Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

You have potentially numerous options. You've described deceptive statements that were made to you to either get you to agree to the contract or to get you to make a payment. Your description of what was said to get you to enter the contract is vague, but it sounds like some sort of false or misleading promise was made about a WalMart card. You appear to clearly say that later someone lied to you about allowing cancellation just to get you to make a payment.

If deceptive statements were made to you to get you to enter a contract and pay money, you may have a case for relief under the New York Deceptive Acts and Practices Act, General Business Law 349, which prohibits deceptive business practices oriented towards consumers; and you may also have fraud claims and the right to void the contract for fraud. In addition to contacting an attorney to evaluate these possibilities, you may consider contacting the New York State Attorney General's Consumer Protection division, which has complaint forms that can be used to make a complaint of deceptive business practices. After receiving the complaint the AG office generally will send it to the company and request that the company look into it and respond. The Better Business Bureau where the company is located may have a similar process, if it is a member of the BBB.

In the event that you are contacted by debt collectors, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) gives you the right to dispute the debt, demand validation, and demand that the collector "cease and desist" all further contact, which you should do in writing promptly after being contacted. If they don't then stop contacting you, or if they do anything else that is misleading, unfair, or disrespectful, you may be able to sue them under the FDCPA and obtain "statutory" damages of up to $1,000 plus any other damages you suffered as a result of their collection activity.

In the event that this is reported on your credit as a past due account, you have the right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to dispute it to the credit bureaus, which will contact the company and require it to respond. If it reaffirms the debt, you may be able to sue the company for violating that law. These are all the sort of lawsuit I would suggest you discuss with a consumer attorney to evaluate them.

If you are sued for the amount they claim you owe, the circumstances you have described may be raised in the lawsuit as a defense of "fraud in the inducement." If you do receive court papers about a lawsuit, no matter how you receive them (i.e., mail or finding them on your doorstep), you should discuss them promptly with an attorney or, if you plan to handle them yourself, respond promptly as set forth in the papers.