Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey

Civil Action for Credit Card Debt

I recently answered a complaint against me in the NJ Superior Court Special Civil Part for charged off credit card debt. The high balance on my card before it was charged off was under $5,000 and the charge off amount was around $6,300. The amount I am being sued for is almost $8,000.

My question is this: I know the collection company paid only pennies on the dollar to purchase my charged off account. Do I have any legal defense based on the dollar amount they are trying to get? In other words: If they only paid $630 to purchase my $6300 account, can I go to court and say I only owe them $630 dollars?

I do have a settlement offer for $4,700 that I am considering as well.

Also, has anyone ever challenged the legality of this type of action; with regard to the act of buying someone’s debt and then suing them for much more than you really paid for that debt?


Asked on 10/10/07, 12:35 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Jef Henninger, Esq Law Offices of Jef Henninger, Esq.

Re: Civil Action for Credit Card Debt

Its legal for them to do. Its called an assignment. If you owe me $50 I can sell that to anyone for whatever I want and you now owe someone else that same amount of money regardless of what I sold it for. I suggest you speak to an attorney.

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Answered on 10/10/07, 4:20 pm
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Re: Civil Action for Credit Card Debt

Mr. Henninger has addressed your question regarding the sale of the debt. The collection charges are a matter of contract law. Without a written contract, the creditor would be able to collect only the underlying debt with interest. However, when you applied for credit, you probably signed a contract by which you agreed to pay the costs of collection including reasonable attorney fees if they had to come after you. So, the collection company is only seeking what you agreed to pay. Of course, the question of how much is real cost and what attorney fees might be reasonable is a matter on which there may be a difference of opinion. You are within your rights to ask a judge to review the charges. The fact that a lawyer may be more successful than you in getting these charges reduced is one reason why you may want to retain a lawyer to help you.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 10/10/07, 5:04 pm


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