6.5 years ago an unsecured loan with a Credit Union in KY was charged off for 1780.00. I told them I simply couldn't pay it or installments due to a lay off and 7 months of unemployment. They charged it off and I NEVER EVER heard from them again. I've spent the past 6.5 years repairing my credit to an excellent rating. Recently, I checked my Transunion report and this Credit Union listed this same charge-off but reported it as of 12/31/06. So I called them directly to dispute (under FACT Act) and they immediately informed me I was going to be sued by their attorneys unless I paid. Although I did not agree to pay I said I would consider if they would eliminate everything from my credit report. They said they would have to check into it and get back to me. 2 days later I receive a very stern message to call them by the end of the day. I phoned back and left a voicemail requesting they validate the debt. I am now completely FREAKED OUT because the SOL in Ky is 15 years. So they can in fact sue me. I want to settle this but because of their threatening and coercive tactics I do not want to talk to them until I fully understand how to protect myself. If I acknowledge the debt I'm afraid they will try to tack on interest, lawyer fees, etc. I live in Califonia and can not afford to fly to KY to deal with this if they sue me much less hire an attorney.

Questions
What if they send me mail am I locked into to whatever they request if I open it?
Should I wait for them to contact me in writing and then proceed with request for Validation?
Can they get a judgement against me from a KY judge if they are unable to serve me with a summons?

Read this post it will help you understand your rights.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/bankruptcy-debt/helpful-information-about-bankruptcy-debt-credit-bureaus-51714.html

Demand that they produce the original contract not a copy the original tis is important they must have it.

Remember no contract, no claim

Thank you for your response. I have asked verbally for them to validate the debt. I am just unsure if I should wait for them to sue me before requesting validation. Reason being I do not want to engage them any further as it might lead to them building more of a case against me. I have no knowledge of this debt and can not believe what they tell me over the phone.

Thank you for your response. I have asked verbally for them to validate the debt. I am just unsure if I should wait for them to sue me before requesting validation. Reason being I do not want to engage them any further as it might lead to them building more of a case against me. I have no knowledge of this debt and can not believe what they tell me over the phone.

Excuse me, but in the opening post you seemed to have complete knowledge of this debt, citing the amount and how long ago you had it. Now you are claiming you don't have any knowledge of it?

You also mentioned something about repairing your credit, yet this reparation seemed to exclude actually paying off a debt you incurred.

Follow the instructions in the thread Mr Yet linked to. Send them a letter stating all future correspondence should be by mail and requesting a copy of the original contract. You will not obligate yourself by opening any mail from them or even accepting certified mail.

Yes they can get a judgement in Ky without your presence. All they have to show is a good faith effort to contact you.

What you should be doing is offering to repay the debt (the $1780 you originally referred to) by offering to settle for the outstanding balance without adding interest and fees.

Ouch! I charged this debt off 6.5 years ago with an officer from the credit union. In our conversation I made it clear to him that I would not be able to repay the loan or make installments for an undeterminable period. He said he understood and charged it off. My understanding was that was it finito. I never got a phone call or a letter from them or collection agency ever again. My understanding was that they took a loss and my credit would be shot for 7 years. Pardon me for being ignorant of the technicalities but honest to God until they said they were going to sue me I was not aware I owed this money. And I am willing to work with them, however, I would like to know how they arrived at this amount I have zero paperwork to support it AND I don't know what other kind of tricks they are going to pull making me even more exposed. I just called the Circuit and Civil courts in KY for the county the loan was originated and they told me the opposite that under the long arm laws a judge will not rule on a summons that is not officially served meaning I have to sign for it or be served in person.

No, YOU didn't charge off the debt, the Credit Union did. Charging off a debt does NOT relieve you of the responsibility to pay it. All it does is allow the creditor to take the debt as a loss for tax purposes. Your understanding was incorrect. Apparently the officer felt the likelihood of collecting at that time and for the foreseeable future wasn't worth the effort.

Oh I believe that you were naïve enough to think that the debt was discharged, but that was wishful thinking, not actual legal fact. Whether you got correct info from the courts or not, I'm not sure. But it will be too hard for them to serve you.

Yeah well trust me I understand the law now. Too bad I didn't before I picked up the phone to call them and ask them why they keep listing it on my report. Which is also interesting according to our phone conversation they have not sent this to collections or an attorney in 6.5 years. Yet they list it on my credit report as being in collections/chargeoff dated 12/31/06.

Maybe someone woke up to the fact that your credit was looking better so they figured you now had the money to pay.

You know that is an excellent point and I you are probably right. But what is ironic I do not have the money to pay. I simply have been very wise about what I've done since falling into financial ruin 6.5 years ago. Also, I just called the creditor to ask to settle and they refused anything other than the full amount of 1800$ They also informed me it has already been turned over to a legal firm and gave me their number. In your expert opinion should I wait for them to contact me or should I contact the attorney to try and settle? Thanks for your advice.

I would wait until you get a summons and start saving your pennies. There are other threads here that discuss what to do if you are actually sued. I suggest you review them.

What's odd is that the legal firm is going to take a chunk out of the whatever is collected (unless they can tack on legal costs). So it would be better for them to settle.

My guess is that they think I am now rich and are not only going to try and collect the debt they claim I owe of 1800 but interest on it for the last 6.5 years. I really think I'm going to have heart failure over this. No joke. Not what I expected after working so hard the last 6.5 years to rebuild. Anyone reading this make sure you take heed always get everything in writing when it comes to money!!

Scott Gem or Mr Yet last questions... I have offered a settlement with the OC is this viewed by the law as acknowledgement of the debt? Finally (and this is a stupid question so be warned) if judgement is awarded for plaintiff against me can they charge interest on the debt for the last 6.5 years since the charge off or will it begin from the date of the court judgement? Also it appears the FDCPA does not list criteria for debt verification by debt collectors beyond (amount of debt and original creditor owed) sounds like they do not have to provide any proof of an original document with my signature why do you suggest they must provide this?

If judgment is award to the plaintiff interest will be charged at your state legal rate from the date of judgment.

What is the FDCPA? As far as I know, to obtain a judgement they have to show proof of the contract.

Scott Gem - You are kidding right? See this link

Debt collection calls require validation within 5 days! (http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/rules/validating-debts-9.html#8)

No I'm not kidding. I don't know every acronym. That is a good link and should be helpful to you.

But you are misinterpreting what its telling you. All that's being said is that the collector has to provide that info as part of their collection effort. It has nothing to with what's required to obtain a judgement. The law states that to sue someone for breach of contract, which is essentially is what failure to pay a debt is, that the plaintiff has to prove a contract exists.

Ah, gotcha. It is in KY I am not sure what the law states, however, I would not be surprised if it is some archaic antebellum statute that allows the collector to use about any means possible including tea leaves to justify I owe them money. But since I have made an offer isn't that the same thing as acknowledging the debt?

I just decided to ask friends and relatives to borrow money to pay them. I offered to pay in full if they will take the deragatory item off my report or list it as PAID. They agreed to list it as paid but will not take it off my report. Of course there is always a caveat since they said they have already sent it to the attorneys and do not know if it has been processed there may be legal fees. If they coerce me into trying to pay legal fees I'm simply going to tell them to sue me.

Actually I think that page refers to a federal act, not a local one and its designed to protect the debtor not the creditor.

You are correct it is designed to protect the debtor not the collector. My entire strategy is to prevent it from going to a collector which in this case is an attorney. Once it goes to an attorny I have to come up with a defense which in this case hinges on whether they have a signed contract (original loan paperwork.) I am sure the creditor has the paperwork otherwise they would not have sent this to an attorney already. I'm gambling with 50/50 odds and if I lose (which I will because I am 3000 miles from courts and have no design on flying back for a court date) I will not only owe the full amount but have a judgement on my report for 10-20, attny fees, full amount of debt, plus interest. Not good odds and I don't like gamble.

You were right from the beginning make an offer to settle or pay it off. Much better.

You know that is an excellent point and I you are probably right. But what is ironic I do not have the money to pay. I simply have been very wise about what I've done since falling into financial ruin 6.5 years ago. Also, I just called the creditor to ask to settle and they refused anything other than the full amount of 1800$ They also informed me it has already been turned over to a legal firm and gave me their number. In your expert opinion should I wait for them to contact me or should I contact the attorney to try and settle? Thanks for your advice.

I wouldn't contact an attorney unless you have money to burn. Let them pay their attorneys if they want to sue you. I find it quite arrogant that they refused to settle. I'd tell them to stick it up their a__. If they're going to be that stupid, let them sue whoever they want. Just make sure to response to their complaint with intent to litigate it in court.

You'll probably see them changing their tune quite quickly about settling that debt for whatever they can get, as opposed to the "full amount".

I think sometimes these idiots FORGET what "UNsecured debt" means.

Wow, I wish I had the gonads to tell them to stick it.

Unfortunately, for me the only idiot is myself for not understanding the difference between a charged-off debt and a discharged debt. As a result of my stupidity I am 2k in the hole. At least I don't have to fear an attny and they've agreed to fax me a copy of the signed loan paperwork once they get the cash. So they have the "contract" and no doubt would have screwed me to the wall if I decided to do anything other than what they requested.

I did some research and it appears there seems to be an onslaught of law firms specializing in collections these days. Apparently it is more beneficial for creditors vs collection agencies because they have the ability to file suit directly. In my opionion there needs to be more consumer education on financial lending and consequences of not paying. In my case I didn't wake up one day and go "oh I think I'm not going to pay my bills" I had a series of unfortunate events ( beginning with a layoff ) that snowballed one into the other. Are there any protective provisions anywhere for debtors in times of hardship?

Considering our unemployment rate these last 7 years I would think there would be something it only seems law firms and debt collectors have capitalized on this opportunity.

They want money first before they will send you validication?

Quote you ; "At least I don't have to fear an attny and they've agreed to fax me a copy of the signed loan paperwork once they get the cash"

I personally would not send any money first not until they prove their claim

They've got it. What I overlooked is about 4 - 5 years ago I disputed every deraugatory item on my credit report. I had some fraud issues and didn't want anything overlooked so I just did mass assault without any real organization and requested everything be verified. Until yesterday when I talked to the creditor I was unaware that they have verified the debt 17 times. I called the credit bureau to affirm this statement and in fact this debt had been verified by this creditor numurous times. So although I got all the fraudulant items removed this was in fact verified. Apparently this is why they are playing hard ball because they know they can. Also, I've ticked them off because they've had to verify this numerous times and have and I'm asking them to verify it again. Big mistake - from their side of things I'd be upset as well. Hopefully, they will accept this was an oversight and not intentional means of trying to get out of paying this debt and give me a decent mark on my credit report once it is paid off.

Did they provide you with a copy of the original contract with your signature on it?

Did they provide you prove they have the contract you signed?

Not speaking about your credit report verification, I am talking about what did they give to you as for validication of this debt?

Not just a mere statement the of the account the contract itself.

I am not sure what they provided but it was verified by the Credit Bureau enough times for me to think yes. Based upon that and the fact that they sent it to an attny I would bet they've got enough. Again with KY archaic law have no guarantee a judge would rule otherwise presented with the same information. Since I can't hire an attny or afford to fly to KY to defend myself either way they win.

Did you live in KY? Did you ever live in KY? If no, than they must file the suit in your state, since KY would not have jurisdiction over the matter.

Yes I lived in KY when the loan was originated and lived there as recently as 4 years ago.

They still have to serve you with the paper for the suit even though you don't live there. Will proper notice the judgment can be vacate.

First of all let me thank everyone for taking the time to assist and keeping it professional. I just got slammed on another board for my decision to settle this with the creditor.

You are correct, however, I checked the KY statutes on that one as well and there is case law which supports and does not support the civil procdure. Some judges have ruled that if a good faith effort is made to verifiable address with no success judgement can be served. I could then attempt to vacate but again it could be another legal process all over and I don't want to gamble with having a judgement.