[Mrsmac]

CA
I receieved a phone call today from a third party concerning a car my husband had repossessed sometime in 1996. I was speaking on behalf of my husband because he is currently deployed to Iraq and I have Power of Attorney. The person I was speaking to said the amount owed was $6,000 but they are willing to offer us a settlement of $3,000. If we deny the settlement, he said the car company would take my husband to court for the full $6,000 plus interest and fees. He said they would also charge him with malicious intent to fraud the banking industry. I first mentioned the statute of limitations since this happened in 1996 in North Carolina. He told me sometimes they can keep an account open for awhile after, but didn't the date the statute would start be the date it was repossessed? This was already reported on my husbands credit history and has already "fallen off" his credit report due to the initial reporting being over 7 years. Secondly, I told him they couldn't pursue any legal action against a deployed servicemen because of the Soldiers and Sailors relief act and the guy tried to tell me that since I held a Power of Attorney that didn't apply. He said I had to give him a yes or no answer now as to whether we would accept the settlement and if I refused to give an answer, he would take that as a no and he would put in the file that they should sue us. He also said that since I had POA they might make me show up in court. Do they have a leg to stand on?

[aaron]

If the debt is past the statute of limitations, that can be raised as a defense to any lawsuit. The threat of criminal charges sounds absurd.

You having a power of attorney doesn't affect the applicability of the SSCRA. Your holding power of attorney also doesn't make you a suitable substitute defendant for any litigation.

Consider filing a complaint (see the contact information here under "debt collection").