Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina
I have to answer a civil summons for credit card debt in Forsyth county nc. This is a collector that purchased this account from original debtor. The amount is $875. The doa is 9/2009. Thing is I DO NOT remember this card at all! From the documents attached to summons I can't tell anything. It is one statement with no purchases. There is a debit showing on statement they took out for over limit or something. If I could see what all was charged maybe it would help. The other paper they show is a bill of sale where they purchased a bulk of accounts from original debtor but does not state the account they are suing me for. It's very generic. Then the balance from statement skips up almost $400 from $ 500 to 900. My question is on my answer can I state not enough information to form a decision or does it have to say agree or deny? Bcuz in the numbered allegations they state thing like "the plaintiff is duly licensed as a collection agency in nc by department of insurance & has been issued permit number 4132". Now how can answer if that is true or not? All together there are 17 under "the plaintiff, complaining of the defendant, alleges & says as follows" they also make the statement on number 16 that the generic letter "exhibit b" is a copy of the assignment of the account to them. Nowhere does it say anything about this account. I just don't feel comfortable knowing I may have to pay something that I don't know what it is or even if they really own the account. Do I file for discovery when I file my answer? Sorry I know this is long.
1 Answer from Attorneys
I am not a litigation attorney and for situations where a client has no valid defenses (like the statute of limitations or something similar) litigation does not make sense when a creditor is trying to collect on the debt. You can go through the process and still wind up with a judgment against you.
Given the amount of the debt, it would be more productive for you to settle. If the debt was last paid (not date of last activity on your credit report) 3 or more years ago (so on or before 7/25/2012) then the debt is barred. In such case, you should quit trying to do this pro se and higher a lawyer near you to draft an answer. You might want to try attorney Chris Lane as he is in your area. His contact informatioin is:
Mr. Christopher D. Lane
3802 Clemmons Road Suite A
Clemmons State NC 27012
Phone 336-766-8085
Fax 336-766-9145
Balances grow with interest, late fees and over the limit fees so this does not surprise me.
Checking a licensee's collection status is easy - there is a link for this at the NC Dept. of Insurance (www.ncdoi.com). You can check on the license status of any collection agency doing business in NC. They are required to be licensed so if they are licensed you will be able to admit or deny.
You can deny the allegations about the debt in your answer. However, you will have to create your own discovery (interrogatories, requests for admissions or requests for production of documents).
Surely you must have an idea as to whether this is a credit card which you had and defaulted on. If there is a chance its your debt, my advice would be to try to settle this rather then spend money on a lawyer. However, if you have valid defenses (lack of proof of ownership, for example), you really think this is not your debt, then by all means you need to litigate. But don't go it alone. This is not something you do yourself. You will be held to the same standards as an attorney. If you do not file a proper answer with the court, judgment will be entered against you. At least pay an attorney to draft the answer for you.
If you are interested in resolving the debt in a non-litigation context, please contact me at [email protected].
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