Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

My neighbor came knocking on my door a couple of nights ago with her landline phone in her hand. It was a phone call for me; a delivery person asking where to drop off legal documents for me. I asked him what they were and he didn't know, but gave me a phone number to call. A man answered and told me that Wells Fargo is collecting my credit card debt from 10 years ago (i lived in California; now i live in PA), and that I was going to court and probably getting my wages garnished/possible liens. I have some family issues going on now and my i was very stressed out, so i'm not sure what i said. i may have admitted it WAS my debt (some things i'm reading on this site tell me i'm not supposed to do that??). He asked me if i could afford $195 on Monday and then $105/month until the debt was paid off. i said i could, and he told me that he would go back to wells fargo with that request to see if it would be approved. he also emailed me a document to digitally sign by monday (tomorrow), which i haven't done yet. i'm not sure what to do...is this actually a representative of wells fargo coming after me 10 years later, or did they sell my debt to collectors, and is this guy trying to scare me or do i need to pay what he suggested? Does the SOL apply here as well? thank you


Asked on 12/18/16, 10:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

That was stupid. Never ever agree to the terms posed by some debt collector, particularly one who has such low regard for the FDCPA such that they are harassing your neighbors. PA has a mini-version of it which even applies to creditors. And 10 years later? You mean to tell me its been 10 years since you last paid? The debt is barred by the statute of limitations and most likely has been sold to a junk debt buyer. Without reviewing the paper, I cannot advise you, but I sure would not be signing until I let a lawyer look at it and give me advice. There is no wage garnishment in PA for a credit card or personal loan debt. And for a debt to become a lien, judgment has to be entered. The statute of limitations is 4 years in PA. Your debt is over twice that old. Assuming that is true, there is not going to be a judgment ever as no lawyer would touch that.

I hope that you did not sign and can have this paper reviewed by a lawyer. Lawrence Rubin is in your area. From his website, he seems to eat these scavenger debt collectors for lunch. They will end up paying you money for violating the FDCPA and or PA's law. You need to see a lawyer who specializes in this stuff.

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Answered on 12/20/16, 9:26 pm


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