Taken to court and the case was dismissed. Now what??

[BeardedDragon]

All right so here's the details, and just curious on my options now.

My wife was sued by a bank for a card we failed to keep current after a rough patch of time we went through.  After a few resets of the 1st initial court dates being pushed out, she was ordered to go to mediation with the other party to see if a settlement could be reached.  My Wife kept getting the run around from the bank's lawyers as she tried to schedule mediation, as they just wanted to handle a settlement themselves without mediation. So after a few months of not getting them to answer my wife's proposal or even counter it, she reached back out to the mediation people and had them notate that we weren't getting any call backs or responses from the other lawyers. 

A few weeks went by and then my wife received a letter in the mail stating the court was calling the Bank back to court so as to provide an update or more information as they hadn't heard anything from anyone, and needed know how they are going to proceed with the case. My wife called and the court clerk advised this was something that she did not need to be present for, but she went anyways just to see the outcome. That day came and the bank's lawyers didn't show up. A few days later we got the notification that the case was dismissed, which was back around October of 2019. The 4 year mark was September of 2019 from the time the account went behind. 

So my questions are, being that we are now past the 4 year mark since the account went behind can anything be done on their part such as taking her back to court? Also, being it was now dismissed, does that give us any options to having it removed from her credit report, or would she still need to wait the rest of the 7 yrs for it to fall off. 

 

 I hope I explained that well enough and wasn't too confusing. If there any more questions to confirm any details just let me know and I will provide. Just curious on what we can do from here. 

[Clydesmom]

1 hour ago, BeardedDragon said:

So my questions are, being that we are now past the 4 year mark since the account went behind can anything be done on their part such as taking her back to court?

They can file a suit again but she would have a gold plated defense that the SOL is expired and they are time barred from pursuing it.  All they can do now is report it to the bitter end and send letters stating "pretty please pay us."

1 hour ago, BeardedDragon said:

Also, being it was now dismissed, does that give us any options to having it removed from her credit report, or would she still need to wait the rest of the 7 yrs for it to fall off. 

If it is reporting correctly then probably not.  Did the court just dismiss the case or did they rule she didn't owe it.  If it is the latter she could use that to get it removed.

[BeardedDragon]

Thanks for the response.

They just dismissed the case and no ruling in regards to actually owning the debt. So that's what I was thinking in regards to having it removed, and looks like we may just end up waiting another 3 years for it to fall off. But if there was a way to get it off with the dismissal, I wanted to at least ask here and get opinions. 

 

We did get an email from the bank's lawyer just a few days ago stating they want to talk to us again, which made us start questioning the statute of limitations and how that works.  We didn't wanna start talking to them again and reset that clock accidentally somehow. 

[BackFromTheDebt]

11 hours ago, BeardedDragon said:

Thanks for the response.

They just dismissed the case and no ruling in regards to actually owning the debt. So that's what I was thinking in regards to having it removed, and looks like we may just end up waiting another 3 years for it to fall off. But if there was a way to get it off with the dismissal, I wanted to at least ask here and get opinions. 

 

We did get an email from the bank's lawyer just a few days ago stating they want to talk to us again, which made us start questioning the statute of limitations and how that works.  We didn't wanna start talking to them again and reset that clock accidentally somehow. 

There is some possibility the SOL hasn't ended, depending on the state.  They could claim the SOL tolled while the case was open, and, counting that time, the SOL hasn't passed yet.  

That might work, or it might not work.  I am not an attorney, nor do I know your state's SOL tolling laws, so take whatever I say with more than a grain of salt.  

Some states would allow refiling a case, but only within a certain time frame, such as XXX months after the first case was dismissed without prejudice.  Again, I don't know your state's laws.  

The law firm is on very thin ice if they are contacting you without saying they won't sue, etc., if that interpretation is wrong.  Once the SOL has passed, in all states except WI and MS they can contact you, but they have to mention in the correspondence that they cannot sue.  Otherwise, there is a strong chance of an FDCPA violation.  

How long was the case open?  I mean, from the time they filed to the time it was dismissed?  If you add that time to the SOL, would the SOL have passed?  Or, do you know if your state has an XXX month limit after the time the case was dismissed?  

The point of these questions is to be 100% sure the SOL has passed.  If that is the case, depending on the wording of the email, you might have an FDCPA claim against them. 

If the SOL for some reason is still active, the best strategy at this point may be to delay.  For example, email back and say you can talk about settling the debt after you receive your stimulus check, and then never get back to them.  Or tell them you are willing to talk in mediation, and ask them to work out a mediation session -- which of course cannot happen now.

Is there a local attorney with whom you can arrange a free consultation about a possible FDCPA suit?  The attorney would have much better answers than I could possibly provide.  And yes, attorneys are working now.  My brother is an attorney, and has quite a few meetings over the phone and internet from the safety of his home,