Zombie Sheriffs Office

[PLUMCRAZY]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FLORIDA


My mother gets a phone call from a sheriff (?) looking for me, he has to serve me with papers. He gives my mother a number to call (866) and a bogges looking case number. so I call the number and tell the women the guys name and she sez "oo thats civil". suddenly my call is routed to a debt collector, "she sez I owe (4k) money on an account and if I don't pay I will be getting served". I stall her to see if this is true. I check old credit records from 5 years ago (when I was Married) find nothing. Then we get disconnected. Suddenly my phone rings and I notice the number. Later I check it is a northern cal area code. I am getting real suspicious now. I tell her I need to validate the loan. SO I jump on line and start checking the county clerk records to see if anything was filed against me....Nothing.
So i call the 866 number and ask for the county clerks office to see what they will say. The women start stuttering and sez no this is a law office (same women I talked to the first time). They can't tell me the origin of the loan and then tells me they don't call people!!!
MY WORRY is this could be from my marriage. This debt is over 5 years old, if it is valid (past the statue of limitations in florida). I worked really hard to pay off all my creditor / judgements after my divorce. If i get served I want to fight this. They scared the sh** out of my mom and me. I thought my son was in trouble. Any advice on fighting this should it go to court. My worry is some skank lawyer will try to fight this in florida. I pay > 1k amonth for child support. My hours just got cut. I can't afford to pay some zombie debt.

[Debt Guy]

An interesting story. Was there a question buried somewhere in the obfuscation?

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by Debt Guy

An interesting story. Was there a question buried somewhere in the obfuscation?

Yes.

The question was, "Can I get out of paying my bills?"

[Debt Guy]

The question was, "Can I get out of paying my bills?"

Oh. OK.

The first thing to figure out is if the debt is past the statute of limitations. SOL in FL is 5 years. SOL begins to run from the date of first default. Generally, DOFD is 30 days after the last payment you made on the account. So, figure out the date of last payment and you can reasonably determine if the debt is out of statute.

If OOS, you have an affirmative defense if sued. You can still be sued. In that case you file an ANSWER (a responsive legal pleading) and assert your time-barred defense. Assuming that the Plaintiff cannot prove differently (skanky lawyers will try) then the judge will dismiss the case and everyone goes out for ice cream. Well, maybe not that last.

If the debt is not OOS, then you need to determine if you have any other defenses. Having a worthless ex is neither unusual or a valid legal defense.

In the event that you lose (or drop the ball and fail to respond to the summons properly) then the court will award a judgment. A garnishment is possible. In FL the wages of the head of household are exempt from garnishment. Are you the head of household?

My advice would be to clam down. I assume someone is trying to sue you. Fine. It is what it is. Go ahead and accept service so you can figure out exactly what you have. You will only hurt yourself if you try to dodge the service or ignore the matter. Ignorance is definitely not bliss. Just deal with the problem like a mature adult and go with the flow.

Once you have some facts, come back and ask questions.