Mom Is Being Threatened by past Credit Card Companies

Wow... looks like you already have so many responses. A good consumer advocate who can give some great advice is Dave Ramsey. His organization is in Tennessee, but there are local trained counselors for free in the area to help with this. I've been using his principles for the past 5 years and he is on the up and up. www.daveramsey.com He has some GREAT advice on how to deal with this!! Email me if you want more information.

Here is a link to dealing with creditors: http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/index.cfm?intContentID=...

I had a very similar istuation where a credit card compnay actually filed suit on me, luckily I work for an attorney so I got free legal help. It is my understanding that the statute of limitation in Texas is 4 years from the last payment. So if she has made even one tiny payment in the last 4 years she can be subject to a lawsuit. But like all laws there are loop holes, like if the original creditor was in a different state with different statute, that can effect her. You can wait intil a lawsuit is filed then you have 30 days to respond, then you might want to consult an attorney.

I have had my share of creditors calling me, and I can tell you that I have been threatened to be taken to court more than once. None of my threats have ever been followed through. Unless your Mom had some outrageous balance, then chances are that the creditor is just trying to scare her into giving them money, and won't actually take her to court. They would have to file a judgement on her first, and she should get some correspondance about that (i think). I have had them threaten to take my cars, my house, blah blah blah. Rest assured if they ever go there with your Mom, you can tell them they are breaking the law!! Google "creditor laws in the state of Texas." It will probably bring up all kinds of helpful information for you about what they are allowed and not allowed to do to debtors in our State. I don't know the statute of limitations as far as being taken to court, but I do know that credit cards debts are supposed to drop off your credit report 7 yrs from the original debt (or the date from when you stopped paying). Good luck to your Mom...some creditors can be really nasty! Do your research and know your rights, because generally the creditor does not pay attention to what state they are calling and you can give them a lesson!!!

The statute of limitation varies by state, so she needs to find out what it is in her state. If the statute of limitation has expired in her state (in Texas, it appears to be 4 years from the last time she used the card according to the first and third links below), there's nothing she can do. From what I read in the article in the second link below, my guess is that the company recently sold her debt to a collection company which is now trying to collect. A lot of these companies are anything but ethical in their collection attempts, and they will do or say anything. Your mother needs to a) not admit to the debt, which could restart the counter, b) tell them she will not pay them anything and c) not pay them anything. They can, in fact, take her to court, but she can then ask the judge to dismiss the case because the statute of limitations has expired, if it has. Hope the links below help!

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Credit-Card-Debt-Statute-Of-Lim...

http://www.bcsalliance.com/y_debt_sol.html

Is her home steaded? That's the first thing she wants to make sure of and then as soon as is possible get it homesteaded if it's not.

Does she have ANY record of paying them? Perhaps from the bank account? My sister has had this happen to her many times and she just pays them, even if she can prove that she already paid them. I cringe at that, but it's her choice. She even send one agency the copies of all her checks and they said it didn't matter what proof she had that she paid because if it wasn't in their computer system, it didn't count!

You don't have to have a lawyer to take someone to small claims court so she might want to do that but she really needs to find some proof. Now, I have had debt collectors contact me that every time I spoke to them or they sent me a statement my response was "I do not owe this, I will not pay this, stop billing me." Eventually they left me alone. Hopefully they won't start up again.

S.

You said she was with a company that she was paying and has since shredded all those documents. How did she make payments to this company? If it was bank draft or by check she might be able to get some, if not all, of the cleared payments info from her bank. She could also request information regarding her account from this place she had been sending money too. If they did not pay her debt as it was agreed to then I would definitely turn them into the Better Business Bureau.

Good luck!

L., tell your mother to get caller id and stop taking the calls. My husband and I went through some very hard times not too long ago when he lost his job after 24 years. He briefly went into the mortgagae business and the one thing he learned is, if the debt is over 24 months old do not start making payments on them again. It's already written off by the company and only collection agencies are contacting her. They will not take her to court it would cost them too much money. Every time she tries to make a payment after the 24 months they start the 7 year clock over for having to drop the negative off of her credit report. In these times many will have negative credit so she just has to maintain positive from here on.

Good luck.

I was listening to Gerald Treese on the legal journal on channel 11 two weeks ago on sat. moring and the same questions was asked and the statute of limitations on credit cards is 4 years. So she needs to tell them that and if they take her to court she needs to present that to the judge as no one else will. You can go to khou.com and get more info. I heard that either on the 3rd or 10th of this month, May. I hope that this helps. God bless. L. S.

What I have done is when they call me and harass me over debts I am not in the position to pay I ask them to not contact me by phone anymore and tell them to send it by mail you can go to annualcreditreport.com and get a free credit report once a year and print them up. The site will also give you information on how to dispute any of the items listed, you just have to sit down and write some letters and put a little bit of time into it without letting it overwhelm you, or her as is the case.They can't take her to court, only send it to collections, but she needs to get started, putting it off will only build more anxiety.

L. , I know what your mother is going through,I have been dealing with this type of thing for the last ten yrs. They eventually( sp)turn it over to a collection agent.and then they have threatened to take me to court ,and put a judgement on me ..and i have made a payment plan with the nice ones and paid them off..the others I don't worry about ..if you don't have the money ..you don't have it..one place is trying to make me pay for a funeral of a lady that I was caring for!!!And I signed a paper for them to take her body ..she had no family..I'm not paying it!!!
Good Luck and just trust in the Lord ..I believe that if you ask you'll be given!!

It could be a few different situations. One is that it could be a scam-like operation trying to see what they can get out of your Mom. There are companies that "buy up" old debt from other companies for pennies on the dollar then they try and collect it again with great harassment.

She could contact Consumer Credit Counseling and see if they could help her get to the bottom of it. They are a funded non-profit, I believe, that has been helping people with credit issues for years.

Also if she had any bank records or could get old statements from her bank showing payments that were made...?

Best of luck to your Mom.

I had a similiar incident with a settled debt. Could she get copies of her checks. That way she has proof that she has paid them. I am not real certain what else she can do. Sorry I could not be of more help.

My thought would be if the debt company did that to her, they did it to others, you might look to see if a class action lawsuit has been filed or check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints against them. You can also report them to the FTC. Shredding that stuff makes it harder for you to prove, but you still have your banking records that would show the payments she made. She should also be able to get copies from the company she was paying of her history with them. I wouldn't tell them why when you call them to request it, just say you need copies.

Don't avoid the calls, talk to the credit card company and tell them the situation and the company that was handling your account. I'm wondering how she could have made so many payments and never notice that they weren't being reflected on her credit card statements though. Normally when you go thru one of these services, you continue receiving your credit card statements and you can see the payments applied each month. You just get an additional statement from the debt consolidation company.

As far as a statute of limitations with regards to the credit card company, she will always owe that debt until she pays it. It might not show up on her credit report, but she'll owe it... that is my understanding at least. If she just now learned that he company she was going thru was basically stealing her money, I would think there would be a two year statute of limitaions for her to sue them for the money she paid them.

OMG, this is so weird bc I just finished reading Debt Cures from that Kevin Trudeau guy who's a whislte blower and it's sooo Helpful.
1) If Mom's here in TX, the statute of limitations is only FOUR years, so she can not be taken to court, the debt is OLD and they can NOT collect on her, and she needs to tell them that and they should stop bothering her
2)She shouldn't admit to the debt, it's now an ALLEGED debt bc it is so old. See,if she admits to it, the statute of limitations can start all over again for her, it's like turning the hourglass over again.
3) if it's a credit card company or a debt collector, THEY CAN NOT TAKE HER TO COURT, THEY CAN NOT TAKE HER HOME, GARNISH WAGES, ETC. THEY CAN'T DO JACK TO HER. If she already (accidentally) admitted to the debt and the statute started over for her, she needs to take all her financials and get a simple balance sheet and financial statement drawn up by an accountant friend or the like, basically saying that she is 'insolvent' meaning that she has no money and can not pay said debt. They don't care about her story, they want to see it all in black and white, once they realize that she can't pay, or can only afford very little, then they'll be more likely to work with her.
4)She needs to keeps notes of who she talks to, when, what was said, dates, times, everything, bc if they continue harrasing her, she can turn around and sue them and that way she'll have proof to send to TX Atty General Greg Abbott.
5)If she's dealing with the credit card company directly (not a debt collector), and she hasn't admitted to it yet (its all alleged) then she can claim the statute has run out on them and they can't touch her. End of story.
I hope that helps some, you can order the book and read it for yourself on www.debtcures.com I highly recommend it, it's helped me out, a LOT. Good luck to Mom!

I Listen to clark howard on 590 klbj am and he gives advice on this stuff all the time you might check out his web sight i think it is clarkhoward.com but not sure if you go to the klbj web sight they will have a link
J.

it is 7 years but they can still bother after 10 years. I have seen it done.

If she resides in the state of texas, they can't "do" anything to her. Different states have different laws. Credit cards are unsecured debt. The company is taking a chance on the payments being made. They can threaten, they can ding your credit, they can drive you insane but they cannot touch your income. If she truly paid the debt, then she needs to dispute the claim. There has to be a paper trail of the payments somewhere. It may take a little digging.

I had a similar experience with a medical bill years ago. I was told by a lawyer that the statute of limitations is 2 years, but that means you can not talk to them during that time. Once you respond to them, call them back, make a payment, etc, the time starts over again. I was told not to talk to them and certainly not to pay them anything until you can save enough to pay a settlement amount. I don't know how much your mom's bill is, but unless it is over $3,000, they usually do not take you to court. It is different in other states as my sister got stuck with a credit card debt from my mom (who has since passed away) from when she began getting alzheimers and wasn't paying things on time. They have taken her to court and it has been a horrible experience. That is not standard for Texas though. You can go on line and google Texas debt collection practices and it will give you lots of information.

Check out this site www.buddhibbs.com. He is a lawyer that goes after the bottom feeder debt collectors. He has a book on his website that you can download for free that gives you all the information to fight these guys on your own. To let you know about the statue of limitations, it is four years of absolutely no activity. No phone calls, no payments (even with the company she was with), absolutley no contact of any kind for that time period that doesn't include cease and desist letters, cease com letters, or things of that nature. If you have more specific questions we have learned a lot, and I wouldn't mind sharing what my husband and I have learned with you.

First, did she pay them, or does she actually owe this money? Second if she owes the money she should start paying something, anything on a monthly basis. The collection companies will try every scare tactic in the book, but the truth is if she is sending in payments they will not do a thing. Because taking her to court will only result in setting up a payment plan so if she is already paying them, then what's the point.

Also in Texas due to the homestead act, they can not put a lien on your house... though they will threaten that but they are wrong!

If she doesn't owe the money then she should send them a letter in writing disputing the charges and offer to send in proof of the payments. She should be able to get additional info from her bank on the payments that were sent. She can also request, in writing, that they no longer contact her by phone and that should stop any harrassing phone calls!

Next I suggest watching Dave Ramsey on the Fox Business News channel every night at 7PM. He has some great, FREE advice on financial issues, debt and dealing with creditors. He has some great books as well!

Good luck!

One additional note, a debt only falls off yoru credit report if it has been paid, or charged off. If it remains and open debt it stays on your credit report until paid or resolved. Some companies keep the debts open on purpose even though they are not actively working to collect.

She should have never shredded those documents. She needs to contact the debt agency she was paying to and get copies from them. Now, remember one things that if a credit takes a write off on their books and will receive a form like a 1099 and you will have to pay income taxes on that amount of money. Most people do not realize that when a debt is cancled. She should also run one of those free credit reports and see if it shows up on them. If not I would assume it is gone.

Credit card companies can be criminal!!! I suggest going online and reading the Fair Debt Collection Act and knowing what your rights are. When they call her, she can tell them to cease and desist, that all communications should be in writing, to ask for the address to send a written request for cease and desist or if the verbal request is sufficient. They usually always say, "I'll note it in the computer," and you will not have to actually send a written request. They will try to get her to verbally state her mailing and physical address, to which she can reply, "The address you have on file should be sufficient." They want to make sure they have the right address to serve papers in case of a lawsuit. I was working with an attorney once whose defense was, "Show me the receipts where my client actually charged these charges and authorized them." They usually can't produce those and don't have a case.

Once they realize that you know what your rights are and that you will hold them to the collection laws they are obligated to, they take a different tone. Once the account has been passed on to a third party is when you gain your rights stronger.

They will walk all over the law unless you make them not. When they don't comply, ask for the address to their complaint department so you can file a complaint internally before filing suit against them. Their tone will change.

Good luck!! They're piranhas!!