Think I got a case? Please help!

[mattclaeys]

I have been really successful in cleaning up my credit over the past year, and about 1/2 of my debts have finally hit the 6 year SOL. 2 more in December, one in January, and one in April, then I will be done with this crap, never to happen again.

I had a household credit card thats SOL ran out in May of 2004. I received a notice from Capital One on September 29, 2004 stating that they had purchased the debt. I Immediately sent them the below letter.

Matt Claeys

Address

October 4, 2004

Capital One Bank

PO Box 85522

Richmond, VA 23285-5522

(888) 298-2919

Re; inquiry dated September 29, 2004: your

Account # **********

Greetings:

Thank you for your recent inquiry.

This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed.

The Rules Of Civil Procedure of my State of Oregon provide a Statute Of Limitations limiting the time frame for any legal collection activities.

Under my State of Oregon Code , the subject account type has a 6 year limit for filing any legal action for collection.

This notification is formal notice to you that any filing of such action by you, or your representitives or assigns, is therefore time-barred.

Under the FDCPA, any such action, or threat of such action is a violation of the law,and grounds for fines and civil sanctions.

807. False or misleading representations

A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt.

Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:

(2) The false representation of-

(A) the character, amount, or legal status of any debt; or

(4) The representation or implication that nonpayment of any debt will result in the arrest or imprisonment of any person or the seizure, garnishment, attachment, or sale of any property or wages of any person unless such action is lawful and the debt collector or creditor intends to take such action.

(5) The threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken.

This notification to you is of applicable legal statutes, codes and laws. Other Federal and State laws may apply.

Under the laws of my State, continued collection activities, including reporting, verification or reinsertion of accounts, beyond their legal collection date to any consumer credit reporting agency, may be considered extortion and/or fraud and subject to criminal as well as civil prosecution.

Therefore, I require that you cease and desist any and all collection activities including any further reporting of this legally uncollectible account.

In addition, this is your notice that any assignment, transfer or sale of this account to another entity for the purpose of continued collection activities will be considered a violation of the FDCPA.

I reserve the right to take appropriate action to recover from you any damages that I may incur from any such continued collection activities.

Please note that proof of your receipt of this notice may be used by me or my legal representative in further action, and will be used as an implied consent to taping any telephone calls from you or your agents.

Best regards,

Matt Claeys

Well, I hadn't heard anything back from them, and today I went online and checked my credit report, and they had added the account onto my Experian Credit Report!!! It wasn't there on my report dated 10/25/2004, so it has been added since then.

What should I do???? The account is not listed as disputed, the account is past SOL. They received the above C&D letter. Anyone have a good intent to sue letter, asking for damages? Should I have an attorney handle it?Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

[retmar]

The wording of your letter tells me you can handle this yourself first. Send them an ITS, including copies of the letter and card, and make it quite clear that if they do not postmark a letter to you within 10 days of receipt of this letter, that they have closed, deleted, and gone away, you will sue them. Include a filled out copy of a claim from the proper court. You can get one online or at the courthouse. Be sure and include all applicable laws regarding your right to file suit.

[mattclaeys]

In my intent to sue letter, I am trying to figure out what damages to list. I don't want to start quoting damges, and be wrong in them. I am assuming $1000 per credit report that they listed it on. $1000 for false reporesentation of the debt? So $4000 total if it is on all three reports? Would it make sense to talk to an attorney? Would their legal fees be covered?