Here are my impressions in what I’ve seen in recent cases filed by Nextgear Capital, Inc. against dealers floorplanned with Nextgear. The overall rate of filing seems about the same as last year, on an annualized rate of about a thousand cases a year. It varies from week to week. It seems like the average size of the debt claimed that I’m seeing is smaller, in some cases much smaller, even under $10,000. It also seems that Nextgear is not waiting as long before an account goes into default before filing suit, sometimes 2-3 months. As i wrote in a previous post, it seems like Nextgear is suing more wholesale dealers, although because of a small sample size that might actually not be true.
From the point of view of our defense, the thing that I have noticed is Nextgear is a bit more aggressive in filing for summary judgment in cases where an answer has been filed. In tew cases we have seen motions for summary judgment filed approximately 6 months after we filed an answer. Other cases have gone as long or longer with no action. This is not completely surprising. Nextgear can’t keep an unlimited number of open cases on the docket. What I think a potential Nextgear defendant should take from this is that if you have an attorney answer your case on your behalf, you should have a “Plan B” ready by six months after your answer is filed. That plan could be a plan to settle the case, a plan to litigate the case actively, a plan to file bankruptcy, or something else. It’s not uncommon for you to not have a plan immediately when you are sued, and an answer will buy you time, but you need to dust yourself off and look at all alternatives after the answer is filed.
Finally, be on the look-out for a new website, dealerfloorplandefense.com. I recently reserved this domain. Keith Hagan and I intend to use it as the main website for the information that we collect that is relevant to legal actions by floorplan lenders. We hope that if you are sued by a floorplan lender, dealerfloorplancefense.com will be your first stop on the web for information.
If you would like to talk to an attorney who is experienced at dealer floorplan defense – with no obligation, call me at 317-662-4529.