Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Third Party
A debt collector contacted my mom by mail and told her to call them. They said she owed a debt of 10,000.00 on a mastercard. They said she hasn't made a payment since 1997. My mother is 80, and she doesn't remember the debt. My parents toke out a reverse mortgage and paid all of their debt except this one. She still claims she doesn't owe this debt. The collector contacted the Reverse Mortgage agent. At the closing, the agent told me to call the debt collector, and to give him my parents bank account routing number, and account number. I did it without my parents permission. My name is on the account too. My parents said they were not going to pay a debt they didn't owe.They believe someone got a credit card in their name. So my parents and I closed the account without paying the 10,000.00. The debt collector is calling me everyday for two weeks threatening to take me to court for fraud. It's not my money. If my parents refuse to pay this debt, there is nothing I can do. Can he take me to court for fraud because the account was closed and he could not withdraw the money electronically?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Third Party
They can take you to court for whatever they want, but it does not seem that you committed fraud. However, the fact that you did not owe the underlying debt does not mean that you could not have fraudulently induced them to take or not take certain actions based on misrepresentations willfully made to them.
Re: Third Party
There is not very much you can do about the debt collector bothering you, but from what you describe, the debt is uncollectible because of the statute of limitations. In Virginia, creditors can attempt to collect a debt even after the statute of limitations has expired. They can file a lawsuit. However, once they file a lawsuit, all you have to do is file a response claiming the defense of the statute of limitations, and the lawsuit will die right there. Now, some of what happened with the mortgage and closing is confusing. I do not know from what you describe whether or not you or your mother signed or wrote anything in writing that might be interpreted as extending or renewing the statute of limitations. In that case the "clock" would have been restarted. However, your best opportunity to defend against the claim is when (if ever) they actually take you to court. As I said, there is not much you can do to resolve it before they take you to court. What you can do is (1) In writing, ask them to verify the debt, including a signature (since you dispute that it was actually your mother). (2) In writing, ask them not to call you but to communicate only in writing. If they violate the second provision, you may be able to sue the debt collector for a violation of the Fair Debt Collectin Practices Act, although I have never personally handled such a lawsuit.
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