Cap 1 suing my wife in OH

[mhanna04]

Ok, so my wife received a summons with complaint 1 week ago. I’ve been doing my homework on what our options are. The suit is in just her name, on a card (if it is the card she actually had) that was just in her name and charged off about 4 years ago. We do not have any money to hire an attorney so I’m trying to do this all myself. I know the first steps are to respond to the complaint which I will do shortly… hopefully after getting a little advice.

Not sure why they decided to come after her now. I know they cannot come after my wages, and she has no wages (stay at home mom), we don’t own a home, don’t own our vehicles, don’t have any savings, or any significant personal property. Seems to me they would be wasting their time and efforts but nonetheless I need to do something to avoid a default judgment.

1. Who is suing you? Capital One Bank (USA), N.A. (or so they claim not sure how to verify)

2. For how much? $800ish principle sum + $700ish accrued interest + interest on principal balance at statutory rate per year and cost

3. Who is the original creditor? Capital One Bank

4. How do you know you are being sued? Wife received certified letter containing summons and complaint

5. How were you served? Were you served? See answer 4

6. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? None that I am aware of.

7. Where do you live? Columbus, OH (Franklin county)

8. When is the last time you paid on this account? 4 to 5 years ago will need to check

9. What is the status of your case (if anything has been opened)? You can find this by a) calling the court or looking it up online (many states have this information posted daily). Open

10. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No

11. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? If not, don't bother doing this now. No

12. Does your summons require a response in writing? (Look hard!) If you don't get a questionnaire with your summons, you are still probably required to answer it in writing. If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? Yes, response required, no questionnaire received. Charges are as follows:

1. Defendant applied for a Capital One credit card.

2. Plaintiff issued Defendant and Defendant received a Capital One credit card, and a Capital One Credit Card Agreement.

3. Defendant or Defendant’s authorized users, used said Capital One Card to purchase goods and/or services, and/or to make cash advances.

4. By use of said Capital One Card, Defendant became bound by the terms and conditions of the Credit Card Agreement.

5. Defendant breached the Credit Card Agreement by failing to make the minimum monthly payment called for in the Credit Card Agreement to Plaintiff.

6. Since the generation of the last statement the defendant remained in default and the account as charged off on DATE HERE in the amount of $800ish.

7. The Defendant owes Plaintiff the principle sum of $ + interest + fees…

13. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affadavit? A statement from the OC? Anything else they attached as exhibits? They provided 3 statements with no account number or cc numbers and one… what appears to be a screen print with no account numbers.

14. What is the SOL on the debt? To find out: 6 years in OH for open ended accounts

[Massive]

Your wife doesn't owe Cap One any money.

[Guest usctrojanalum]

I know they cannot come after my wages, and she has no wages (stay at home mom), we don’t own a home, don’t own our vehicles, don’t have any savings, or any significant personal property. Seems to me they would be wasting their time and efforts but nonetheless I need to do something to avoid a default judgment.

My college roommate works in the legal processing department @ Chase which used to be in Louisiana, (I actually think it is in Ohio now but I am not sure if he relocated or not) and I asked him this same exact question.

He told me that the corporate stance is that judgments can be collected on for many years, (10-20 years in some states) and just because people do not have money now does not mean they will not have money in the future. He also said that at a bare minimum the bank has a duty to have a judgment on a credit report as a warning to future lenders or anyone who needs to verify the creditworthiness of an individual.

[nobk4me]

I would recommend reading in this section:

http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=199

Also look on Debtorboards.com, where there is much discussion of this strategy.

Edited September 22, 2010 by nobk4me

[mhanna04]

Thank you... I will read through the section you indicated.

[bevj2]

I would recommend reading in this section:

http://debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=199

Also look on Debtorboards.com, where there is much discussion of this strategy.

I agree....this is a strategy you might find useful, just read everything very carefully. In OH, they follow the Federal Arbitration Law regarding contractual arbitration.