Community Chat

[Laura14]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Laura14 No, it's her debt. She used her credit card to pay for food, medical supplies, to pay OTHER bills when her husband was too sick to work. 

Not that it matters because it's a debt in the eyes of the law. Last payment was 2006.

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@SahmIam  Don't pay it.  I'm telling you let them sue her if they even go that far.  What do you think a judge is going to do when a debt collector drags in an older woman who is living on nothing on a debt that is 10 years old and either close to or almost expired?    I'd pay on the debt just to be a fly on the wall.  

Tell them not to contact her which they legally can't do after you tell them to stop and let the debt expire if it hasn't already.  

Don't ever let anyone bully her into giving up money she needs and/or doesn't have to give.  I'm sure good credit is not high on her list of priorities and the debt's already there anyway so either way let it ride.

Worse case scenario she gets a day trip to the courthouse, they get a judgement which they can't enforce because I'm sure she has no paycheck, and everyone leaves exactly how they found each other.

I'd shake their hand at the end of the judgement and tell them to have a nice life because she sure will.  They can enjoy their new piece of paper which they can do nothing with except wipe their butts.

[SahmIam]

@Laura14  Will she need to hire an attorney? If so, we'll be footing the bill because, as I said earlier, legal aid help is LONG process.

[SoX]

http://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-the-two-largest-debt-buye...

@SahmIam  et.al.  

Above is a definitive article that will answer most your your questions.

[Mz iMac]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Laura14  Will she need to hire an attorney? If so, we'll be footing the bill because, as I said earlier, legal aid help is LONG process.

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What is so long about it?

  You call them on the phone, tell them about your case.  If they think you have a case, they will have you come down to their office or they will come to you.  Legal Aid is free.

[SahmIam]

@Mz iMac  Yes, it is... when they have plenty of people to work cases and a low case load. Why do you think she came to us?

My background has shown me that Legal Aide is great if one is desperate and has zero funds, zero help from anyone else to pay to retain an attorney. We'd rather not have her take that chance. 

[SahmIam]

@SoX  Thank you and everyone else for your helpful links and suggestions. : )

[Laura14]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Laura14  Will she need to hire an attorney? If so, we'll be footing the bill because, as I said earlier, legal aid help is LONG process.

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@SahmIam  I'm not an attorney or paralegal in any way.  As others have suggested, I'm sure there is free legal aid in her state to really answer that.

This is my opinion having worked in finance and accounting my whole life.  It is NOT legal advice since I'm basing this off of what you are telling me and I'm no expert in the law.

She is probably what most lawyers would call judgement proof.  She has no money.  If the debt collector wants to go after her for let's say a totally legitimate debt, they are going to pay their lawyers to sue an older woman who, even if they get a judge to say, yes you have to pay them, she can't.  She has no money.  And you can not garnish social security.

So practicality wise, the debt collector would pay their lawyers for a piece of paper that ultimately means nothing.  They can't collect anything from her.  They would be the stupidest business people in the world to pay a lawyer to collect nothing.

Someone can tell me that I have to give them the Hope Diamond or they will sue me for it.  Okay sue me.  The judge agrees and orders me to give it to them.  Can't. Don't have it to give.  

They are just hoping they can scare her enough so she will beg, borrow, steal, etc because they have her so panicked.  That's the only way they will ever make a dime.   And if she makes any payment and reaffirms the debt, they can go after her estate if there even is one because that's what these vultures do.

What I would do if this was my mother, is to tell them do what they want to do but she has no money and will make her appearance in court if they choose to drag her there.  They will probably threaten to do just that.  If they are really rats, they will sue and then not even show up for court which means that she wins and they just aggravated the heck out of her after all that.

By the way, if they do that, I would have her sue them for emotional distress and travel fees for every cent she spent getting herself there and preparing for court.  And I'll bet she'll get it.

Best of luck to her but I would tell these people to go to a really hot place and go live my life.

[Mz iMac]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Mz iMac  Yes, it is... when they have plenty of people to work cases and a low case load. Why do you think she came to us?

My background has shown me that Legal Aide is great if one is desperate and has zero funds, zero help from anyone else to pay to retain an attorney. We'd rather not have her take that chance. 

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@SahmIam

Ok..

Good luck!  Keep us updated.

[Nightowlz]

I used to watch the Suze Orman shows & remember her talking about credit card debt & collections. Found this on her site.

http://apps.suzeorman.com/igsbase/igstemplate.cfm?src=MD012&SRCN=aoedetails&GnavID=84&SnavID=20&Tnav...

• To deal with bill collectors:
  When it comes to collection efforts, each state has its own statute of limitations governing how long a debt is considered legally collectible. In general, the limit is about four to five years from date of your last payment. If a creditor waits beyond the time limit set by the statute of limitations to sue you, the case can be thrown out of court. To find out about the statute of limitations in your state, contact the Office of the State Attorney General. If you know that your debt has expired under this statute of limitations and a collection agency happens to call you, do this: Explain to the agency that you will pay only if you are taken to court and a judgment is obtained against you; otherwise, you have no intention to pay what you believe to be a legally uncollectible debt. The key here is to put your argument in writing, adding a clear demand that the agency stop contacting you. The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, another federal law, declares that if the state-regulated limitation period is up, the agency may not contact you again once it receives your letter-except to say there will be no further contact. If the state statute of limitations hasn't yet run out, paying something on your charged-off accounts will not help clear up your credit report and may start the collection agencies' clock ticking anew, so once again, think hard before you do this. Only time will repair your credit report-specifically, the seven years it takes until the credit bureau must, by law, remove the debt notation.

[Lipstickdiva]

People pay things all the time that they don't have to pay.  People get scared, don't know any better and just pay the debt.

We've had clients personally pay debts of a decedent years after the estate was closed because an unscrupulous collection agency said it had to be paid and they were personally responsible.