Nine year old judgement

[jennysue167]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?New York State resident. I received, from a collections attny, a subpoena to take a deposition re: this landlord/tenant dispute from 1996. I went to this law office and completed the deposition. This dispute was for $1245.00. After the deposition the attny sent me to his "collections specialist" to try and work out some kind of settlement or payment plan. No. 1: I am working only part-time and make $10.60/hr. I am single and responsible for all bills. Because of my situation, I receive food stamps to help me out at this time. My problemis this, this Collections Specialist told me I had two options, settle for $1000 or make payment arrangements to them for $113. monthly. I sat there and literally cried! First off, she asked me how do I survive? I said "barely" and now she gives me these options. My question is this, do I have any other options other than bankruptcy? Can they do anything to me? I own nothing!! Have no bank accounts other than a checking with $20. in it. Can I legally contact the person to whom I originally owe this debt and try to work out something with him without the legal collection agency being involved? Please respond as I need answers by Monday by close of business.
Thanks.

[Debt Guy]

Jenny Sue

I feel your pain. Don't take it personal, but the collector only cares about getting some cash out of you. They don't care about your problems. They don't know you or care about you.

You don't have a lot of leverage here. You can't force them to accept what you can afford.

They can garnish your bank account. Sounds like you don't have much in the bank anyway, but I would hate for you to even lose that. I encourage you to change banks and then don't tell them about the new bank unless they hold another asset hearing (which was what you attended in their office).

They can garnish your wages. They can grab 25% of your pay after deductions for taxes. Look at your check and figure out what 25% of that number is. That is the worst they can do to you.

If you are only working part-time, I'm not even sure they can get that much from you.

If they try to garnish your wages, be sure to appear in court. Judges will sometimes consider your situation and hardship and deny the garnishment.

I know this sounds terrible, but you really can't afford to send these people any money. If I were you, I would just ignore them. Don't let them push your buttons and get under your skin.

If you need encouragement or have a question on a specific problem, either send me an email or a private message. Bless you.

[qumara]

9yrs???? Thats how long its been? Check NY's SOL for landlord/tenant and see if the CA can still legally collect this debt. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it 6yrs! If so, when you go to court, just tell the judge that the SOL for this is over, so they cannot sue you for this!

I'm going to check this for you, and get back to you!

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by qumara

9yrs???? Thats how long its been? Check NY's SOL for landlord/tenant and see if the CA can still legally collect this debt. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it 6yrs! If so, when you go to court, just tell the judge that the SOL for this is over, so they cannot sue you for this!

I'm going to check this for you, and get back to you!

You are correct. The SOL for all debt in the state of NY is 6 years.

[qumara]

Has the lawyer said anything to you about going to court??? Probably not! The papers you mentioned...was that "COURT" papers or "LAWFIRM" papers?(Could make a big difference)

Tell the lawyer the SOL has run out on this debt...No wait, write the lawyer a letter (you'll need a paper trail in case anything pops off) Write the letter saying the SOL has run out, and also attach a cease and desist letter (stopping all communications with you) I'll find a sample letter for you, or I'll draft something for you, and then you can fill in to fit your situation!

My only concern is, "IF" the lawyer wants to go to court that change the SOL. New York Judgement SOL's is 10yrs. Your 10yrs will be up next year. The lawyer would have to go to court before the 10yrs is up to collect the debt.

BTW, is it a collection agency or a lawyer you're dealing with???

[Veronica1228]

[url]http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forms/[/url]

[qumara]

If your statute of limitations has expired that means that the debt cannot be enforced by lawsuit, however that does not dismiss the debt and the creditor can still leave it on your credit for 7 years (excluding some public records, those can remain for 10 years). We're get to that when and if it happens!!! Don't worry about that for now......

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (IN YEARS)
• Open Account: 6
• [b]Written Contract: 6
• Domestic Judgment: 20 (10 year renewable lien)
• Foreign Judgment: 20 (10 year renewable lien)

[qumara]

Also, you can call the courthouse and find out whether or not anything has been filed against you from the lawyer. Let us know what happens!

[jennysue167]

Thanks to qumara and veronica1228 for your replies re:my dilemma. I called the law office on the date I was to reply to them with the news that I don't have any $ to give them so I told them to "do what you have to do". I heard nothing from them for almost two weeks. The attny calls me back almost two weeks later and asks me, "how much can you afford to pay?" So now it went from $100something/wkly to that And yes, this is a law firm that is trying to make the collection for the landlord.
Now I have another question, is the SOL six, ten or 20 yrs. in NYstate? I've gotten mixed messages on this. Another thing, is there a difference between landlord/tenant disputes and other collection debts and the SOL?
Thanks again for your help in this matter. I will keep you'all posted on further developments in this matter. Jennysue

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by jennysue167

Thanks to qumara and veronica1228 for your replies re:my dilemma. I called the law office on the date I was to reply to them with the news that I don't have any $ to give them so I told them to "do what you have to do". I heard nothing from them for almost two weeks. The attny calls me back almost two weeks later and asks me, "how much can you afford to pay?" So now it went from $100something/wkly to that And yes, this is a law firm that is trying to make the collection for the landlord.
Now I have another question, is the SOL six, ten or 20 yrs. in NYstate? I've gotten mixed messages on this. Another thing, is there a difference between landlord/tenant disputes and other collection debts and the SOL?
Thanks again for your help in this matter. I will keep you'all posted on further developments in this matter. Jennysue

According to my records SOL for all debt, including written contracts which would include a lease, is 6 years. However, if you make a payment to this law firm you'll start the clock over. I suggest you tell them to pound sand and don't make any payments.