Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia
Credit Card with ex
I was added to my ex-fiancee's credit card over five years ago while we were together. We broke up 4 years ago and agreed to close and restrict the card so that neither of us could use it. I transferred my debt off the card and he agreed to pay the remaining debt off ($4000)within the year. The debt has barely shrunk in 4 years. He purposely did not pay for 3 months and hid this from me because he was thinking of declaring bankruptcy.I had to make a payment to avoid the card going to collections and ruining my perfect credit. He actually yelled at me for it. I have e-mails where he states he will sell my engagement ring or refiance his house to payoff. Have a form he signed and sent to cc company agreeing to assume debt and have me removed but they refused since his credit is bad. I had to make a few more payments to help my credit since then. He sent me e-mails saying he is buying new furniture and going to play-off games and paid all his other debt off but this card. He has only paid $100 to me towards the over $400 I have paid for him. Can I sue him for this money or have the court make him sell the big screen tv to pay towards this debt? I have plenty of written evidence of him saying this debt is his. Thank you!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Credit Card with ex
Small claims court would appear to be your remedy
for your breach of contract claim, which, though essentially oral, appears to be corroborated by at least some documentary evidence.(Although the court may enter judgment in your favor for the amounts which your ex has failed to reimburse you on the credit card debt, the court will definitely not order him to sell his big screen tv in order to secure the funds necessary to pay your claim.)
Re: Credit Card with ex
Yes, of course you can sue him without a doubt
for any money you have paid.
The trickier thing is suing him if you have NOT
actually paid it yet. Legally, it should work
because you have a legal obligation to pay $X,
but the judge might not give you more money than
you have actually paid out so far on the account.
It may be a little harder than you think to prove
that the charges are his, not yours, but if you
can prove it, then of course you can sue him.
More to the point, the statute of limitations on
a written debt is only 5 years from the date of
breach.
Your fiancee has probably restarted the clock
by signing an agreement that he would pay.
However, you did not sign any such statment (I
hope) so the clock is still running, probably
past 5 years.
If the judge understands the law carefully,
the fact that you have made payments since then
would not technically matter, because the SOL
runs from the date of the original breach, and
at all times since then the account has been
behind. You have never brought it current, as
I understand it, so it has been in breach for
more than 5 years, as I read your question.
That would mean that if they sue you, you MUST
show up and PLEAD the Statute of Limitations as
a defense. If you don't affirmatively plead it,
it does not count.
However, most judges will probably think that
because you made payments in the meantime, then
the clock is restarted from the last payment
you made. That is the rule for ORAL contracts,
NOT for written contracts. But most judges may
fail to see the distinction.
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