Delaware or Georgia SOL for Calvary Portfolio Services suing on Bank of America credit card
Hi Michael, I have received a summons for a lawsuit on an old Bank of America card. The collection agency is Calvary Portfolio Services. I'm being sued in Georgia. The last time I made a payment was 8/7/2009. They filed the lawsuit on 4/18/2013. I was reading that the statue of limitations in Delaware is 3 years. If that's the case, my affirmative defense could be the lawsuit is barred due to statue of limitations.
I was served with a packet that obtained the claim, an old credit card statement showing the balance, and a bill of sale between Calvary and Bank of America. I have 30 days to answer so I'm gathering all my resource to fight this. Once I finish writing my answer I'm going to send a certified letter to the attorney with discovery. It's funny I'm in school and I just took Business Law this past semester so they picked the right one! ;) Thanks!
What state does the statue of limitations apply, in the state of the card (Delaware) or my home state of Georgia? Also, another defense of lack of standing since I never entered into a contract with Calvary?
—James
I have read a few cases over the years that make challenges for which states statute of limitations would apply. Home state of the issuer has been used by people in the past. Hitting which states SOL would apply is certainly a logical chronology to follow. How prepared are you to cover all of the ground work on raising this issue? The reason I ask is that there are many other defenses you can bring to this that have fairly consistently resulted in voluntary dismissal from debt buyers like Calvary Portfolio. The generic contract they provided being just one.
Challenging which states SOL applies to your credit card debt.
Have you found a case in Georgia that raised this issue successfully?
I am seeing a barely perceptible turning of a tide where buyers are working with the collection attorney networks they use to bring more evidence of a debt to the table when suing. Some of that tide is motivated by state law changes. Some of it due to the new supervisory and regulatory oversight the CFPB has over larger participants in the debt collection industry. But this tide is nearly imperceptible still. The general denials followed by comprehensive and on point discovery requests are still leading to successes in getting debt buyer cases dismissed.
My point here is that leading with the SOL issue from the governing contract state first, may not be necessary if you do not have the time to dedicate to that, followed by other strategies that are more proven.
Have you connected with an experienced collection defense attorney in Georgia to discuss this, and the SOL angle you are looking at pursuing?
About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry, and is a regular contributor to several personal finance websites.
is sol your state or creditors state
You generally want to assess your risk factor of being sued based on your state SOL. If your courts have ruled on the applicability of the credit card issuers state meeting choice of law provisions, you could potentially use that defense when sued, and if the SOL in the lender state has passed.
Do you know how your state courts have weighed in on this?
If I made a payment arrangements on a 10 year old car loan not paid since 2005 portfolio just contacted me but I haven’t made payment but they have my card information am I now liable for that loan
I would stop the card payment immediately. Calvary Portfolio Services is trying to get you to pay on really old debt. After this long they cannot legitimately sue you to collect, and it should have been removed from your credit reports years ago. If you allow a payment to go through you create a new obligation, so stop that payment.
Ok thank you so once i stop it i should not be obligated to pay the debt? When if I made a telephone arrangement?
The debt did not go away. Stopping payment does not mean it goes away. But if you agreed to some payment on the phone that you cannot afford, or have had more time to consider and now regret, stopping payment now would likely prevent the new obligation. I would encourage you talk over the whole issue with an experienced consumer law attorney in California. I can email you contact details to some if you like?
If it were me, I would stop payment immediately. If I learned something after talking things over with an experienced consumer debt collection rights attorney, I could always call up Calvary and make new arrangements.
If I made a payment arrangement with portfolio to pay on a 10 year carloan am I liable if I have made no payment yet? I live in California
Did you make a written offer to pay Calvary Portfolio? Was it a verbal agreement you reached? How long ago was it you last paid the original lender on the auto loan (or anyone else like a debt collector)?
It was verbal and last payment was made on Dec of 2004
California recognizes written acknowledgment of a debt, you did not submit anything in writing to Calvary.
The loan was originated in texas i just moved back to California the beginning of this year
The debt Calvary is trying to collect is passed the statute to legitimately sue in Texas too.
We had work done on our bathroom over 4 years ago, and just received a bill today. He said that all his paper work was stolen and he just guessed on the hours of labor, and the cost of labor. They also did other damages that was not fixed. This is the first bill we have received in 4 years, with no other communications..What are our legal rights?
I would suggest you talk this over with an attorney in your area.
I recently was sued in small claims court on a credit card that doesn’t show on my credit report. Also the debt buyer isn’t on my report either. The only time I received anything from the debt buyer was when their lawyer mail me a letter they were sueing the same day the sheriff served me. I havent got the judgement yet but i know it will be against me. I heard they were suppose to both drop of the report at the same time, is this true? Is there anything that can be done about it now that ive been to court? I have another one that the original creditor has dropped off but the debt buyer is on the report. They will probably come after me next. Since the orginal creditor has dropped I can’t find out the last payment.
Did you try to defend against the small claims action, or try to settle with them?
A judgement typically gets a whole new 7 years to report, so no, it does not drop off your credit when the original collection entries do.
Read through these posts and the comments too:
https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/collection-accounts-age-off-credit-reports/
https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/question/judgment-collection-removed-from-credit-report-public-record/
My husband has a new collection on his report from a secondhand collector. The last activity on the debt was 08/2009. this was a returned check. Would this debt not be past the SOL for collection?
Kim -What state are you in?
I have a question. I had 2 credit cards from the same place. Unfortunately I couldn’t pay them. The company took me to court and got a judgment against me. Now they have sold those debts to a collection agency. Can they do that? The credit card company itself received a judgment against me and now not only do they want the money but also a third party wants the same amount of money. Are they allow to sell your debt to a third party after they already received a judgment against me for the debt?
There is a market for judgment debts, and they are bought and sold regularly.
It may be an issue where the judgment creditor has not sold your debt, but is assigning the account out for collection.
Who was the plaintiff that sued you and got the judgment? Who is the debt collector contacting you about that same debt?
Issues:
Victim seriously imjured by red-light runner, lost business, unemployable, not eligible for government disability, 58.
Truck owe 20,000 on note, made no pmts since 2008 accident…moved to different state, need to register truck….will I get arrested at Motor Vehicle Dept when they look up VIN?
RV I live in owe 6,000 on note, made no pmts since accident, parked where no one cares about plates.
One hospital wrote off 40,000, other ER owe 1,500 that is in collection, can I get help negotiatingdebts?
JPC – I cannot confidently answer your question about being arrested over the truck registration in your state. I would doubt it, but you really need to get clarity on this from an attorney in your state.
You can get help negotiating the 1500 dollar ER bill. But it is something you can do too.
I am not sure if you are asking about settling the 20k? What are your intentions there?