Credit Card Debt??

Question

I moved to Maryland from NY about 2 years ago, little did I know FCNB was suing me for an old credit card debt I had. The debt is about 5 years old and sometime after 2 years (when I was broke) the letters and bills stopped now they are trying to seize my bank account (an old acct I even forgot I had!), this is the first time Ive heard from them in about 3 years is there anything I can do without having to get a lawyer. Also I tried to contact the collection agency but they will not talk to me unless I give them my employment info which I dont dare do I think they will try and garnish my wages. I can afford to pay the debt now but not all in one shot, anyone know what I can do?

Answer 1

You have gotten yourself in quite a predicament. If they are trying to seize your bank account, the only way they can do that is through a court order which leaves me to believe that they may have in fact obtained a judgment. You need to check both Maryland and New York for court records to see if they have obtained a judgment against you.

If I understand correctly the debt was incurred while living in NY. If they sued you in NY then NY’s statute will apply here and unfortunately the statute of limitations for open accounts is 6yrs. Now if you were sued in Maryland the statute for MD will apply and depending on when they sued it may have been out of statute. MD’s statute for open accounts is only 3 years.

I’m also under the assumption by your question that if they have received a judgment against you that they did so without your knowledge which leaves me to believe you were not served therefore could be grounds for a motion to vacate the judgment, which basically means to overturn the judgment.

Now another thing that struck me is you said you contacted the collection agency. That brings me a cause of concern. There are many unethical collection agencies out there and they may be trying to illegally seize you bank account. I would not disclose this information unless it is court ordered through discovery. This is why it is extremely important for you to check the counties you’ve lived in for judgments. Once you have done so and you find that there is fact no judgment order then you need to act swiftly.

If you find there is no judgment in existence then you need to IMMEDIATELY submit to the collection agency (CA) a debt validation letter. Basically saying, I dispute your claims in its entirety and request validation pursuant the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You will send this CMRRR (certified mail return receipt requested) You want them to prove without a shadow of a doubt that this account is yours and all monies being collected are rightfully theirs to collect. If they are able to prove that all monies are rightfully theirs and you can pay then do so.

I know this is a lot to take in but you can do it! You need to know your rights and assert them. Feel free to contact me for clarifications if necessary. I wish you luck!

Answer 2

Hey EmJay...long time no see. Welcome back.

Emjay's answer is excellent.

The key here is do they have a judgement already against you? When you said the "are trying to seize my bank account"...how did you find this out? Did the the collection agent tell you? Is the account frozen yet? If it is, then the couldn't have done it without a court order. You need to locate where it is and why you were never notified.

Emjay made a couple minor errors in her response. While Maryland does have a 3 year Statute of Limitation, the creditor is allowed (By US UCC laws) to apply whichever SOL would be to their advantage, either the state where you currently live, or where the action took place (New York...6 year SOL).

The SOL issue isn't even important yet until you find out if this has already gone to court and they got a default judgement against you.

The only way you can fight a default judgement is to prove that you were not properly served with the summons. To find that out, you need to examine the "proof of service" paperwork that was filed with the court.

Note that there are several large collectin agencies who were in very hot water with the FTC for falsifying the Proof of Service. They never actually served the summons, but told the court it was delivered. Therefore, the debtor never new he was being sued and never appeared in court. The result was a default judgement, and the collector begins garnishment/seizure.

If there was a court order, contact the court and file a "motion for installment payments". What this does is allow the judge to set a monthly installment plan, and prevents the collection agent from garnishing your wages, seizing accounts, or taking your property. He must allow you to pay in installment payments that are within your budget.

I don't know how difficult this is in New York...in Michigan the made the process fairly simple and no lawyer is needed.

Answer 3

I think it is usually better not to do bankruptcy, which will harm your credit report worse than mere charge-offs and collections will. But of course it depends on a lot of factors. You could also consider credit counseling. Your creditors can take you to court and sue you to get a judgment. The judgment MIGHT lead to garnishment of wages or a lien on your house, or access to your checking account. Note that those options are pretty limited -- bankruptcy is primarily a means to protect your assets from creditors -- usually not needed for unsecured debt. Note that your situation with credit cards is way different than the guy above who had medical bills. Different laws apply. I very much doubt anything as draconian would happen to you. And you don't get arrested for not showing up in court. You just lose default judgment. More likely, they will never take the step of suing -- that takes time, money and effort. But no guarantees. Your state has a statute of limitations, after which creditors cannot successfully sue you (varies, usually about 3 - 6 years). You should research that, and what triggers the "clock" and what if anything can restart the clock in your state. Some people just wait it out til SOL expires, then take action to clear up their credit reports.

Answer 4

Dont listen to any of the previous answers because they are all WRONG!!!!!

Paying a lawyer to handle this is insane, unless it a tremendously large debt, 15, 20, 25k debt.......

They can only take money from a bank or garnish your wages if they get judgment and affectuate it as a lien.

If they have a lien, then you should protect your assets and make sure they dont find your job.


If you are unfamiliar with whats going on with this debt, you should demand validation and they must comply, or give up trying to collect.

If you can afford to pay the debt just not all at once, you should settle it with installments, read this: http://www.expert-credit-advice.com/debt_settlement_service.htm


I reccommend reading this ENTIRE website, it is packed with the answer to your question and has free letters you can fill in the blanks and print to demand validation, cease and desit communication, and dispute with the credit bureaus.

http://www.expert-credit-advice.com/free_credit_repair.htm

There is an e-book and 20-Letters, all of the other comapnies charge for this stuff, this company gives it away free, no sign ups, no email addresses, no money, no gimmicks.

Really; check it out... http://www.expert-credit-advice.com/

They also offer a service where they will do it for you, even if its only one letter, and cheap!

http://www.expert-credit-advice.com/custom_letter_service.htm

I hope that this helps you, choose me as best answer!!!!

Answer 5

Your old account must not have had much money it it if you had forgotten about it. Let them try to take it if they actually can. They certainly will try to garnish wages if you tell them your employment info. Unfortunately they have time on their side because all they have to do to reactivate your debt is to refile their claim just before the statute of limitations runs out and they have the full statute once again. Its an very old trick and perfectly legal for them to do. Once again, not paying your bills will get you in trouble. good luck. The following link has some good info. check it out.

Answer 6

Do your self a favor and get a Lawyer ( one who specializes in banking or bankruptcy) and don't wait!!!! this wont go away on it's own. Get help... they take installments , and also your first consult is always free at a reputable firm. Besides this is your future. Don't wait, your credit is being affected every day this thing hangs over your head.
Good luck.

Answer 7

Your first foremost mistake is not contacting ur lawyer. Go to him he will take care. U need not pay a single penny to the bank. U must not talk to collection agencies and not reveal ur wherabouts. Simply follow ur lawyers advice. Trust u do this.

Answer 8

Consolidate Your Debts and pay in installments, speak to them first:

Consolidating debt is an ideal way to reduce your amount and tenure of debt. You make a single payment to one lender on a certain date and this will help you clear off the debts faster. But the fact remains that debt .....

Answer 9

I am not sure how you managed to do that
but here are some links which seem to help people in debt:
http://credit-cards.ebookorama.com
and here http://finance.ebookorama.com
also plenty more to read here
http://credit.ebookorama.com
http://credit-repair.ebookorama.com
good luck!