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Being sued over credit card debt by debt collector in NYC

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BK Guy

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY (NYC)
I am being sued in NYC for a credit card debt that defaulted over two years ago by lawyers representing a debt collector named Riverwalk Holdings. I was never served a summons. Instead, I received what looked like a homemade letter in the mail stating that there is a summons on file at the local court in NYC and I should contact the court. No information as to why or what I was being sued for. I ignored it for a couple days as I wrote it off as bogus but curiosity led me to call the court and there was in fact a summons on file there. I went to file an answer on 1/13/10. The affidavit of service stated that service was made to an individual (co-occupant) of my home that I have never heard of - name and/or description. The summons claims that I had an account with Credit Card Company A which was later sold to Company B. The thing is I have an account with Company B which is what I believe they want to sue me on but I have NEVER EVER held a credit card under Company A. I filled out the answer sheet and claimed the following: I did not receive a summons, general denial, I do not owe this debt, I disagree with the amount of the debt/the amount is incorrect, I do not have a business relationship with Plaintiff. (Plaintiff lacks standing) and I also stated the fact that I never held any credit cards with Company A prior to their Company B acquisition (which is true). The amount of the debt they are suing on is about $5,000. I have a scheduled date to appear on 2/21/10. I plan on seeing if I can get a statement saying I never held a card with Company A. That may turn out to be iffy. Outside of that I am only going in with the little info that I have garnered from doing research on this site and others. With all of that said, due to my answers presented on the sheet, does the debtor have to provide the paperwork/contracts showing that I entered into an agreement with the company alleged, or will I have to request that at the hearing? What are the odds of them having it? They claim in the suit that they have sent me copies of my original application/contract before but I doubt this is true. Can I also request that they show how the debt is tied to the collector as in the assignment trail? I can't pay a debt to someone just because they say so. What are my chances here? Somehow, I feel very confident that it will turn out positive if I am treated fairly in court. Please provide any insight that you might deem valuable. Also I read somewhere that the law for NY was appended to state that if the original creditor is located in a state where the statute is less than that of NY (like Delaware where it is 3 yrs) then the lesser statute will prevail to prevent debt collectors from taking advantage of the 6 years. Thank you so much for allowing me to write in.
 


You Are Guilty

Senior Member
I assume you are in NY Civil? You have a lot of reading to catch up on:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dca/downloads/pdf/debt_collection_agency_law_rules.pdf

http://www.nycourts.gov/publications/GuideforProSes.pdf

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/civil/represent.shtml

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/civil/answeringcase.shtml

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/civil/resourcecenter.shtml

While you'll find the pro se consumer debt part to be very (very) defendant friendly, you will still need to be prepared. Read over these links and if you still have any questions, come on back and ask away.

Good luck.

{edit}
Almost forgot - make sure they debt collector has a license with DCA: https://a069-webapps12.nyc.gov/dca_new/index.cfm

(If they do not, they are prohibited from debt collecting in NYC. You may have to amend you answer to allege this if it's true, though).
 
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