Hi all,
I need your help and advice once again. i came home from work last night to find paperwork taped to my door from a local court stating that I was being sued by Capital one. According to the letter I have 21 days to respond. Honestly I do owe the debt, and for those of you who are not familiar with my posts I had fallen behind on bills due to the economy and health issues and simply did not have the money. I have been working my way down the list of those to pay starting with the smallest balances first, but Capital one is at the bottom since it was the biggest. I originally had a balance of $2500, but they snowballed the interest and fees on me at the last minute and the bill is up to $4,627. I do not have the money to pay this right now, seriously. I don't even have the money to pay my student loans even and am trying to work something out on that. My hands are completely tied. I've never been in this situation in my adult life. What do I do? By the way the account shows as a charge off on my credit report.
Secondly, I had a second card with Capital one which they closed as charge off, but are still sending me emails directing me to a special website to make payments. I have not paid this either because again I have not worked my way to it on the list. I don't want this card to escalate to the same point as the first one so should I go ahead and start making payments for this card on their special website even if all it is is $5 or $10?
Thanks in advance....
Starting Score: 486 TU 3/2/10
Thanks so much for the responses. For the one I'm being sued over, the sol in michigan is 6 years. Date of last activity was May 2009, and the account was closed in August 2009.
any suggestion on what to do about the other cap account?
Hi,
My sister was sued by Crap1. Like you, she honestly didn't have the money to pay. Her husband had died, her home was foreclosed, and she was working barely over minimum wage, trying to survive. The day she went to court (in IL) she noticed that the vast majority of the cases involved Capital One. When it was her turn to go before the judge, she told him that she knew she honestly owed them some money, but not what they were demanding. She explained that she had a $1000 limit on the card, and it was now up to $5000 with fees and interest. The judge asked the Cap1 attorney if he had paperwork to substantiate all the ridiculous fees. Judge wanted a ledger showing each fee, and why and when it was assessed. The attorney told the judge he had nothing. The judge threw the case out of court, and told my sister she didn't owe them a dime!
Later, she saw the attorney in the hall, and went up to sort of apologize, and to tell him that she would have tried to pay something if they had played fair and not buried her with extra charges. Here's the interesting part: the attorney told her he was basically glad she got off, and said he had felt sorry for her. He said that Crap1 usually hired local attorneys in each market, had them sue people for huge amounts of fees and stuff, and rarely gave the attorneys any meaningful paperwork to back up the suit. He hinted that the lawsuits were really meant to scare people into paying, and that those who showed up in court were usually those that really truly had no means of coming up with the money. She got the feeling that this judge at least was fed up with Crap1, and would reduce the amount owed to actual purchase charges, or even throw it out of court completely, provided the person seemed to be honestly concerned about the debt and struggling to manage.
Now, I'm not saying this will definitely apply to your situation, but if you go into court honestly and politely, and explain you know you owe but object to (or are confused by) all the extra fees and penalties, you might get a sympathic judge too.
good luck! 
DV? I would probably have to say no they didn't.
They are pretty much doing what someone has already mentioned here. I'm in Michigan, so Cap 1 got a local attorney and just filed suit. I must admit that they have been calling, and I even received a phone call 5 minutes ago from Cap 1 attorney. My vm just has an automated voice recording and doesn't state my name, so they could have been dialing the wrong number for all they know. Should I call them back and try to negotiate I wonder or just see them in court? Cap 1 did have a CA call me in the past, but I ignored those calls because again there was nothing I could do at the time, and again because I've been working my way down the list of debtors.
Anyone have any suggestions on what to do with my other Cap 1 account? That one has not reached the point of a law suit although it is charged off and closed. Cap 1 sends me emails to to make payments on a special payment website of theirs. Should I start doing this then even if it is only for tiny amounts but on a regular basis at least?
Lastly, I thank everyone for their words of advice and encouragement! You all rock!