I recently received notification that I was being sued over an old debt. The debt in question is over 7 years old. Past the SOL. On the court papers that I received, both my last name and my address were severely misspelled, and I have not received any paperwork or phonecalls over the course of the 7 years until just recently. I called the lawyers representing the client sueing me, and requested that they send me proof of the debt, which they said they would do. What I want to know is... will opposing this affect my credit? Should I try to settle for less money, or should I try to fight it completely? What is my next step.

I recently received notification that I was being sued over an old debt. The debt in question is over 7 years old. Past the SOL. On the court papers that I received, both my last name and my address were severely misspelled, and I have not received any paperwork or phonecalls over the course of the 7 years until just recently. I called the lawyers representing the client sueing me, and requested that they send me proof of the debt, which they said they would do. What I want to know is...will opposing this affect my credit? Should I try to settle for less money, or should I try to fight it completely? What is my next step.


What State are you in? Do you owe the money?

I am in MA, and the original debt is nothing close to what they are trying to collect now.

File Notice of Intent to Defend, if you don't they will obatian a default jusgment. Then File Motion to Dismiss Statute of Limitations Expired. Don't rely on the attorney doiing anything for you, he represents the plaintiff.

The court will not waste their time on anything beyond the SOL.

I am in MA, and the original debt is nothing close to what they are trying to collect now.

That's immaterial. The question is whether you actually incurred the debt. If you defaulted, its not hard for the original debt to double or triple with interest and collection fees.

The first thing you need to do is what Mr Yet said and file your Intent to Defend with the court that issues the summons. The collector is very happy to string you along. But if you don't file within the time frame alloted, a default judgement will be entered against you.

AFTER you file your Intent to Defend, you mail a copy to the plaintiff with a request for verification of the debt. This will need to include a copy of the original contract and an accounting of the amount owed.

Armed with that, you can determine whether you do owe this debt and whether the SOL has passed and what your next step will be.