Ask Me Help Desk - Being Sued for Credit Card

I just received a summons today that I was being sued for nonpayment of a credit card. I have in the past made payments on this credit card. I think now most of the payment due is mostly interest. This debt is probably more than 7 yrs old and the original company, Providian, sold to Washington Mutual. I am being sued by a collection agency. I at one time had spoken to a collection representative and explained to her my situation and she completely threw it out the window and did not want the hear anything I was trying to tell her. She began to tell me her problems. I was in tears because of the way she talked to me even with me trying to offer her payments and resolution on the account. She did not care and it seemed that her main purpose was to just break me down, and she succeeded that day. I have paid so much money on this credit card, it seems it should be paid off. The credit card has occurred interest and now is up to 1800.00, plus court cost and fees. The tota amount is 2100.00. What should I do? I have ten days to respond and I have never done anything like this before in my life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cornerstone Way

I just received a summons today that I was being sued for nonpayment of a credit card. I have in the past made payments on this credit card. I think now most of the payment due is mostly interest. This debt is probably more than 7 yrs old and the original company, Providian, sold to Washington Mutual. I am being sued by a collection agency. I at one time had spoken to a collection representative and explained to her my situation and she completely threw it out the window and did not want the hear anything I was trying to tell her. She began to tell me her problems. I was in tears because of the way she talked to me even with me trying to offer her payments and resolution on the account. She did not care and it seemed that her main purpose was to just break me down, and she suceeded that day. I have payed so much money on this credit card, it seems it should be paid off. The credit card has occurred interest and now is up to 1800.00, plus court cost and fees. The tota amount is 2100.00. What should I do? I have ten days to respond and I have never done anything like this before in my life.

Inability to pay is not a defense - being out of Statute IS a defense.

What State are you in? The Statute runs from the last activity on the account - a payment, use of the card.

If it IS paid off, that is also a defense - however, interest keeps running whether you make payments or not, and you are also responsible for court costs and fees.

At 7 years I would assume it is way past the Statute of Limitations. It's hard but you do need to try and fight this. Google "SOL for Debt by State" and you'll find lists of the SOL on credit card debt by state. Remember, credit card debt is always considered an OPEN ACCOUNT even though I've seen otherwise.

You need to file an Answer with the court and one of your strongest "Affirmative Defenses" is that the debt is past SOL. You can Google "Word templates for credit card debt lawsuit" and you'll find a site with templates available.

Good luck to you. If you actually answer the lawsuit (most do not) you have a great chance of having it dropped.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlr08

At 7 years I would assume it is way past the Statute of Limitations. It's hard but you do need to try and fight this. Google "SOL for Debt by State" and you'll find lists of the SOL on credit card debt by state. Remember, credit card debt is always considered an OPEN ACCOUNT even though I've seen otherwise.

You need to file an Answer with the court and one of your strongest "Affirmative Defenses" is that the debt is past SOL. You can google "Word templates for credit card debt lawsuit" and you'll find a site with templates available.

Good luck to you. If you actually answer the lawsuit (most do not) you have a great chance of having it dropped.

Statue of limitations starts on the date the last payment was made on the card - just as the correct advice that Judy gave states. You cannot assume it's past SOL just because the OP said it's "probably" more than 7 years old. Furthermore, it is not "always considered open account" unless the account is actually open.

You wouldn't happen to know tracey, would you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlr08

At 7 years I would assume it is way past the Statute of Limitations. It's hard but you do need to try and fight this. Google "SOL for Debt by State" and you'll find lists of the SOL on credit card debt by state. Remember, credit card debt is always considered an OPEN ACCOUNT even though I've seen otherwise.

You need to file an Answer with the court and one of your strongest "Affirmative Defenses" is that the debt is past SOL. You can google "Word templates for credit card debt lawsuit" and you'll find a site with templates available.

Good luck to you. If you actually answer the lawsuit (most do not) you have a great chance of having it dropped.

Fighting based on Statute is not difficult - in fact, it's the easiest defense.

I would also not assume that it's past Statute.

And for future reference, please just post sites such as "google word templates," etc. Please post the info - came here for a short cut answer instead of doing lengthy research.