiming. Specifically demand the original signed credit agreement (which determines whether the 6-year written contract SOL or 4-year open account SOL applies) and the chain of title documentation.

If Crown can’t produce documents — particularly given Hanna’s history of inadequate documentation in Georgia debt cases — you can file a Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Summary Judgment.

Many Crown cases settle for far less than the demanded amount, or get dismissed before trial. The single most important fact about Crown cases is that debt buyers abandon most cases where defendants fight back with documented defenses. Filing an Answer with strong defenses is often enough to make Crown walk away.