Being sued

[kass1690]

I am from Pennsylvania. I recently received a letter from the district judges office that I was being sued for an old credit card debt. I have several questions. First, the notification only said that I needed to notify the district judge's office if I planned to defend against this lawsuit they did not say anything about answering the summons. I did notify the court that I plan to defend, does this mean that I admitted to owing the debt? Also, I know that the debt is past the statue of limitations, however the only proof I have is from my credit report that shows a date of status as 12/2000. All the other dates apply to when the debt was put in the hands of the collection agency. Is this enough proof that the debt is past the SOL. Can I instead demand that the lawyers for the CA provide the proof that this is still within the SOL? My court date is 1/19/07. Is there anything I should do before then, as in trying to get the collection agency to validate the date, or should I just wait until I appear in court?

[seniorjudge]

Q: First, the notification only said that I needed to notify the district judge's office if I planned to defend against this lawsuit they did not say anything about answering the summons.

A: That is answering the summons.


Q: I did notify the court that I plan to defend, does this mean that I admitted to owing the debt?

A: It depends on what you said.


Q: Also, I know that the debt is past the statue of limitations, however the only proof I have is from my credit report that shows a date of status as 12/2000. All the other dates apply to when the debt was put in the hands of the collection agency. Is this enough proof that the debt is past the SOL.

A: See below.


Q: Can I instead demand that the lawyers for the CA provide the proof that this is still within the SOL? My court date is 1/19/07. Is there anything I should do before then, as in trying to get the collection agency to validate the date, or should I just wait until I appear in court?

A: See below.



Standard answer on expired SOL (statute of limitation) and/or validation and/or dispute letters. There are thousands of posts similar to yours on this forum so I have prepared a standard answer.

SOL (Statutes of limitation are DEFENSES to lawsuits; they do NOT provide a method to stop someone from suing you. This defense means when they sue you, you answer with the defense that it is barred by the SOL.)

http://www.bcsalliance.com/y_debt_sol.html

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/...te-letter.html


Validation letter samples you can get at :
www.creditinfocenter.com
and www.creditboards.com

Make sure you ask for VALIDATION (and do not accept verification).


Disputes: You can write a letter of dispute to the three credit reporting agencies.

Go this website to find instructions and samples for how to dispute: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/creditreports/

Sometimes errors are easy to remove and sometimes they stick like glue. It is inexpensive to try and not difficult.

I am NOT a creditor-debtor lawyer; stand by for further help.

I am NOT vouching for the accuracy of these websites!

Debt settlement:

http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=293829

[kass1690]

When I talked the court clerk, all I said was that I would appear to defend against the lawsuit. I guess the biggest question I have is what proof do I need to have with me to show that this debt is past the Sol, or can I just ask that the CA's lawyer validate the date at the time of the hearing. I don't think I will have time to get validation of the date before I have to appear in court, if the CA will even give it to me.

[Mr. Knowitall]

The statute of limitations is ordinarily an affirmative defense, meaning that it is up to you to properly raise the issue with the court. Normally this is done in writing, and is submitted along with your answer to the complaint. Ask the court clerk if they can show you an answer and affirmative defenses from another collections case, so you can get an idea of how to file your own.

[lwpat]

Normally you have to respond in writing, just talking to the clerk is not sufficient.

[kass1690]

When I received the notice of hearing, they said that I had 10 days to respond if I intended to defend , so if I didn't get the letter to use the SOL defense in by then, does that mean I can't use it. The ten day deadline is gone and all I did was say that I plan to defend. I know I should have contacted a lawyer, but I don't have the money for that.