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Jpolous · Apr 30, 2008, 07:53 AM

I have a 4 year old credit card debt that will be going to court in one month.
I attended a pre-trial conference a few days ago with no compromise. I had previsously attempted to settle the debt for less than what I owed prior to the pre-trial conference, which only seemed to validate to the collectors that I did not dispute the debt (which I don't, I certainly owe the money, but the amount due is what is in question).
The plaintiff is Capital One, however, Capital One has assigned or sold my account to a collection agency and is no longer dealing with my past due account. My question is: can the law firm who is taking me to court, do so on behalf of Capital One, when my credit card account has already gone to collection?
I am in the process of validating my debt with the law firm (debt collectors) and was curious if they even had a case with Capital One listed as the plaintiff on the court summons.

this8384 · Apr 30, 2008, 06:20 PM

Collection agencies will use law firms to obtain a judgment against you. You say that you're disputing the amount owed; have you factored in late fees, interest, penalties..

You have already validated the debt because you tried to make a settlement offer. Yes, they do have a case because Capital One is who you officially owe the debt to. The collection agency is doing just that: collecting. Capital One is still involved but they're letting someone else handle it.

atlmiss · May 1, 2008, 09:47 AM

Are you sure the statute of limitations hasn't run out on this debt? Many states are 4 years... this could make your case uncollectable whether you owe it.

Regardless, show up in court! Otherwise they get an automatic judgement. A lot of times the collection agency doesn't even bother showing up and sends a lawyer which is grounds for case dismissal. No plaintiff no case!

I went to trial last summer over a disputed amount debt and it was dismissed because the plaintiff didn't even show . They couldn't prove anything. Check my previous posts and you can see what happened!

Hope this helps.

this8384 · May 2, 2008, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by atlmiss

Are you sure the statute of limitations hasn't run out on this debt? Many states are 4 years...this could make your case uncollectable whether or not you owe it.

You're right in regards to the SOL; however, they wouldn't have a case if it was out of SOL. I turned an account over to collections and they told me that because it was out of SOL, they wouldn't touch it.

Originally Posted by atlmiss

Regardless, show up in court! Otherwise they get an automatic judgement. Alot of times the collection agency doesn't even bother showing up and sends a lawyer which is grounds for case dismissal. No plaintiff no case!

Absolutely; they do need to show up! And you're right about the plaintiff not showing up; they need to if they want to back their case. However, if the lawyer is representing the collection agency, then that is not grounds for dismissal.

So I guess the bottom line is, he needs to show.