Impress

@Brotherskeeper I wasn't an AU on the credit card, it was strictly hers. The account was approved using her credit/social but my name was the one that it was put under. Not sure if it was a slip of the hand when selecting her name, or a glitch in the system. As I said, at the time Costco had you select your name from a drop down menu not type it in like most applications. Also, our names are very similar. Otherwise, I'm not attached to the credit card in anyway. When I pull up both our reports, it does not show up on my mine, only on hers. A bit confusing I know.

Background: I am a member of Costco. A few years ago, my mom, who is on the membership, applied for and got the Citi Costco Visa. What we didn't realize until the card arrived, was that the card was in my name, not hers. Costco's app didn't allow her to type in her name, but rather choose from a drop down menu. She selected her name, but whether trough a slip of the hand or a glitch in the system, my name ended up on the card. However, it shows up under her credit report. As you can guess, this card was defaulted on and eventually bought by Midland. They sued me. Since I had a couple of other suits at the time, I just acted on auto pilot and filed a denial along with and MTC Arb. Then Covid happened. I finally had a hearing on this this year and for a variety of personal reasons, ended up reaching an agreement* I could live with prior to the hearing with the plaintiff's attorney. Said attorney was supposed to send me the paperwork for this. To date, they have not. Now I'm wondering if I can change my defense and argue this is not my debt. And if so, how to go about doing so. Any thoughts or suggestions? * I ran up part of this debt which is why I was willing to come to an agreement to pay for it. Plus, less stress for both of us.

How did it go?

I appreciate the case law lookup @BV80 . This will be helpful for future Texas residents that come here for assistance. @veedub85 Good luck and keep us updated on how it goes.

Last payment, yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that's when the offense occurred. I would think one could argue that the moment the account went behind and was never brought current was when the offense occurred. Also, the statute doesn't state that payments made reset/extend SOL. My opinion only, IANAL.

@veedub85 Pull your credit report, you can get a free one every year. See what is posted on there as far as when it was charged off and expected fall off date, and the time these accounts went 30 days past due and were never brought current. You might still be within SOL, but it doesn't hurt to take a few minutes to verify. Also, maybe call your court house and see if they can tell you how long SOL was extended, and how that affects cases filed since the pandemic began. A little quick reading shows that courts have the option of whether to extend, so if you can prove these accounts are out of SOL (or would be if the pandemic hadn't happened) the judge may consider it. Best of luck on whichever road you choose.

Arguing the lack of small claims is going to be tricky. There was at least one poster who has stated their judge deemed justice court to be small claims. I had the same in a case recently. Doesn't hurt to argue though. With regards to SOL. According to Texas Statute (specific statute here), SOL is four years from the day after the offense occurred. So if your default day was today, the company could sue you up until 4 years from tomorrow. Now the trick will be figuring out if your last payment is considered when the offense occurred, or (assuming your last payment didn't bring the account current), if it was the time you went 30 days late and never brought the account current. The last is what is used to determine fall off date on your credit report. Also, be aware that covid did toll SOL in Texas, but I'm not 100% clear on how long and what that will do to your defense if you go with SOL. Though I believe that since Texas allows, and in fact encouraged, E-File for filings, there should be no reason SOL would come into play. IANAL, that is just my opinion.

@Star26 I'm not an expert on how Texas would handle joint property. If you can afford it, hire an attorney to protect what's yours.

@texasrocker OP states this is a joint property, even though OP is making payments. Wouldn't said property be at risk? Not from seizure but a lien until judgement is paid? @Star26 If your name is on the suit, then you have options. If not, I would consult a lawyer to see what, if anything, you need to do to protect your property. You can't answer for him because he will need to make all court appearances (unless he hires an attorney).

@Brotherskeeper@BV80 *nods* I think the term I should be using is "choice of law". This website gives a good explanation. A quote from the article, law firm based in Alabama: More digging in the rabbit hole uncovered this website with regards to credit cards and choice of law. This blog from 2013, also notes choice of law can be used in Texas although it would involve filing a Motion of Judicial Notice. Also, from what I can tell, you would need to show the other states laws have more of a connection(?) to the case then Texas would. And prove that there is a difference between Texas and the foreign state's laws that that Texas should use their laws. If you don't, it's assumed the laws are the same and Texas uses it's own.

Thanks for the help. ***************************************************************************************** Anyone have an opinion on arguing forum selection? Since the clause states that Virginia law applies, the proper forum for this should be there no? Similar thinking to arbitration clauses. Because PRA stepped into the shoes of CapOne, they should be bound by Virginia law according to the agreement. Ironically, PRA is also headquartered in VA. Edited because I fell down a rabbit hole and am curious about opinions here. Plus, this may help others doing research in the future.

@BV80 Those statutes fall under the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. TX Statues As for the payment, I want to say yes. My credit report shows this is due to fall of 10/23. So the payment in 2017 didn't bring it current.

Hey all, I was sued by PRA for Cap One debt in February 2020. Gave general denial and filed motion for discovery. Because of Covid, nothing has happened yet. I’ve recently discovered what I think is Texas’s borrowing statute(s) and could use some advice on applying it/them to my case. From what little cases I have been able to dig up so far, it seems these are the two most referenced as Texas’s Borrowing Statute. Statute 71.003 & Statute 71.051. The credit card agreement in effect at the time of default, and at the time I opened the account, states the following. The Law That Applies to Your Agreement We make decisions to grant credit and issue you a Card from our offices in Virginia. This Agreement is governed by applicable federal law and by Virginia law. If any part of this Agreement is unenforceable, the remaining parts will remain in effect. Since SOL in Texas is 4 years, I want to try and get this dismissed based on Virginia SOL which is three years for non-written or unsigned contracts. Source They sued me on 02/18/2020 but according to the filing, last payment was 02/06/2017 which would put it in Virginia’s SOL. I will need to dig around to find some applicable case law for credit card debt, and figure out wording my motion, but my question is, do y’all think this is a viable road to go down? Also, any tips for applying the arguments would be appreciated.

@BV80 Thanks for clarifying both things.

As of (I believe) 2019, making a payment, or admitting to the debt, no longer resets the SOL in Texas. Default is calculated 30 days from the last time your account was actually current right? Example if I owed $100 in February but only paid $50 and didn't bring the account current in March or April, wouldn't my DOFD be February, since January was my last current month, or March? @mel7a8 Also, because of the pandemic, SOL might have been tolled, I believe it was in Texas, so the SOL might have been extended because of this. You can check your credit report to see if the OC for your debt is on there to get a better idea of when you actually defaulted. You will also want to have back up strategies in place in case the judge the judge rules against you on SOL.