Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

Served by the Sheriff over an old credit card debt

Started with calls to my parents, stating that a law office was looking for me and wanted to discuss an important legal matter. Then calls to my sister. Then I, finally get a letter stating I owe $584. I called,spoke to them - found out the bill is almost 3 years old (07/06/2005, last date of activity) I tell them I--name removed--almost sure this was paid, they say - they have no way of knowing and they don't care,and interest is accruing at something like 31 cents a day. I tell them I need at least two weeks to research and we agree to ''talk'' again on 06/24. (oh, I also told them to please stop calling people that have no business knowing about an ''important legal matter.'' They said they did that because they couldn't contact me. The day after this call, the sheriff came knocking - civil judgement. And now, today (about a week after my call to the lawyers) I received ANOTHER letter from the same law office (Brock & Scott, in Winston Salem, NC) stating that this ''new'' letter is correcting the previous letter - the correct amount is now $830. (plus interest and attorney's fees?) What in the world??? What can I do?? Ignore this and hope it all goes away? Do they really only have 3 years to collect? Do I just pay when/how I can??


Asked on 6/19/08, 8:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jeff Rosner Rosner Law Firm P.A.

Re: Served by the Sheriff over an old credit card debt

I'll tell you one thing you do not do - ignore it. It will not go away - you will get a judgment against you.

You have been served with a lawsuit. This is a serious matter that can affect your credit and they can also attempt to execute against your property depending on what assets you have (if they win).

If you feel this is not a valid debt and/or that the statute of limitations has expired, you can fight it. In order to do so, you must respond to the summons and fight it in court. You can either hire an attorney or do it yourself. You may want to do some research or purchase a self help book. You have 30 days to file an answer from the date you were served. You can file a motion for an extension of an additional 30 days. You must raise the statute of limitations defense in your answer or you will risk losing it. If you do not feel this is valid, you DO NOT WANT TO admit the validity of the debt and/or make any partial payments. If it is valid, you can try to call the creditor's attorney and see if you can work out a payment plan.

Finally, you may want to research the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to see if you have any valid counterclaims against the creditor. You should type in "fair debt collection" on google.

- Jeff

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Answered on 6/19/08, 9:12 pm


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