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mtkam770 · Dec 28, 2005, 02:05 PM

Hi everyone..

I am seeing if anyone can give me some opinion on how to handle a law suit that I just receive from an old credit card company I owe money to.
On the paper it says I just got summon from a law office but at the bottom of the paper it says this is a communication from a collection agency. Well the sheriff who gave me the paper said that I should go to court and file to the clerk within 30 days of today. So I am planning to go tomorrow to file. Now I'm not denying that I don't owe them money cause I do I had stop paying them like 4-5 yrs ago cause I didn't have a job anymore and I still don't have a job and I just don't have the money to pay and my husband barely makes anything we live paycheck to paycheck and we have 3 little ones to support. That's what cause me not to have a job we just can't afford daycare. But when I go file tomorrow I was going to put that I don't have a job and that we are low income family. I can't afford to do bankruptcy when I don't even have the money for attorney fees either. Now the paper says I have 10days to pay in full which is $1013.00 and a couple of cent if not judgement will be against me and I would have to pay interest of $433.00 and something about 12% more until paid and another $130 of attorney fees and court fees.:eek: . Also what I'm worryed about is them taking money from my checking account I heard that they can do that, can they even if I have a joint account? But I am planning to take my name out so scared that they will take money out and then I we don't have money for house and stuff, and I'm like sitting here crying cause I don't know what to do I have 2 more other credit cards company that probably going to catch up to me one day like this one and my car was repo 2 years ago and there still demanding $9800.00. Now on the paper has no court date but when the time comes what should I tell the judge. I'm so lost, if anyone that has going to through what I am going through now able to give me any advice I would really be greatly appreciated thanks so much

Kim

CaptainForest · Dec 28, 2005, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by mtkam770

Also what I'm worryed about is them taking money from my checking account I heard that they can do that, can they even if I have a joint account?

Yes they can.

Yes, you should remove your name from the checking account.

They can garnish (take away) any of your assets to pay for your debts. How to avoid having to pay? By making sure you have no assets.

Do you own a home? They might simply place a lien on it.

mtkam770 · Dec 28, 2005, 02:48 PM

No I don't own anything I have nothing in my name anymore after the repo from the car. Everything is in my husbands name can they do anything to him? The house is 100% his name...

CaptainForest · Dec 28, 2005, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by mtkam770

No I don't own anything I have nothing in my name anymore after the repo from the car. Everything is in my husbands name can they do anything to him? The house is 100% his name...

Depends where you live. Since the house is a matrimonial house, most places say that you therefore own 50%.

If they can come after you on that, they will. Perhaps you should consider getting a part time job from home? You say you have to be home for your kids, so why not work part time from home?

Dr D · Dec 28, 2005, 04:37 PM

The whole thing looks a bit suspicious to me. The paper that you received was not? A court summons, just a communication from a collection agency. Maybe the Sherriff was just trying to make a buck by acting as an intimidating delivery man. Usually, credit card companies will not waste their resources sueing someone for $1500, who may also be uncollectable. They will charge off the debt and sell it to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. I believe that most bad debts have a finite shelf life. Some weird quirks in the law have the effect of extending this shelf life if the debtor does certain things, such as acknowledging to the collection agency that the debt is their's. There was a great article on the msn.com homepage by their financial lady a couple of months ago detailing these pitfalls. If you are in no position to pay the debt, and the letter you got was not a summons, my advice would be to ignore the collection agency.

Dr D · Dec 28, 2005, 05:02 PM

I just found the article that I referred to in my previous post. It was written by Liz Pulliam Weston (one sharp lady).Title is: Zombie Debt Collectors Dig Up Your Old Mistakes. The link should be:
http://moneycentral.com/contents/Sav...ebt/P74812.asp

I just hope I didn't make a typo.

This thing just cut the middle out of the link. Aren't we allowed to post links?? The part between contents/ and /P74812 is:
Savinganddebt/Managedebt

mtkam770 · Dec 29, 2005, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by CaptainForest

If they can come after you on that, they will. Perhaps you should consider getting a part time job from home? You say you have to be home for your kids, so why not work part time from home?

Do you know any work at home that is legit?

Dr D.. yes on the paper says I was summon I the defendant.. The company that sueing me is Cornerstone Financial Corp. I guess they hired a lawyer.. my original Credit card was from Best Buy and they sold my account to Cornerstone.

Thanks for all the advice

CaptainForest · Dec 29, 2005, 03:08 PM

One example would be telemarketing from home.

I did a Google search and I came up with this website:

http://www.databasesystemscorp.com/p...ng-at-home.htm

mr.yet · Dec 30, 2005, 07:21 AM

Look up the Statue of Limitation for your state, most states are 3 years on unsecured debt.

Ver · Dec 30, 2005, 03:22 PM

You really need to let us know what state you are in, the SOL may be up on this debt which would give you a positive defense to have the lawsuit dismissed.

YOu can use this site to find the SOL for them to sue you on a debt in your state:

http://www.carreonandassociates.com/...m#Pennsylvania

mtkam770 · Dec 30, 2005, 05:12 PM

I'm in Georgia, I don't understand what you mean by SOL? But I been calling around for a lawyer to get some advice and free consultation. Really haven't got any yet need appointment which are not available till after new year. The bad news is I thought this was a Best Buy account but its not and its from Bank First Action Card and I have two accounts with them Visa and Mastercard so I'm guessing later they are going to come back and sue me for the other account also.

Ver · Dec 30, 2005, 06:57 PM

SOL stands for Statute of Limitations. This is the period in which a company can sue you for breach of contract, non-payment of a debt, the time someone could so for personal injury, or what have you. There is a time limit for all of them in which someone must file a suit and bring action, once it is past that time limit, they can no longer get away with filing a suit to bring a judgment against the party involved.

The SOL starts counting from the time the account was in default, 30 days from whenever the last payment or charge was made on a credit account. Judges have been declaring credit card accounts as written contracts since you sign an application, and/or sign for your purchases. So the SOL on them in Georgia is 6 years.

That is the reason I mentioned it, if you hadn't paid on, or charged on the account in 6 years or more, then the lawsuit would be invalid. You would be able to go in and respond that the debt was time barred and the Judge would have to dismiss the suit against you and they would have to find other means to try to get their money from you.

However if it has been only 4 or 5 years as you said, then they are still within the time limit and can sue you. So you definitely need to speak to an attorney.

mtkam770 · Dec 30, 2005, 08:24 PM

Thanks so much Ver that was great information and now I have a more understanding of SOL thanks again for your help.

Ver · Dec 31, 2005, 02:47 AM

You are very welcome. I am always happy to help in any way I can.

Just remember the SOL for lawsuits is totally separate from those for your credit report, those are 7 and a half years for negative items, and 10 years for judgments all the time.

CaptainForest · Dec 31, 2005, 04:51 PM

Spyyder,

I think you misread her post.

Her husband works, she is a stay at home mom.

And most people cannot make 1500/week. Perhaps you meant per month?

1500/week = income of 2000 before taxes (assuming 25% tax rate) which means yearly income of 104,000

you pay over 40,000 a year for university tuition? Wow, and I thot 7,000 a year that I pay was a lot.

mtkam770 · Dec 31, 2005, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by spyyder

You seem to be in a horrible position.. especially for something so small.

How are you so worried for just $1500???? most people can make that in a week.. easy.... sometimes even in a day. JUST GET A JOB... Dont you have any friends or relatives that can either keep your kids for you, or lend/give your some money???? Also.... why do you have 3 kids when you can't even afford living by yourself! How are you gonna afford their education (I pay over $40K a year for my son's university tuiton...... your children may not get into a university of the same caliber... but any university is expensive... and remember... you've got 3 kids). I'm a bank director ... and I've heard loads of stories like this. Well, I'm sorry to say but you are finished (I love using that word).

Anyway, I kinda love hearing things like this.............im gonna say..hmmm... shoulda worked harder in school redneck :)

Why are you on here bashing me makes no sense at all, I can see that you are the kind of person that does not have good morals to help other out. I ask for help in advice not to be criticize. Look I'm not going to stoop to your level. Everyone has problems in this world not easy to tell someone to GET A JOB if you do not know there situation, plus I do not know that many people that make $1500 a week or day... what are you a crack seller.. OK sorry I said that now I just stoop to your level of ignorance. Anyhow thank you for YOUR un-thought out advice, makes me giggle... (word of advice look up the word redneck that mitt just be you)