credit card debt legal
Credit debt legal help?
I owe money on a credit card. The debt is about 5 or 6 years old and suddenly I get a letter in the mail saying they will send my account for legal review and possible lawsuit. I don’t have enough money to pay it off. Sigh. So if it goes to court, what is the worst thing that can happen. Would they really sue me over 1 000 dollars?
There is a statute of limitations for credit card debt, which is the amount of time that they can successfully take legal action against you for the debt. This time period varies for each state. You can find this time period for your state by going to the link below and looking under “Open Accounts.”
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml
If your debt is older than the time period listed for your state, they can no longer defeat you in any court action because the debt is time-barred and you don’t have to pay it back. Morality does not come into play with dealing with the amoral, predatory US credit card industry.
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When a debt collector first contacts you, your first step should always be to request validation of the debt per your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Even if the debt is valid, request validation anyway.
Send them a letter via Certified Mail + Return Receipt (do not use regular mail) stating:
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, I am requesting written validation of this alleged debt, including a copy of the original signed application with my signature
Per the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, provide validation that this alleged debt is within the statute of limitations.
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* Do not sign your signature on any document that you mail to a debt collector. It could end up on a forged document that can be used against you. Simply type your full name.
When they call back, tell them: I have sent a certified letter to your office officially requesting written validation of this alleged debt per my rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Per this federal law they must provide written validation within 30 days and they must cease collection activity until they send you written validation. Do not let them scare you with bogus threats during this period.
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- Debt collectors love nothing more than to pretend to be (or represent) attorneys when this is not the case to scare people into paying them. This is a violation of federal law. If they threaten you with a lawsuit/legal action, then ask for their attorney’s full name and license number in the state bar association. Call your state bar association to confirm this info. If they refuse to give this info to you, then the legal threat is probably a bluff.
- By themselves, debt collectors have absolutely no legal power over you., they cannot garnish your wages or freeze checking accounts…only a court can authorize this and they’d have to go through the court system to do this.
