I am being sued for a credit card that has reached the statue of limitaitons in Rhode Island, past 10 years. I am unemployed and have been on and off now for the past 3 years. I am getting social security for my disabled adult daughter. What are my rights? I was told by an attorney that I paid to help me, that once you owe bill you always owe a bill to just make arrangements and pay it. Even though they have added thousands on to the origianl bill. Please help!!

You can save some money by not paying that particular lawyer. What he says is only partially true, an old debt is still a debt. However, if the SOL has run out you can't be forced to pay, no judgement. Do not ackowledge the debt or orredr one red cent, that would restart the SOL.

How do I respond to the summons? How do I prove the bill is SOL, all I can obtain is the last statement that the original creditor sent to me back in 2000, It has been removed from my cr. I may had made a mistake by calling the orig. creditor and asked them to send me the last statement on account that was in Oct of 2000 because I had no idea how to prove that, that was the actual last date of activity. Also I know from the company that originally took over the debt (GE Recovery) that it was charged off in April of 2001. But they could not send me anything in writing. Is it for me to prove that I don't owe the money or the company sueing which is Ersolutions for Arrow services to prove that I owe it?

Let me first clarify a point re: (GE Recovery) that it was charged off in April of 2001" This is an accounting function for book keeping purposes and does not mean the debt isn't real anymore, it is still real. Tell me when you made your last payment or promise of payment.

The last payment was on October 29th, 2000

I think you are in the clear, read this Statutes of limitation for credit card debt collection, all 50 states (http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-state-statute-limitations-1282.php) Youn would still have to show up in court if summoned but take along a different lawyer.

First, that attorney told you the truth but not the whole truth. A debt never expires. You owe a debt until its paid off. But if the SOL is expired then they can't use legal means to recover the debt. As Ballenger said, a charge off has nothing to do with your owing that debt. Nor does purging from your credit report.

If you have received a summons, your answer to that summons is that the SOL has expired.

Does anyone have a website that can supply sample letters of how to respond or sample documents that I should bring to court to defend myself.

The original credit card was from JC Penney, they sold it to Ge financial, who sold it in July 2006 to someone else, Ersolutions is contacting me for Arrow collections who say the orignal creditor was JC Penney. Now I've tried to get something in writing from JC Penny or GE but they say the account is so old there is nothing they can send me. But they did inform me that my last payment was Oct. 21, 2000 and that it was charged off April 2001. In RI its 10 years SOL. This is over that limit. But what proof do I have? It came off my credit report a couple of years ago. Also is it up to them to prove that it is not out of SOL?

Do I need to hire a lawyer or are the forms that I can bring in myself to defend myself. I'm unemployed right now and really don't have any extra money

If it was charged off in April 2001 that might be considered the last activity. Since the law suit was filed before April 2011 it might make it within the SOL.

" last payment was Oct. 21, 2000 " helps us to determine when the SOL starts. When your next payment was due is the start date, not the charge off date. Charge off or write off is simply an accounting step and has nothing to do with SOL.

Thank you guys, so that means the sol was nov, 21 2000 or the date the bill was due that month. Still leaves the question of who has to prove sol has not expired, me or the collection agency.

"nov, 21 2000 " approximately give or take a week. The true date is when the bill is to be paid. When you paid 10-21 that was likely a week before the actual due date. Bring all of your records to court and tell the judge the statute has run out since your last payment was 10-21-2000, after that its up to the other side to prove differently. The debt remains alive even if the SOL has run but they can no longer get a court ordered judgement againist you forcing you to pay. They can try other means so be watchful

SOL rules especially when it comes to debts is not so cut and dried. Many different events might be considered as last activity. It's not just the last payment. And what constitutes last activity can vary by area. At 10 years RI's SOL on debts is unusually long. Most states are between 4-6 yrs for unsecured debt. This leads me to believe that RI is more lender friendly than consumer friendly.

While lenders have been known to file after the SOL has expired in the hope of getting a default judgment where the judge never looks at that, the odds are better that the plaintiff thinks it can prove the filing was within the SOL. And remember the SOL stops the day they file, not the day they service you or the date of the hearing, but the date they file suit.

Thank you all so much, I know was posted quite a bit but was very nervous having never had an issue with the courts before.