Going to court for a REPO.

[Ossi]

I live in Colorado. Ok.. when i was 18 got a car it blew up in a month. They would not take it back so i had to get a loan to get the engine fixed so now i had two loans out at 18. Basically i could not handle it so i got the car repossesed. Now i know I should of taken care of this along time ago but ... i didn't. They auctioned the car and got all of the money but $5,000.00 so they want me to pay that. Ofcourse i felt cheated and have not paid it for 9 years. Then a man finally came to the door with some papers i had to sign for basically letting me know my upcoming court date. I guess my question is what is going to happen and is there still time to lets say .. file bankruptcy or perhaps will they let me set up a payment plan still with no interest on it? I just never been here befor and would like some light on the whole subject.

Thank you.

 

[TiredandCranky1]

Try for a Settlement

See if they will work out a settlement with you. You might not have to pay all of the 5000 Offer them about 2000 and see if they accept. You may even be able to settle out of court.
Unless you can prove in court that the car was a lemon and you tried to return it, and you kept the reciept for the engine repairs and loan papers for the work. I would work out a settlement.

 

[misslawli]

Is there no Statute of Limitations?? I don't know much of this subject but maybe this will bump you to the top so that we both find the answer. I would think that SOL should have run out long ago and they should have filed a suit way back when.

 

[Ladynred]

NINE YEARS ???? The Statute of Limitations in CO for a written contract is SIX years. The SOL has expired and you have an affirmative defense to get the whole lawsuit thrown out of court.

Go to your court date and almost the first thing out of your mouth when asked about your liabilty for this debt is -'your honor, per CO statute, this debt is time barred the statute of limitations expired 3 years ago !'

Take along with any proof you have that no payments have been made in 9 years, just in case its challenged. Its up to THEM to prove its NOT out of statute.

If you are required to file an Answer to the lawsuit, use the expired statute of limitations in your Answer as your 1st affirmative defense. Make the rest of your Answer a general denial of all allegations.

 

[Ossi]

SOL Reset?

Thanks alot for you inputs : ) I thank you for lending me your thoughts. I was just told the CO SOL can basically be reset as in... your debt is sold to another debt collector and that inturns resets the SOL .. so example. My debt started in 98 lets say and gets sold in 2002. Even though it was 2 years shy of the 6 year mark it now is reset to needing 6 more years to reach the SOL.. is this true?

Thanks again : )

Thankful for people like you : )

 

[misslawli]

Granted I am no lawyer, but from researching and reading other posts here, that's not how ith works. If the DOLA(date of last activity) was in '98 thatst when the SOL starts. It only resets if you make a payment or make a written contract to make payments. Hopefully someone will be along to confirm this soon, or set us both straight.

 

[Tayla]

Misslawli is correct in the response. SOL's don't get reset (restarted) simply because they get sold to another collector or agency. Do as LadyNRed suggested. Above all Respond to the complaint , so often they get default judgements because folks figure they are in the right and dont want to be bothered by litigations. The agency is hoping you'll be one of those! Take Action.

 

[JETX]

And of course, I agree with Ladynred.

I would add the following:
File your written answer to the suit as suggested by LIR. Send a copy to the court and one to the opposing attorney.
After a few days (if time allows), contact the attorney and ask him if he is going to file a motion to dismiss based on the fact that the debt is time-barred. If he says yes, then have him send a copy to you.... and call the court to confirm it was filed.
If he says no, then tell him you will file a claim against him for filing a frivolous and unfounded lawsuit and ask for sanctions. Kick THEM in the ass for a change!!