Which sol do I go by?

[J7594]

What is the name of your state? PA

Please forgive me. I'm new here and not sure if I'm doing this right.
O.K., here goes. A debt collector is trying to sue me for a credit card that I haven't made any payments on since Aug. of 2000. My account agreement states that no matter where I live, the agreement and my account are governed by New Hampshire law. Do I go by my sol (PA-6yrs. I think), or by NH(3 yrs.)
Someone please help!

 

[Ladynred]

ARE they suing you ?? Have you been served with a Summons and Complaint ??

SOL in PA is FOUR years for a credit card, not 6. If they ARE suing you in PA, then the PA SOL is likely what's going to apply, that is what is most typical.

 

[J7594]

ARE they suing you ?? Have you been served with a Summons and Complaint ??

SOL in PA is FOUR years for a credit card, not 6. If they ARE suing you in PA, then the PA SOL is likely what's going to apply, that is what is most typical.

Yes, they did serve the summons and complaint. The exact date of last payment is down as 8/7/00 on one affidavit and 8/11/00 on another. Since PA SOL is 4 yrs., I wouldn't be safe until at least 8/7/04, right? They filed the lawsuit on 7/21/04. The court date is set for 8/23/04. Did I miss the SOL by 1 month or could I still fight it? By the time I go to court the SOL would have expired by 11 days.

 

[Ladynred]

By filing the suit by 7/21 THEY beat the SOL expiration by a month, which is all they need to do

Still, your best bet is a general denial of the allegations in the Complaint and challenge them to produce proof in court.

 

[J7594]

Do you think I could use the NH SOL defense, since my credit card agreement says ," No matter where you live, this Agreement and your Account are governed by federal law and by New Hampshire law". Also, does anyone know what this means? In my account agreement, under the "Waiver of Certain Rights" section, it says,"You waive: the right to presentment, demand, protest, or notice of dishonor; any applicable SOL; and any right you may have to require us to proceed against anyone before we sue you".
It's from Providian National Bank. Does the part about "any applicable SOL" mean that they're saying my SOL for PA doesn't count and only NH laws count? I'm lost.

 

[J7594]

By filing the suit by 7/21 THEY beat the SOL expiration by a month, which is all they need to do

Still, your best bet is a general denial of the allegations in the Complaint and challenge them to produce proof in court.

What kind of proof do they need? All that was attached to the summons was 2 affidavits and a newer version of the account agreement. Is this enough for them or do they need more?
Does the fact that they have 2 different dates down as being the last payment mean anything?

 

[Ladynred]

Its unlikely a judge is going to accept another state's SOL. You can try it, but don't be surprised if you get shot down, you're not in NH and a PA judge is not going to know NH law, nor will he try. You're being sued in PA, use PA law !

The part about the account being governed by NH law is in regard to their handling of the account, NOT your LEGAL rights in the state where you live.

As for that waiver, I don't know that they can take away your legal rights that way. Its also unlikely that their lawyer is going to be picking apart the agreement the way you are - you owe them money and they want it. Most of these lawyers are local stooges they hire to sue you in your state. They know NOTHING accept what they are given and rarely have ANY valid proof. They expect to win by default w/o you ever showing up in court. If you fight them and show up in court, 99% of the time they are unprepared.

There can be only ONE 'last payment' date and if you don't have any records of exactly when that was, then you're sunk for sure. Pull your credit reports, now ! Its not unusual for them to fabricate a 'last payment' so you must be certain of when it ACTUALLY was.

The affidavits don't mean squat unless they are signed by an actual Providian person who had personal knowledge of your account and its history. *I* could swear that you owe money - and it wouldn't mean any more than the CA 'swearing' that they know they have the account and the $ amount.

A generic agreement w/o your signature doesn't prove its yours nor do their affidavits. What they provided isn't proof, its bullcrap. What have they provided to prove the amount they're suing for ?? Is there a complete accounting ?? No... so I can walk up to you and hand you a piece of paper that says you owe $xxxx.xx and you'll pay me ?? I don't think so, yet that is what they've done !

 

[J7594]

Date of Last Activity vs. Last Payment Date

Thankyou so much Ladynred. I did pull my credit report and I have 3 different dates for Date of Last Activity. Providian says 8/2000, The Credit Store says 9/2000, and LHR says 1/2000. How can this be? I don't see Last Payment Date anywhere. It's from Equifax. Do the others tell you this info?
Also, the 2 affidavits are signed from collection agencies. They did put after 1 signature, "President". There is nothing from Providian themselves.
If I need a Last Payment Date, where can I get that? The SOL is so close, I don't want to mess this up!
If by chance things go bad for me, I've heard of being found "Judgement Proof ". Does anybody know what this is or means? TIA!

 

[Ladynred]

Providian says 8/2000, The Credit Store says 9/2000, and LHR says 1/2000. How can this be? I don't see Last Payment Date anywhere. It's from Equifax. Do the others tell you this info?

Credit Store ? LHR ?? Who are they ?
Pull 1 report from each of the 3 CRA's, do NOT get a 3-in-one. The date that's important is the 'date of last activity' on the PROVIDIAN trade-line. Equifax DOES give a DOLA. What is the charge-off date on Providian ?? Take that date and subtract 180 days and you'd have the start of the SOL.

Like I said before, their 'affidavits' are nothing more than T.P. - they prove NOTHING.

Judgment proof - few people are truly judgment proof permanently. If you have no job (no wages), no assets they can seize, no bank accounts, then you are bascially judgment proof - you have nothing they can take from you. However, judgments can stick around for a long, long time and you may not be 'judgment proof' forever and when you situation changes, they will be there to pounce.

 

[J7594]

The Credit Store, LHR, Belmont Financial Services,and a couple others, are all collection agencies who have tried to collect the debt. Belmont is the current one. The Date of Last Activity for Providian is 8/2000.This is basically it :

Date Opened: 1/2000
Date Reported: 2/2002
Date of Last Activity: 8/2000
Rate or Status: 120 or more days past due
High Credit: $1950
Terms or Monthly Payment: $77
Balance: $0
Past Due: $0
Months Reviewed: 25

And the funny thing is, is that they reported to Equifax that I was still paying them 8/00- 9/00, and then they reported that I was paying from 4/01-1/02 under the 24- month payment history, which I never did.
As for Providian doing the charge-off, I don't think they ever did. LHR says I owe $2638 , The Credit Store says $2740, Belmont says $2638.46. I wonder which one it actually is. TIA