Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Letter from collection agency
I recieved a letter from a collection agency involving a cell phone I never had. Went to court the case was non suited( I thought it was dismissed). This was in May,1996. The cellular company had an attorney I advised him I never had a cell phone nor did I authorize my information to be used to obtain one. It is now 11 years later and now they are trying to collect even after going to court. According to the statues I have found on any written contract it has a 5 years if the account is still open or from the last 3 charges/payment. There was never a judgement issued. I was under the assumption it was done at that point. But I guess not. What about the years that have passed and the statues regarding the time frame issues.?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Letter from collection agency
So, you show up at the scheduled hearing and plead the affirmative defense of a statute of limitations that in this case has apparently run its course.
Your further request to the court should be that the case be dismissed, this time with prejudice.
Re: Letter from collection agency
When you say that "they are trying to collect even after going to court", I take it to mean that you have received a collection letter of some sort. If that's what you mean then it is not so unsual. Debt collectors frequently try to collect on old debts that are beyond the statute of limitations. Of course it is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, but most people don't know that. The question is what have they done to try to collect? If they initiate a lawsuit (which they rarely do for old debts) then you can defend by explaining to the judge that it's beyond the statute of limitations or better still get a consumer attorney to represent you and counter their lawsuit with your own based on their violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If they put it on your credit report, then you can ask them to remove it and ask the credit reporting agency (Experian, Transunion and Equifax)to remove it. If they refuse then you or better still your attorney could file a lawsuit against the collector and the credit reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. My best advice, consult with a consumer law attorney.
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