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Hey everyone, I am looking for guidance on next steps. I opened my first credit card living in South Carolina with Capital One in college, it had a $10,000 limit (I'm not sure how, I knew nothing about money) and maxed it out and forgot about it. I can't remember when I started receiving calls and letters about collections, but eventually I told my mom about the debt and she suggested I ask for a hardship thing which I did. Interest and late fees stopped, and again I forgot about/ignored the debt. I checked my credit score a couple months ago and saw that it had jumped like 300 points overnight, and found that the Capital One account was no longer on my report, and naturally I was elated, thinking I was forgiven and that I had gotten out of this alive. A couple months later when I checked my score, It was down like 100 points and the new account on my credit score was Portfolio Recovery Associates to the tune of $11,383.67. I began receiving letters again a few months ago, now living in Virginia. I received a letter dated 3/26 that my account has been transferred to litigation department, "at this time, no attorney within the litigation department has personally reviewed the particular circumstances on your account." It appears PRA has purchased my account because Capital One is listed as "seller." I have not responded to any letters or spoke on the phone to anyone regarding this account in years. My guess is that this is within the statute of limitations (6 years for both South Carolina and Virginia), however I don't really know when I stopped paying the credit card bill, probably sometime in 2014. I make very little money (working on it though), have no property except a car which I still make payments on (Capital One Auto Finance), and cannot realistically even settle, their offer for a one time payment of $7,968.56 or monthly payments of $758.91 (I know that it is not advised to make payments to a collections agency) as I simply cannot afford these rates. I don't have a record of these letters (simply threw them out) or of the original credit card details (when I opened it, when I stopped paying, etc.). This is my only debt- no student loans, outstanding bills, etc. aside from my car loan (which is in good standing). Can I even send a debt validation letter? Initial correspondence was a long long time ago. Would they sue me? I don't think I'm a good candidate for wage garnishment or property seizure. I had a rough couple of years in college and after and have been working on cleaning myself up. It would super suck to get sued or have to pay a lot of money, mostly because I don't have any. Do South Carolina or Virginia laws apply? Thanks so much in advance for any guidance.

Here is the scenario: Sued by JDB and during the lawsuit, the JDB lawyer has emailed me several times and has not provided the required FDCPA disclosures. Prior to litigation, this lawyer sent me a dunning letter that did contain the required notice. The fact that he was attempting to collect the debt and identified himself as a debt collector (IMO) subjects him to the FDCPA. (I have no doubt he "regularly" attempts to collect debts). Also, JDB is vicariously liable for agents attempting to collect on its behalf. Also, during discovery the JDB has admitted they applied interest to the account for an 18 month period following charge-off in which they did not own the debt. The situation here is that prior to filing the lawsuit I was provided a statement of account that showed that interest was applied. Going by the date I received this statement, the FDCPA SOL has expired. However, the fact that the JDB is the one that applied the interest was revealed through responses to my RFA's in July of last year (still within SOL). I was reading this thread and the discussion starting here: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/community/topic/320695-suing-bursey-associates-for-filing-suit-on-midland-account-with-expired-sol/#entry1249949 I wanted to get some feedback on the "last opportunity to comply". Specifically, whether or not violations committed during litigation create their own SOL clock. Also, in the case of the interest, the SOL is well past going by the date the JDB applied the interest, but since I was not made aware of the violation until much later (and 5 months into litigation), does the SOL clock on this violation begin to run when I became aware the interest was in fact applied by the JDB? Does the date they filed the lawsuit play into this one at all?

I have been sued by one of my creditors, received summons, and I have retained legal counsel. The agency who owns the debt currently is willing to settle for $1500 less than what is owed. Quite frankly, I'm in a position where if I settle the account for what the agency is offering, I'm not saving much money after all legal fees and expenses, but the issue will be over and done with. If I litigate the case, is there a chance that the company will settle for a lesser amount, assuming they don't want to go to trial? If i decide to litigate, I will have to pay my lawyer $1,000 more, but I was also told that if this agency doesn't have there paperwork in order then there is a chance that I might not have to pay anything and it's possible the case could get dismissed. I guess my main question is that is it better to litigate the matter to potentially save more money, or just settle for slightly less than what is owed?

Interesting article in Washington Monthly on how the Supreme Court handed major US corporations the shield of arbitration against consumer and employee lawsuits over the past several decades. The greatest effect has been to deter class actions. While I believe well informed consumers can proactively and strategically use arbitration in certain instances, this article is a great read on how corporate America created immunity from a great deal of litigation where consumers have a legitimate complaint to pursue. Please see: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaugust_2014/features/thrown_out_of_court050661.php?page=1