LVNV Funding Is Suing Me in Michigan — What Do I Do?

LVNV Funding LLC is one of the largest passive debt buyers in the United States. Headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, LVNV is part of Sherman Financial Group LLC and was founded in 2001 specifically to purchase portfolios of charged-off consumer debts.

When a bank like Citibank, HSBC, Capital One, or GE Capital decides an account is uncollectible, it sells that debt — often for two to eight cents on the dollar — to a debt buyer. LVNV is one of the biggest buyers in the country. LVNV does not service the debt itself; it uses an affiliated company called Resurgent Capital Services LP to manage collections and engage local Michigan collection attorneys.

In 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order against Resurgent Capital Services for collecting on debts consumers had disputed by submitting Identity Theft Reports and for unfair billing practices. Resurgent paid a one-million-dollar civil money penalty and was required to provide consumer redress.

The key fact: LVNV is not your original creditor. LVNV did not lend you any money. LVNV bought your charged-off account at a deep discount, hoping to collect the full balance plus interest. Michigan has several distinctive procedural protections for defendants — including the MCL 600.2145 counter-affidavit rule and the MCL 600.8407(1) bar on debt buyers in Small Claims — which make Michigan one of the more navigable states for defendants once the rules are understood.

If you were just served with a complaint from LVNV Funding in Michigan Circuit Court or District Court, here is what almost certainly happened. You fell behind on a credit card or other consumer account. The original creditor wrote the account off and sold it as part of a portfolio to LVNV at a deep discount. LVNV is now suing you in Michigan because a default judgment is the most efficient way to convert that purchase into a full-balance recovery.

Industry data and CFPB studies confirm that the majority of consumers sued in debt collection cases never file an Answer. They get scared, they do not understand what to do, or they assume the lawsuit will go away if they ignore it. When that happens, the Michigan court enters a default judgment automatically.

Michigan defendants get a procedural advantage that defendants in many states do not have: under MCL 600.8407(1), debt buyers (assignees) are barred from the Small Claims Division entirely. That means LVNV must file in District Court General Civil where you have full discovery rights — interrogatories, requests for production, depositions — rather than the simplified, evidence-light Small Claims procedure.

In Michigan, a default judgment carries serious consequences. With a judgment, LVNV can garnish up to 25% of your disposable earnings, issue periodic garnishments on your bank account, and pursue other collection remedies. A Michigan judgment is valid for ten years and renewable.

Filing a real Answer flips the case from a near-automatic default into a real lawsuit that LVNV must actually prove under MCR 2.201(B), Brownbark II, and Michigan’s assignment-pleading rules. They often choose to settle or dismiss rather than do that work.

Michigan gives you twenty-one days to file your Answer after you were served with the summons and complaint, if you were served within Michigan. This deadline is set by MCR 2.108(A)(1). If you were served outside Michigan, you have twenty-eight days under MCR 2.108(A)(2).

You count the twenty-one days starting the day after service. Weekends count. If the deadline falls on a weekend or court holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day under MCR 1.108. "Served" in Michigan generally means a sheriff, deputy, court officer, or other authorized adult personally handed you the papers, or — under certain conditions — left them with someone of suitable age at your usual residence and mailed a copy.

If you miss the twenty-one-day deadline, LVNV will move for default judgment under MCR 2.603. The court will normally grant the default if procedural requirements are met. Once a default is entered, vacating it requires a motion under MCR 2.603(D) showing good cause for the failure to respond and a meritorious defense, made within 21 days of the default or, in some circumstances, later.

The single most important step you can take right now is to mark your deadline on your calendar — twenty-one days from the day after service — and treat that date as the most important date on your schedule until your Answer is filed.

There is one Michigan-specific procedural feature you must check immediately: did LVNV attach a sworn "affidavit of amount due" to the complaint? If they did, the affidavit becomes prima facie evidence of the amount owed UNLESS you file a sworn counter-affidavit with your Answer (see Section 7 below). This is one of the most-missed defense steps in Michigan.

Michigan has strong procedural rules requiring debt buyers to plead and prove the assignment of the underlying debt. Under MCR 2.201(B) and Michigan common law going back to Masterspark Co. v. Hickerson, 211 Mich. 411 (1920), an assignee plaintiff must plead the assignment in the body of the complaint, not merely allege ownership.

The leading modern case is Brownbark II LP v. Bay Area Floorcovering, 295 Mich. App. 248 (2011). The Michigan Court of Appeals held that a generic block assignment without account-level identification is insufficient. The plaintiff must show that the specific account at issue was transferred — not just that some bulk transaction occurred.

In practice, LVNV complaints filed in Michigan often fall short. The chain of assignment is often presented as a generic block transfer of thousands of accounts. The specific account number is often not tied to the bills of sale. The original cardholder agreement is often not attached. Each defect supports a motion for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) (failure to state a claim) or (C)(10) (no genuine issue of material fact).

In addition to assignment defects, Michigan’s evidentiary rules under MRE 803(6) (business records exception) require the custodian who authenticates the records to lay foundation showing personal knowledge of how the records were created and kept. A Resurgent custodian generally cannot testify about how Citibank kept its account records. This is an evidentiary challenge that often surfaces at trial or summary disposition.

Attacking the assignment under MCR 2.201(B) and Brownbark II is the central LVNV defense in Michigan, and it is one of the strongest in our network because Michigan’s case law is unambiguous.

For credit card debt and most consumer accounts in Michigan, the statute of limitations is six years under MCL § 600.5807. The clock starts running on the date of your last payment.

If you made your last payment in March 2018, the six-year clock began on that date and expired in March 2024. A lawsuit filed in late 2024 would be filed outside the limitations period and would be time-barred. If you cannot remember when you last paid, look at your old credit reports — payment history is usually visible going back several years.

The statute of limitations in Michigan is an affirmative defense that must be raised in your Answer or it is waived. Under MCR 2.111(F), affirmative defenses must be specifically pleaded in your responsive pleading.

LVNV is well known for filing on accounts that are right at the edge of the limitations period or even past it, betting that the consumer either will not raise the defense or will not respond at all. The CFPB has criticized this practice in repeated enforcement actions against debt buyers and their servicers.

Michigan’s 6-year SOL is on the longer end nationally, but the assignment-pleading defenses under MCR 2.201(B), the small-claims bar under MCL 600.8407(1), and the affidavit/counter-affidavit rule under MCL 600.2145 give Michigan defendants strong tools beyond just the time-bar defense. If your last payment was anywhere near six years ago, calculate the date carefully and raise the SOL defense in your Answer.

Most credit card agreements contain a clause requiring that any dispute be resolved through binding arbitration administered by AAA or JAMS. When LVNV bought your account, they bought it subject to whatever terms were in the original cardholder agreement — which means the arbitration clause may now belong to you.

Michigan has unusually strong rules favoring arbitration motions. The Michigan Uniform Arbitration Act (MCL 691.1681 et seq.) requires the trial court to stay litigation pending arbitration when a valid arbitration clause exists. Under MCL 691.1687(1), the stay is mandatory — the court has no discretion to refuse it once it finds a valid clause.

This is a powerful defense for Michigan defendants. AAA and JAMS commercial filing fees for a business claimant typically run from $1,500 to $5,000 or more, plus the arbitrator’s hourly fees. If the disputed debt is, say, $3,200, the cost of arbitration may exceed the recoverable amount.

This creates the "arbitration fee trap." When a Michigan defendant files a motion to compel arbitration — and the court grants it under MCL 691.1687 — LVNV must choose between paying thousands in arbitration filing fees or abandoning the case. They very often abandon, which can result in a dismissal.

To use this defense, you generally need a copy of the original cardholder agreement showing the arbitration clause. LVNV is required to produce that document if you request it during discovery. Pair the arbitration motion with an MCR 2.116(C)(8) attack on the assignment pleading and a Brownbark II chain-of-title defense for maximum leverage.

Your Answer is the most important document you will file in this case. It is your formal response to LVNV’s complaint, and it locks in your defenses for the rest of the lawsuit. A good Answer in Michigan does three things: it admits or denies each numbered allegation under MCR 2.111(C), it raises every applicable affirmative defense under MCR 2.111(F)(2), and — where appropriate — it raises a counterclaim.

For the admit-or-deny portion: do not admit anything you do not actually know. If LVNV alleges that you owed Citibank $3,217.42 as of a charge-off date you do not remember, deny that allegation for lack of knowledge.

The affirmative defenses to consider in a Michigan LVNV Answer include lack of standing or chain of title under MCR 2.201(B) and Brownbark II; statute of limitations under MCL § 600.5807 (six years); failure to state a claim under MCR 2.116(C)(8); account stated cannot be established; arbitration clause (if the original agreement contains one); and Small Claims jurisdiction violation under MCL 600.8407(1) if LVNV improperly filed in Small Claims.

The most important Michigan-specific item: if LVNV attached a sworn "affidavit of amount due" to the complaint, you MUST file a sworn counter-affidavit with your Answer under MCL 600.2145. If you do not, the affidavit becomes prima facie evidence of the amount owed — handing LVNV one of the elements of their case for free. Many pro se defendants miss this step. Do not.

What you should never do: do not admit you owe the debt. Do not call LVNV. Do not promise to pay. Do not ignore the lawsuit.

Michigan has several consumer protection statutes that apply to LVNV cases. The Michigan Collection Practices Act, codified at MCL §§ 445.251–445.258, regulates collection practices and provides a private right of action under § 445.257 for actual damages, statutory damages of up to $50, and attorney’s fees.

The Michigan Occupational Code (MCL § 339.901 et seq.) requires collection agencies operating in Michigan to be licensed. Unlicensed collection by an out-of-state debt buyer can support a defense to the suit and a private right of action for damages.

The Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCL §§ 445.901 et seq.) prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in trade or commerce, with private actions for actual damages plus attorney’s fees. Application to debt collection is more limited than under the FCEUA in Pennsylvania or the CSPA in Ohio, but it can be relevant where the conduct is independently deceptive.

The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to LVNV and Resurgent. The FDCPA prohibits false statements, misrepresentations of the amount or character of the debt, and abusive collection tactics. FDCPA violations entitle you to up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus attorney’s fees in federal court.

The combination of Michigan’s assignment-pleading rules, the small-claims bar, the mandatory arbitration stay, and FDCPA counterclaim availability means LVNV faces real downside risk in Michigan cases. Many Michigan LVNV cases settle or get dismissed once a real Answer is filed with proper affirmative defenses.

After you file your Answer with the Michigan court clerk and serve a copy on LVNV’s attorney, the case enters discovery. Discovery in Michigan is governed by MCR 2.301 and following, and gives each side broad rights to request documents and information.

In an LVNV case, this is where the chain-of-title defense gets tested. You can serve a request for production of documents under MCR 2.310 demanding every assignment document, every bill of sale, the original cardholder agreement, and the complete account history. LVNV must respond within twenty-eight days. If they cannot produce a clean chain of title and an authenticated account record satisfying MCR 2.201(B) and Brownbark II, their case is in serious trouble.

What very often happens next is a settlement offer. The economics for LVNV change dramatically once they realize they are facing a defendant who is going to make them prove their case under Michigan’s assignment-pleading rules. Michigan practitioners report that debt buyers commonly settle real-Answer cases for forty to sixty cents on the dollar, sometimes much less.

If the case does not settle, it proceeds to a court date. Cases under $7,000 would normally be in Small Claims — but MCL 600.8407(1) bars debt buyers from that division, so LVNV cases land in District Court General Civil, where you have full discovery rights and a more robust procedural environment.

A meaningful share of LVNV cases get voluntarily dismissed in Michigan after Answer, especially when the assignment pleading is weak or the SOL is at the edge. Many more settle for a deeply discounted lump sum.

Answered is a self-help legal platform built specifically for pro se defendants in consumer debt collection lawsuits. The Michigan playbook was reviewed by a Michigan-licensed consumer-rights attorney and is built around the specific statutes and rules that govern LVNV cases — MCR 2.108(A)(1), MCR 2.111(F)(2), MCR 2.201(B), MCL 600.2145, MCL 600.5807, MCL 600.8407(1), MCL 691.1687, and Brownbark II.

When you upload your summons and complaint, Answered does the following: it extracts your service date and your 21-day Answer deadline; it scans for the procedural defects most commonly found in LVNV pleadings, including missing assignment pleading under MCR 2.201(B), generic block-assignment defects under Brownbark II, and missing original cardholder agreement; it checks whether LVNV attached an "affidavit of amount due" requiring a counter-affidavit under MCL 600.2145; it identifies whether your debt may be time-barred under the six-year SOL of MCL 600.5807; it checks whether LVNV improperly filed in Small Claims in violation of MCL 600.8407(1); it checks whether an arbitration clause is likely available under MCL 691.1687; and it generates a court-ready Answer with the affirmative defenses that apply to your case.

The Answer document is formatted for Michigan Circuit Court or District Court General Civil, includes the proper caption and case style, and contains the affirmative defenses and (where applicable) the sworn counter-affidavit under MCL 600.2145.

Pricing is simple: free to start, and a one-time $99 charge to unlock and download your final documents. There is no subscription. There is no per-document fee.

This product exists because the founder, John DiSalle, was sued by a debt buyer, fought back using exactly this process, and won. He built Answered so that other defendants do not have to figure it out from scratch.