Randolph C. COOPER, Appellant
v.
DISCOVER BANK, Appellee
Page 574
APPEAL
FROM THE RANDOLPH COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 61CV-16-92],
HONORABLE HAROLD S. ERWIN, JUDGE
Randolph C. Cooper, pro se appellant.
Allen
and Withrow, by: Lori Withrow; Little Rock, and Gary J.
Barrett, Stuttgart, for appellee.
Opinion
RITA W.
GRUBER, Chief Judge
Pro se
appellant Randolph Cooper appeals from an order granting
summary judgment in favor of appellee Discover Bank
(Discover) on its action to recover a balance due on a credit
card account. Because we conclude that a genuine issue of
material fact remains, we reverse and remand for further
proceedings.
On
August 22, 2016, Discover filed a complaint against Cooper
seeking to recover the balance due on a credit card account.
Attached to the complaint was the cardmember agreement and an
affidavit of account indicating that Coopers account was in
default and had a balance due of $ 15,493.23. Two credit card
statements were attached as exhibits to the affidavit—
exhibit A was the last periodic statement sent by Discover
and exhibit B was the current balance owed and included any
activity since the last periodic statement.
Cooper
was served with the summons and complaint on November 17,
2016. He filed an answer on December 13, 2016, denying the
allegations and raising numerous affirmative defenses. In
response to the allegation that he was a resident of Randolph
County, Cooper denied the allegation and stated that he
maintained a post office address in Maynard, Arkansas, but
was homeless and sleeps in his vehicle.
Discover filed requests for admission, as well as
interrogatories and requests for production of documents, on
February 17, 2017; the certificate of service indicates that
both were mailed on February 13, 2017, to the following
address:
RANDOLPH C COOPER
PO BOX
1 714 Cree Trl
Maynard, AR 72444-0001
Discover
filed a motion for summary judgment on November 9, 2017,
alleging that (1) Cooper failed to respond to its requests
for admission containing the allegations of the complaint;
(2) the requests for admission are deemed admitted pursuant
to Ark. R. Civ. P. 36; (3) the admissions taken together with
the pleadings reveal there is no genuine issue as to any
material fact; and (4) Discover is entitled to summary
judgment.
Cooper
filed a response to the motion for summary judgment on
November 29, 2017. Cooper asserted the defense of lack of
personal jurisdiction, stating that he was amending his
answer to include this defense as he had reserved the right
to amend his answer to assert additional defenses. He alleged
that he was not a resident of Arkansas and did not own
property, work, or do business in Arkansas. He denied the
following: the genuineness ...