SOL and some help

[Prpledrms23]

What is the name of your state?I currently live in California. The debt was incurred in NM and I am a FL state resident (military) I was wondering what my statue of limitations would be on a credit card and I'm not sure how it applies because of the three different states. As well, here's the scenario.

I went to pay off the debt and Discover tells me I dont owe them anything, they never tell me it was charged off or in collections and I have never received anything in the mail or previous phone calls. The past month there have been messages on my machine from a guy with just a first name and phone number and no name of a company. I finally call them back. Apparently they are trying to reach a settlement of 600 and some bucks for 6 months and wont accept what I can pay of about 200 a month. And they say if I pay then 200 a month they will still start an investigation and send me to court. This company is Financial Recovery Service and their "client" is Credigy. They say Credigy doesn't take phone calls. My last payment on this credit card was May 2000. I have read my rights and they aren't in laymans terms and just looking for some help. I have no problem with paying this off but they wont work with me. Also, if I send a letter of validation what is included in that and how do I do it? This guy is real shady and told me to default on my car loan to pay him..Heck No!!! why default on a perfectly good loan to pay a measly little 1,000 dollar credit card off, which now is over 4,000 dollars to to interest. Thanks for any help, sorry for rambling on.

 

[Ladynred]

Well, to cover all bases - SOL in all 3 states for a credit card debt is 4 years. So, if you last paid before June of 2000, the SOL would already be up. If it was after that, its close to expiring.

Credigy is bad news when it comes to dirty tactics and their stooges at FRS are no better.

Find out exactly when you last paid on the Discover account. If you don't have records, pull your credit reports and look for a 'date of last activity' (Equifax). The charge-off date will get you close too, just subtract 180 days from the charge-off date, but DOLA is better. If the SOL has run out, you can send them a cease and desist letter telling them to go sit in a choya patch - the debt is time-barred and they are never to contact you about the debt again.

Believe it or not, paying this won't help your credit and could actually HURT it, it surely won't help your scores. Once the SOL expires, the can sue you, but you have an affirmative defense in the expried SOL to have it thrown out of court.

If the SOL has NOT run out, validation would work to stall them until it does run out and also make them come up with proof - a copy of the cc agreement with YOUR signature on it and a COMPLETE accounting of all charges and payments made to the account - for the life of the account.

You can find info on validation, along with sample letters, at www.creditinfocenter.com

 

[Prpledrms23]

Thanks soo much for replying so soon and the help you have gave me. My last payment date (according to them) was May 5, 2000 and it was charged off the following November. So my SOL has run out? Now I am understanding what you say, to write them a letter and tell them it has run out and leave me alone? And if they do take me to court make sure I let the judge know about the sol?? I will try and contact Discover and see if they can send me any files on it that they have. Will that be helpful. I am really lacking in knowledge when it comes to the law and try and research stuff my self, however, dont understand too much lawful jargen. Thanks once again.

S

P.S. They have never sent me anything in the mail and I never signed anything saying I would pay any amount.

 

[Ladynred]

1 - Do NOT rely on anything a debt collector tells you, they will tell you anything in order to make you pay. If you don't have any records of the Discover account, then get your credit reports ASAP, one from each of the 3 credit bureaus.

2 - Do NOT ask Discover for anything, they're going to ignore you anyway, they no longer own the debt, Credigy does.

3 - If the date of your last payment to Discover really WAS in May 5, 2000, then, yes, the SOL has expired, but just. It would have expired by July 5, 2004.
Get your credit reports and check the date.

If the 5 May 2000 date IS correct, then send the this cease and desist letter:
http://community-2.webtv.net/YCHANGE/STORAGE/page13.html

The state statutes you need to fill out the letter are on that same site.

 

[Prpledrms23]

I am soo sorry to be full of questions as you already have been a great deal of help. I just want to be sure of one thing. The credit card was obtained in NM around 98' in early 2000 I joined the military and didnt get to California until Oct 2001. I have been trying to find out if it matters on the SOL b/t moving and such, like the SOL clock being reset. My search has gotten me no where and I have searched dozen of webpages include the state government laws. I am starting to feel better about this...Thanks once again, for your help!!! Oh yeah one last note, before I did my research it is a debt that I do know I owe and acknowedlged it through the original debtor and was trying to work on a payment plan with him as I have tried to pay ths debt off before but he wasnt too willing to take my amount saying I had to pay 25% of it to keep the investigaion from getting started. If I did pay the amount I want to pay they would still start an investigation and take me to court. Is this just a scare tactic and did I just screw myself? He never said anything about taping the conversation.

 

[Ladynred]

He might not have said anything about taping, but you can bet it WAS recorded.

The SOL defense would come in if you were sued. They can only sue you in the state where the account was opened or where you live now. Nothing resets the SOL except a payment and in some states even that doesn't reset it. IF you were sued, it would likely be where you are NOW and you'd use the CA laws in your defense.

This thing about an 'investigation' is crap, its a scare tactic as it intimidates far too many people and they freak out.

As long as you haven't paid them ANYTHING, the SOL is NOT reset. Stop talking to them on the phone, there is no law that says you have to. Verify the date of last activity and then send the SOL letter I gave you if the expiration has passed.

 

[Prpledrms23]

Thanks for all your help so far. I have already sent the validation letter off to FRS so if they can validated with the huge list I have requested than I guess send off the SOL letter?? Because when they get the VL they can't collect or take me to court right?

 

[Ladynred]

Correct. Be ready to keep a log, they will likely violate the law anyway.

 

[Prpledrms23]

Already keeping the log...thanks for your help...I'll keep you updated....