I am in the military and just got back from a 5 month deployment to Iraq, My mother informed me that she got a phone call from some lawyer saying I owed for unpaid credit cards, then she got a letter for me in the mail from the lawyer and she sent it back without opening it, this debt has past the statute of limitations. I am afraid that the letter she sent back might be a summons to court, would the lawyer send the summons? She does not remember the name of the lawyer so I don't know what to do. Any advise will be good, I know I can fight a judgement under the soldiers and sailors act. How can I find out if there is a court date against me? I am stationed in GA and my mother lives in Missouri, but when I was deployed my mail was being sent to her house so it is a legal address.

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Originally Posted by airforce75

I am in the military and just got back from a 5 month deployment to Iraq, My mother informed me that she got a phone call from some lawyer saying I owed for unpaid credit cards, then she got a letter for me in the mail from the lawyer and she sent it back without opening it, this debt has past the statute of limitations. I am afraid that the letter she sent back might be a summons to court, would the lawyer send the summons? She does not remember the name of the lawyer so I don't know what to do. any advise will be good, I know I can fight a judgement under the soldiers and sailors act. How can I find out if there is a court date against me? I am stationed in GA and my mother lives in Missouri, but when i was deployed my mail was being sent to her house so it is a legal address.

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You cannot serve a summons by mail only; you can nail and mail (in my State that's 3 good attempts on different dates at different times and then you affix the summons to the door, followed by mailing to the address) or by substitute service (an adult at what is believed to be your address).

I don't know how you would find out who the letter was from other than waiting to see what happens next - if you know what credit card company/bank is involved (which you must know if you know it's beyond the Statute), call them and ask for info.

No, a summons has to be "served" it can not be just "mailed" The court would have to hire someone to phsycailly attempt service. ** I used to do that in GA for a company that worked with attorneys.

But it is easy to find out, do a copy of your credit report, if there is a judgement it will be showing up normally.

A debt which has passed the statute of limitations cannot be enforced. Nevertheless, consumers may pay off these accounts just because a debt collector has contacted them. Because your debt is legally uncollectible, it was probably sold to a debt collector for a couple of cents on the dollar.

The last thing you want to do in this case is to make any payment on the debt, as this could eliminate the statue of limitations defense. Your best course is to avoid saying anything to the debt collector other than to reiterate that you are not liable for the debt since the statute of limitations has passed.