CA resident living abroad - 10 days to reach an agreement - Unifund & Kenosian and Miele, LLP

[overseas&inneed]

I am a resident of California who has been living abroad for the past 6 years. My family received the attached "Notice of Intent of Legal Action" and I would like to know what my options are considering I am not physically in the US. I have almost no assets there (less than 1k in savings) and fully intend to live abroad for the foreseeable future. I want to avoid anything that could potentially affect my future wife and my family living in California.

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1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit?

Unifund CCR, LLC (listed as "Our Client")

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) 

Kenosian and Miele, LLP

3. How much are you being sued for? 

Current balance due is $6668.19.

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) 

Citibank, NA

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?)  

Have not been sued. Family received a "notice of intent of legal action" (addressed to me) at my California family address.

6. How were you served? (Mail, In person, Notice on door) 

Have not been served.

7. Was the service legal as required by your state? 

I do not know.

8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? 

None that I am aware of. 

9. What state and county do you live in?

California, Santa Clara County--but I have been living abroad for the past 6 years.

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) 

I believe March 09 2015. (For some reason, I am unable to obtain my free credit report online. Maybe it's because I'm abroad? I've put in a request for it to be mailed to my address in California.)

11. What is the SOL on the debt? 

4 years.

12. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? 

I haven't checked.

13. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) 

No. What's the best course of action to do this?

14. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? 

See #13.

15. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork). 

Intent of Legal Action 10 days from 1-16-2019

16. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? 

None at this point.

[WhoCares1000]

You can try to call them and inform them that you are not living in the USA anymore. I would also send a letter if possible. They might sue you anyways. If they do, your parents might accept the service and/or they might try alternate service. You can then answer the case stating the court has lack of personal jurisdiction because you now reside abroad. Realize however that the SOL is tolled for however long you reside outside of the USA.

That said, even with that, they might get a judgement anyways (or you could let them default). Even if that happens, most foreign countries do not honor USA civil judgements so they would not be able to collect unless you returned to the USA.