California is Overrated Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 Having just attended my first court date with another creditor, I'd rather not go through this again. I had two other accounts I was concerned about which have now actually become one. My Fleet balance is very high. I was contacted by two CAs about a year ago who I never heard from again after I DV'ed them. My BofA balance is less outrageous, last time I heard from the CA who bought it from them it wasn't a response to my DV, it was an offer to accept payments which were still higher than I can afford. Actually, I'm not positive it was a CA for BofA. How can I tell whether I'm dealing directly with the OC?So now BofA bought Fleet and my credit report shows I owe BofA a heckuvalot! I assume they'll sue me eventually because of the amount. I'm a ways off from SOL. Should I send them settlement offers each month until they stop ignoring me? What do you suggest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 Your State statute of limitations is 4 years. If you last payment was more than 4 years ago, then they cannot sue you at all. If they do, you simply answer the summons with an affirmative defense that the debt is time-barred.California law, if I remember correctly, also makes it a violation of State law for anyone to attempt to collect on a time-barred debt and prohibits the sale of time-barred debts to other parties after they have been notified of the SoL expiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
California is Overrated Posted July 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 Sorry, I guess my wording wasn't clear. I'm a ways off from the SOL being expired - got about three years left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Methuss Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 That's a lot of transfers for just 12 months....Anyways, to answer one of your other questions. Sometimes it doesn't matter if you can tell if it was the OC or a CA. There is a section of the FDCPA that says if an OC uses a name or means to collect that confuses the consumer into thinking a 3rd part debt collector is involved, then the OC looses their immunity to the FDCPA and is considered to be a collector bound by the law.Also don't let anyone try to fool you about sold debts. It doesn't matter if one credit card company sells it to another credit card company. The new owner of delinquent debt is always by legal definition a collector. They will try to convince you otherwise, but the language of the law is clear on this subject. If a bank buys another bank, or merges, it is no different. They obtained the delinquent debt by a purchase transaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recovering Attorney Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 The debt has to be in default at the time of the purchase, but that may not be your problem. You can try to deal with BOA and see if you qualify for their hardship program. If not, consider BK if you would rather get out of this mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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