Portfolio Recovery Account Transferred to Litigation (SC/VA)

[nc6462]

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.

[Clydesmom]

4 hours ago, nc6462 said:

Can I even send a debt validation letter?

Yes and you should.  The previous collection letters are irrelevant.  The DV letter to PRA must be sent within 30 days of that letter you just got.

4 hours ago, nc6462 said:

(I know that it is not advised to make payments to a collections agency)

PRA is not a collection agency in this case.  They bought your debt they are now the creditor.  Still I would NOT make $800 payments to them.

4 hours ago, nc6462 said:

Would they sue me?

For that amount of money they will sue.

4 hours ago, nc6462 said:

I don't think I'm a good candidate for wage garnishment or property seizure.

Guess again.  VA is very creditor friendly and I can assure you that PRA being based there is fluent in the VA laws and how to collect using them.

4 hours ago, nc6462 said:

Do South Carolina or Virginia laws apply?

If you are living in VA now most likely those law(s) apply.

4 hours ago, nc6462 said:

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.

Actually the SOL in SC is 3 years.  The following questions are VERY important:

WHEN did you move to VA?

What years were you in college?

The reason I ask is if you moved to VA after the 3 year SOL in SC expired you may have an affirmative defense that the case is time barred by the SOL. When you opened the account is also critical.  Cap1 removed the arbitration clause in 2010. If the account was opened in 2010 or later then if you are sued you will have to defend the case.  Arbitration will not be an option.

[nc6462]

Thanks for your reply. I moved to VA in June 2017. I was in college 2011-2015. It is possible that 3 years passed in South Carolina before I moved the VA. 

[Clydesmom]

14 hours ago, nc6462 said:

Thanks for your reply. I moved to VA in June 2017. I was in college 2011-2015. It is possible that 3 years passed in South Carolina before I moved the VA. 

I would definitely get a free consult with a good Consumer Attorney regarding this as I believe you might have an affirmative defense that the SOL expired prior to moving to VA and that moving to another state does not revive it.  An attorney can confirm for certain.

[BV80]

@nc6462

As @Clydesmomhas pointed out, the SOL in SC is 3 years.  You need to search your bank records in order to determine when you made the last payment. 

[nc6462]

Thank you all for your comments. I will schedule a consultation and dig through my bank records to find out when last CC bill was paid. Thank you