HELP HELP HELP!!! Judgement

[Anonymous]

Tink wrote:

I only spoke with him over the phone. I am going to see if he will offer me a free consultaion
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I wrote to the state attorney general's office to get info on the SOL for suing over credit card debt
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I basically wanted to confirm if the SOL for suing is 4 years or 6.

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In PA, I have it on good authority that it's 4 years. My understanding is there was a law change a couple years back. However, I'd give the AG's office in Harrisburg a call and try to get it from a live human in their office.

[Anonymous]

Tink, call the AGs office and ask who handles the PA laws dealing with debt. Im in Ct.  It is handeled by the Ct, banking dept. but is attached to the AG office....also go online for PA.  look under consumer protection. I will see if I can get anywhere later.

http://www.bcsalliance.com/y_fairdebtcollectionact.html

SOL is 4 years....it also says the 30 day DV......you sent DV in July date??  If they admit to receiving it I don't THINK that they can sue  until after answering it.  I can't find anything on DOLA .....IM guessing here now....DOFD is usually up to 120 days of CO....Could your CO be before Aug.???  that should be DOFD or DOFA  might be last payment.....

I was told here that my DOLA would be my last activaty of any kind....my last activaty was 3 months before DOFD soooooo  that is the date that the state went by.

Message Edited by HappyDays on 09-07-2007 05:02 PM

[Tink]

I just spoke with the lawyer again. He is saying that if he can't get them to accept my settlement offer, they may take what I have right now and set up a payment plan for the rest. He also mentioned they may still want the judgment to secure the aggreement. The whole reason I am getting a lawyer is to avoid the judgment. Why should I pay an attorney and still pay what these jerks are suing me for, and still have my credit score suffer? I think I am going to call the creditor myself. I can use the money the attorney is charging, add it with the settlement amount I have saved, and satisfy the debt. The sad thing is, I don't agree with the amount they want and I still have no debt validation. These people have not been penalized for their violation and court is next week. I will never allow myself to get into this situation again.

Message Edited by Tink on 09-10-2007 12:19 PM

[Anonymous]

Hi Tink,

I have a few questions

- Did you tell your attorney that you have sent a debt validation and they have never responded to your DV?  Did you show proof to your attorney that you sent a DV? If the CA never responded to your DV, they are in violation of the FDCPA.    Your attorney should be running with that!!!!!!

- Are you sure that the debt is within the SOL (based on the date of last delinquency)?  From what I'm gathering in the thread, you are in PA.  The other posters are correct - the SOL in PA is 4 years from the date of last delinquency.

- Is your attorney doing this through a "motion to settle"?  If the creditor agrees to a "motion to settle", it's already enforced through the courts.

My concern with trying to negotiate with the creditors on your own is you are going to end up on the losing end.   They may agree to your settlement for less than what they want, but they may a) send you a 1099 and you'll have to pay taxes for the difference, b) sell the difference to another CA and you'll have to go through this rigamarole again, or c) still secure a judgement against you, which does affect your credit report (if you are in PA, they can't garnish your wages except for back taxes, child support, or federal student loans, BUT they can seize your bank account AND you may get a visit from the sheriff to try to make you sell things that you own to satisfy the judgement AND if you own property, they can put a lien on the property).

If you're already paying the attorney, here's what to do:

 - Get him to file a continuance so the court date will get pushed back (why didn't he do that in the first place?!?!).  For example - being unable to get time-off from work to go to court is a valid reason for a continuance.....

- If you have evidence that you sent a DV and they didn't respond to your DV, you need to work with your attorney about a possible countersuit for violation of the FDCPA.  

Keep us posted.

Message Edited by JennLewis on 09-10-2007 12:56 PM

[Tink]

I have not met with the attorney yet. We've only spoken over the phone on Friday and today. I have an appointment with him tomorrow and he wants $500 to negotiate a settlement (another $350 if we go to court). I appreciate all of the information you guys have provided. Had it not been for this website, I would already have a default judgement against me. I will keep my appointment with the attorney. He told me to bring all of my papperwork. I did tell him about the DV in out first phone consulation but he didn't say much about it. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks!!!

According to TU and EQ, the DOFD is 09/2003. The lawsuit was filed in 07/2007 so it looks like they are within the SOL.

Message Edited by Tink on 09-10-2007 01:02 PM

[Anonymous]

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Tink wrote:

I have not met with the attorney yet. We've only spoken over the phone on Friday and today. I have an appointment with him tomorrow and he wants $500 to negotiate a settlement (another $350 if we go to court). I appreciate all of the information you guys have provided. Had it not been for this website, I would already have a default judgement against me. I will keep my appointment with the attorney. He told me to bring all of my papperwork. I did tell him about the DV in out first phone consulation but he didn't say much about it. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks!!!

According to TU and EQ, the DOFD is 09/2003. The lawsuit was filed in 07/2007 so it looks like they are within the SOL.

Message Edited by Tink on 09-10-2007 01:02 PM

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Tink,  DOFD and SOL can go by different dates........DOLA would be  last payment which could be several months before DOFD

The summons does NOT replace answer to DV

Legal action.

A debt collector's institution of formal legal action against a consumer (including the filing of a complaint or service of legal papers by an attorney in connection with a lawsuit to collect a debt) or transmission of a notice to a consumer that is required by law as a prerequisite to enforcing a contractual obligation is not a "communication in connection with collection of any debt," and thus does not confer section 809 notice-and-validation rights on the consumer.

Effect of including proof with first notice.

A debt collector must verify a disputed debt even if he has included proof of the debt with the first communication, because the section is intended to assist the consumer when a debt collector inadvertently contacts the [53 Fed. Reg. 50109] wrong consumer at the start of his collection efforts.

Up 10. Section 809(b) requires that, if the consumer disputes the debt or requests identification of the original creditor in writing, the collector must cease collection efforts until he verifies the debt and mails a response.

Up 11. Section 809(c) states that a consumer's failure to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be interpreted by a court as an admission of liability.

1. Pre-notice collection. A debt collector need not cease normal collection activities within the consumer's 30-day period to give notice of a dispute until he receives a notice from the consumer.

An attorney debt collector may take legal action within 30 days of sending the notice, regardless of whether the consumer disputes the debt.

If the consumer disputes the debt, the attorney may still take legal action but must cease collection efforts until verification is obtained and mailed to the consumer.

A debt collector may report a debt to a credit bureau within the 30-day notice period, before he receives a request for validation or a dispute notice from the consumer.

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Message Edited by HappyDays on 09-10-2007 05:29 PM

Message Edited by HappyDays on 09-10-2007 05:29 PM

[Tink]

Ok. I met with the attorney today. He is in the process of negotiating a settlement. He did ask me about my last payment on the card and the DOFD. I can't locate my all of my cancelled checks. I was able to find my old check registers and it looks like the last payment was sent in 08/2003. According to the credit bureaus, dofd is 09/2003. My lawyer determined they were withing the SOL. Just barely since the civil suit was filed in 07/2003. I asked about the FDCPA violation for not providing me with debt validation. He said I cannot use that as a defense in court however, I could hire a consumer attorney to file suit against the CA. Hopefully I will hear something today regarding the settlement.

[Anonymous]

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Tink wrote:

Ok. I met with the attorney today. He is in the process of negotiating a settlement. He did ask me about my last payment on the card and the DOFD. I can't locate my all of my cancelled checks. I was able to find my old check registers and it looks like the last payment was sent in 08/2003. According to the credit bureaus, dofd is 09/2003. My lawyer determined they were withing the SOL. Just barely since the civil suit was filed in 07/2003. I asked about the FDCPA violation for not providing me with debt validation. He said I cannot use that as a defense in court however, I could hire a consumer attorney to file suit against the CA. Hopefully I will hear something today regarding the settlement.

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Is he willing to file suit for the FDCPA violation? If not, see whether he thinks that's a good threat to use in the settlement negotiation. Either way, trust his judgment on the matter. Afterwards, once you have a signed agreement, then you can see about hitting 'em for an FDCPA violation. Might effectively lead to a "settlement refund" to you, even a partial, if it's a solid violation.

For DOFD, call the CRAs and ask. They will tell you.

[Tink]

Hi Noah,

I did check with TU and EQ. They have the DOFD as 09/2003. The lawyer I am dealing with now will not take the case for a counter lawsuit. He said to contact a consumer law attorney for that. I don't even think he will use it as a threat in the negotiation because it may make the jerks take this to court anyway. This isn't over yet. I am going to go back to the websites posted in this thread and try to sue them fo rthe violation.

[Tink]

Received call from attorney last night. He said the CA  wanted financial information. He mentioned that they sometimes want that when the debtor is requesting to pay less than what is owed. He failed to mention this in his office yesterday. I am waiting now to see if they will accept my settlement offer.