National Credit Acceptance judgement SOL?

spongebobsmom · ‎07-02-2008

OK...where to begin...I have 2 public record notations from National Credit Acceptance in Sacramento on my reports. The first is for $49, 039 filed 10/2004. I paid the court to look this up and it does not exist yet it is on my Equifax report. Next, National Credit Acceptance also filed for $4285.51 in a different court and it was dismissed without prejudice 7/2004. The weird thing is the second case ended up being a total of $4,903.73. Lookks VERY close to the bogus $49,039 that does not exist. Seems fishy to me. The second case shows on the other 2 CRAs. Here's my question: Although it was dismissed without prejudice can they come back and still sue me? In CA our SOL is 4 years but I am not sure if the dismissed without prejudice extends this period? What are the steps to removing these items since the second one went through the court initially? I sent National Credit Acceptance a letter stating that the large case does not exist so I'm hoping this one is removed ASAP. I do not want to stir things up on the second if they can still come after me. By the way, after googeling them I learned that this company uses fraudulent tactics in trying to get their money (perhaps falsely reporting bogus lawsuits?). Thanks for any help!!! Message Edited by spongebobsmom on 07-02-2008 01:02 AM Message Edited by spongebobsmom on 07-02-2008 01:04 AM Message Edited by spongebobsmom on 07-02-2008 01:04 AM

Message Edited by spongebobsmom on 07-02-2008 01:05 AM

Anonymous · ‎07-02-2008

@spongebobsmom wrote:
OK...where to begin...I have 2 public record judgments from NCO. The first is for $49, 039 filed 10/2004. I paid the court to look this up and it does not exist. It only shows on Equifax. Next, NCO also filed for $4285.51 in a different court and it was dismissed without prejudice 7/2004. The weird thing is the second one ended up being a total of $4,903.73 VERY close to the $49,039 that does not exist. Seems fishy to me. The second case shows on the other 2 CRAs. Here's my question: Although it was dismissed without prejudice can they come back and still sue me? In CA our SOL is 4 years but I am not sure if the dismissed without prejudice extends this period? What are the steps to removing these items since it went through the court initially? I sent NCO a letter stating that the large case does not exist so I'm hoping this one is removed ASAP. Thanks for any help!!!

First off, love your screenname!! We're heavy SB addicts in our house!!!

Second of all, I don't know if I follow you ... are you saying that you have 2 judgments against that are reporting on CRs but not recorded in the court???

If so, dispute as "not mine!!"

When a suit is dismissed without prejudice, it's essentially, the judge giving the plaintiff "another bite at the apple." Meaning, they couldn't prove their side at the time of the court date, so they asked for another chance (asked for the judge to rule for neither side, so to speak).

As for SoL, don't be fooled: they can STILL sue you, you just have a permissible defense. You STILL have to appear in court!!! (I've seen too many people assume they couldn't be taken to court due to SoL, only to find themselves with a judgment against them!). However, if since the dismissal the SoL has expired, you're safe with the SoL defense.

Sometimes, you can ward off a suit on the grounds of SoL if you send the CA a letter after they've contacted you for the debt (IF you're out of SoL) stating that the debt is out of SoL and the cease and desist all contact. If you're not out of SoL, though, sending them a letter like that will sometimes cause them to initiate a suit.

spongebobsmom · ‎07-02-2008

bump

Anonymous · ‎07-02-2008

Your questions were answered. Did you have any more? Or was there something you needed explained further?

What do you mean that the "judgments are bogus?" Are they NOT yours (or for a debt that you incurred)? Do they belong to someone else? Or do you feel they obtained judgment under false pretenses (i.e., inaccurate balance, improper service, etc). Simply stating the judgments are bogus won't get you any help!! We won't know how to guide you without knowing the important details!!

The CRAs don't always report accurately. If the judgments aren't yours, dispute them as "not mine." You may need to get a document from the originating court (talk to the clerk of the courts) stating that the judgment is not yours.

If the judgments ARE yours (and the debts are, as well) but are reporting inaccurately, dispute them as "incorrect ______ (insert category here: i.e., balance, date filed, status, etc).

If the judgments ARE yours and you feel that you weren't served properly or that the judgment was obtained falsely, you can file a motion (based on those grounds. Due to "improper service" is the most common) to vacate.

Dismissed without prejudice I explained above. However, I don't think I addressed your question. If the case was dismissed without prejudice and was never refiled, and the SoL has expired, they can still come after you (that never changes), but you WILL win (if you appear, of course and present the SoL defense) and they lose their bite at the apple.

Aside from that, you're not giving enough information to proceed any further in advising you.

Message Edited by Wonderin on 07-02-2008 03:28 PM

spongebobsmom · ‎07-17-2008

Good news and bad news update. After my ability to wish away the 2 judgments from 2004 failed, I actually went to the court house to confront the file. YIKES!I had no idea who sued me. I just knew that the first case looked VERY similar to the second with an extra 0. I learned the judgment for 49,000 did not exist (WooHooo) and the one for 4,900 did.
The first was reported on EQ with the wrong amount and court listed. The second was listed correctly on TU/EX.

The good news is that I was sued by National Credit Acceptance, which I paid 4 months after the suit for a total of $3500. At the time of the settlement, I did not know the court case even existed. Why they settled for a lesser amount with a PIF letter I do not know.At the time of the settlement call, I explained to the attorney that the only reason that I stopped paying in the first place was because the CA insisted that I leave my baby alone in intensive care to go out and get a money order because he refused to take a check AND he could "care less what condition" my son was in. At that point I said screw ALL debtors! Perhaps the attorney knew which agent of his made such demands, I do not know. I digress....

Today, I sent off a GW letter to the attorney at NCA whom I made the settlement with. Wish me luck. I pray he is still as generous!

Anonymous · ‎07-17-2008

Is the judgment showing satisfied? If not then you need to get a copy of the release from the court house and forward that to the credit reporting agency. Judgments report 7 years from the FILE DATE

spongebobsmom · ‎07-17-2008

It does not show satisfied. Yesterday when I went to the courthouse, I did not know which company NCA was representing. I literally jumped up and down when I read it was Chase/FNANB because I knew I had a PIF letter with the matching account numbers. I now longer had to come up with $4,900. Since I had this letter, I decided to GW them before going through arduous task of getting paperwork from the court. Was this move OK? I based it on how nice they were during the settlement call. After all, they already won and still settled.

When I first googled NCA, I found there were plenty of illegal tactics being used to collect debts so I was actually surprised that this was the same debt that I settled. I hope they are still nice when they receive my letter.

Anonymous · ‎07-25-2008

Good will them to see if they will dismiss the judgment, that is a lot better then just getting it release because if it is dismissed then the credit reporting agency has to delete it off of the credit report.