Conclusory Evidence Does Not Defeat Summary Judgment

Citibank sued Albert Evans to collect approximately $10,000 in credit card debt. Evans appealed from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for the bank, and the court of appeals affirmed. Among other things, Evans argued that he had never agreed to, or even seen, Citibank’s credit card agreement, that Citibank’s credit card statements were erroneous, and that the account statements were never delivered to him. However, the trial court struck those portions of Evans’ summary judgment affidavit as conclusory. The court of appeals held that the trial court had not abused its discretion in that evidentiary ruling, noting that Evans’ denials of the documents were not accompanied by any underlying facts or documentation that supported his denial. Without that affidavit testimony, Evans had no other evidence showing that he had not agreed to the amounts owed as shown by Citibank’s credit card statements, making summary judgment appropriate on the bank’s account stated claim.

Evans v. Citibank (S.D.), N.A., No. 05-11-01107