Sued for Credit Card Debt, and About to Move Out-of-State
My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Florida
Hello everyone! :wallbang: This site has been a great source of knowledge for me, and hopefully someone will be able to help me be better prepared in regards to the following:
This morning, a relative that I am temporarily staying with informed me that someone attempted to serve me a summons from Chase. I am about to move in a few days to a different state for a military-related matter, so my relative covered for me and informed the representative that I moved and he wasn't sure where I was.
I checked the County Clerk of Courts website, and sure enough, there is an open civil matter against me, filed a few days ago, from Midland Funding LLC.
I reviewed my recent credit report, and Midland Funding LLC has apparently purchased my $13,000 credit card debt from Chase.
The original Chase credit card account was opened in Massachusetts in 2003. I currently live in Florida, and I am fairly certain (off the top of my head) that any last payment that I made to Chase was possibly in 2007/2008 (the account has long since been closed), which I believe has circled -- if not surpassed -- the statue of limitations for this debt.
Regardless, after researching some options, I have sent a certified/tracked validation letter request, via 2nd Day Air, to the address listed on my credit report for Midland Funding LLC (in San Diego, California), politely demanding that they validate/confirm all of the debt-related details from Chase over the past years.
I will continue to monitor the County Clerk of Courts website for pending status updates, but as of now, I will be moving around a bit due to the military/training, so I don't know what they will attempt to do. I really hope that Midland doesn't state that I rejected a summons when in fact I never received it!
Obviously, I know I screwed up. I plan to resolve all of the debts that I have, but I just can't afford to do so at the moment. Once I have some military aspects taken care of, I should be able to seriously tackle the debt in another year or so.
Thank you in advance for your time -- I really appreciate it. Any advice/recommendations/suggestions that you may have for me would be welcomed. Thanks again!
Re: Summons for Credit Card Debt/SOL/Moving -- Advice
The SOL for credit card debt for Massachusetts is 6 years. That time would start from 2007/2008, whenever you made the last payment or when it was charged off. You might want to look into this. "Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) Protects Active Duty Military Personnel From Default Judgment"...The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), signed into law on December 19, 2003, limits collection tactics and enforcement of claims against active duty military personnel.
Re: Summons for Credit Card Debt/SOL/Moving -- Advice
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johnb123
The SOL for credit card debt for Massachusetts is 6 years. That time would start from 2007/2008, whenever you made the last payment or when it was charged off. You might want to look into this. "Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) Protects Active Duty Military Personnel From Default Judgment"...The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), signed into law on December 19, 2003, limits collection tactics and enforcement of claims against active duty military personnel.
Thank you, johnb123, I appreciate your time and insight! I plan to contact Chase, the original debtor, on Monday to inquire as to the exact payment/charge off date specifics.
Thanks for mentioning the SCRA. Unfortunately, I am not Active Duty, nor will I be on Active Duty orders for at least a month or longer, so that factor will probably not help me very much. :) I'll see what the result is with my Chase inquiry on Monday, as well as with my Debt Validation letter. In the meantime, let's see if Midland can keep up with me... :friendly_wink:
Re: Sued for Credit Card Debt, and About to Move Out-of-State
The SCRA will not apply sa he is not overseas. They also attempted to serve at your address and were lied to. Without digging up the laws, you moving may delay statute of limitations as may the lie about your address.
Re: Summons for Credit Card Debt/SOL/Moving -- Advice
The fact that you might be on duty later, may help you. Also look into, if you were on duty when the judgement was filed, if that would help your case.
Re: Summons for Credit Card Debt/SOL/Moving -- Advice
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johnb123
The fact that you might be on duty later, may help you.
SCRA only delays the matter. OP is still going to have to worry about it for a while.
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johnb123
Also look into, if you were on duty when the judgement was filed, if that would help your case.
There is no judgment. Only a suit has been filed within the past couple of days, which OP indicated they are not currently on active duty.
Re: Summons for Credit Card Debt/SOL/Moving -- Advice
Don't be surprised if Chase doesn't speak to you also. More than likely the debt was purchased from Chase for a few cents on the dollar by Midland. You will possibly have to contact Midland for any information on the debt.
Re: Summons for Credit Card Debt/SOL/Moving -- Advice
Good to see you're going to fight this. The more you do, the less likely they are to follow through on any judgement. Also look up cases of Midland Funding, they've had some major legal issues against them. Check to see if they even have the right to collect in Florida. The SCRA may prevent them from garnishing your wages.