Impending judgement for credit card charge-off in 2002... please help!

[Necrotica]

Hi, everyone. I'm hoping you can help me.

Back story: I maxed out a $500 credit card back in late 2001 when I was living with my parents. I wasn't able to pay on it anymore after a job loss, a flareup in disabilities, and an abusive relationship caused me to have severe mental issues. I ignored it all this time because even thinking about it caused me to have panic attacks. The last known address that the credit company had was my parents' home address in Iowa. Sometime during 2002, the account was sold to a collection agency. They would call my parents two to three times per day trying to find me. My parents would tell them repeatedly that I was not living there anymore and to stop calling but would not listen. Offers of settlements were made on two different occasions that my parents sent to me, but I never had the money to pay them (god did I ever want to, though) because I was out of work for about two years and had a rocky employment history up to this very day.

Yesterday, my father told me that the county sheriff came to the house and asked for me because he needed to serve me papers from the collection agency. This caused my father to break down and tell them what my address and phone number are.

I am terrified. I am unemployed, and I don't know when I will be again. I'm honestly thinking about filing for social security (again) because this last round of employment has made me sicker than I have ever been in my life. The amount I owe now is something like $850 (thank goodness it's a lot less than a lot of peoples' debt) after all the interest and fees. I can give them $200, which is the last of my savings, but now I'm scared that it's too late and I'm going to have a fat mark on my credit again after staying out of trouble.

What steps should I be doing RIGHT NOW? How will this affect my husband (we got married in September 2007, long after the card was used and charged off)? And what about the statute of limitations? At the time of using and maxing out the card, I was living in Iowa, which, according to bankrate.com, has a 5-year statute of limitations. When it was charged off, I was living in Missouri, which also has a 5-year statute, and now I'm living in and will be served in Kansas, which has a 3-year statute. Which state statute will I fall under? Will it even matter? I'm sure the debt was charged off more than 5 years ago. Where can I get this information? My old credit report (from February 2007) only states that the date of last activity was May of 2002.

I've been reading a lot of the posts on the board today and will continue to do so. I'm sorry if my situation is repetitive.

Thank you SO MUCH for any help you can give me!

[lovebug5]

Get your credit reports from each CRA. You get one report per CRA for free from www.annualcreditreport.com. Do you know what the DOFD on the account was? Unless the account was somehow re-aged, if you stopped paying in 2001, the SOL would've been up in 2007...

[Necrotica]

Get your credit reports from each CRA. You get one report per CRA for free from www.annualcreditreport.com. Do you know what the DOFD on the account was? Unless the account was somehow re-aged, if you stopped paying in 2001, the SOL would've been up in 2007...

What is DOFD? Date of...?

When I get the credit reports, am I going to be able to see them online or will I have to wait for them to be mailed to me?

[lovebug5]

DOFD is the "Date of First Delinquency", which is the date that SOL is based off of. If you were first delinquent on the account in 2001, the 6-year written SOL in Kansas would've expired in 2007. That is assuming that your DOFD is in 2001 and not at some point when you might've accidentally re-aged the account...

I viewed mine online.

[Necrotica]

DOFD is the "Date of First Delinquency", which is the date that SOL is based off of. If you were first delinquent on the account in 2001, the 6-year written SOL in Kansas would've expired in 2007. That is assuming that your DOFD is in 2001 and not at some point when you might've accidentally re-aged the account...

I viewed mine online.

I'm not sure what it is. That's what I need to find out. So I guess it'll be on my credit report when I pull it up? That's weird that my old one doesn't have it on there. Just the "date of last activity 05/2002".

I don't know how I would have re-aged the account, as I personally never spoke to the creditors.

So it's a 6-year SOL? I thought it was 3.

[lovebug5]

If you signed a credit card application when you applied for the card, which most people do, it's considered a written contract...You need to get your CR's, take a look at the dates and go from there...

[Necrotica]

If you signed a credit card application when you applied for the card, which most people do, it's considered a written contract...You need to get your CR's, take a look at the dates and go from there...

I didn't sign an application... I got it from a telemarketer.

[Necrotica]

If you signed a credit card application when you applied for the card, which most people do, it's considered a written contract...You need to get your CR's, take a look at the dates and go from there...

I'm confused.

According to the site's Statute of Limitations on Debts page, it says:

"Open-ended Accounts: These are revolving lines of credit with varying balances. The best example is a credit card account. Please note: a credit card is ALWAYS an open account."

According to that, it's 5 years for Iowa, 5 years for Missouri, and 3 years for Kansas.

[swirlgirl]

It's been noted that the final interpretation of which SOL applies (written, open) lies with the judge. People have gone into court thinking one thing and the judge decided it was another. You're really early in the process, so you have time.

1. Get the paperwork and answer the summons. If you don't, they'll get a default judgment against you.

2. Plan on going to court on the court date. If you don't, they'll get a default judgment against you.

3. Pull your credit report to see what's reporting. You may have to contact the OC to get account records.

4. Do research on how the courts in your present state has interpreted SOL for credit cards.

5. Don't get scared by the process. It sounds like you have a valid defense. Just do your research and prepare your case.

[borgman72000]

Either you look at it, 6 years or 3 years, SOL has expired. If the last payment you made was in 2001, it's past SOL, and even if you judge your 6 years on the Date of Last Activity of 5/2002, your past SOL, barely, but it's still an Absolute Defense.

Do as the others have said, make sure once you're served, you answer the summons with your Absolute Defense of past SOL and any Affermatice Defenses you may have, and plan on going to court. Look up your local rules and if allowed, request discovery, the whole 9 yards. But MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER THE SUMMONS. I cannot stress that enough.

Good luck.

Bob