I recently got a dunning letter from a company attempting to collect money for an old paypal account. I responded with a validation request and they replied with a letter showing two transactions that occured in early July 2004 and then a chargeoff in November 2004. The account was originally opened when I lived in NY and I was still in NY in 2004. I moved to FL about two years ago. As near as I can tell, the SOL in NY is 6 years and the SOL in FL is 5 years, but it's unclear to me whether the NY or FL SOL would apply here. If the FL SOL applies, then I believe that this is certainly past the SOL. If the NY SOL applies, then I believe it is still past the SOL, but only by a couple of weeks. I really want to send them a FOAD letter, but I want to make sure that I'm really past the SOL before I do so (Although, the total amount is under $400, so I suspect they wouldn't bother to sue for this anyway). Here are my questions... The SOL numbers I'm looking at are for contracts. Would this paypal account be considered a contract or should I be looking at different SOL numbers? Does the NY or the FL SOL apply? If the NY SOL applies, would the clock start ticking in early July, 2004 when the transactions were made or in November, 2004 when the account was charged off? There were no payments made between July and November (or after that either, for that matter). Thanks much, Brett
What the heck is a FOAD letter and what does it say? I'd say you are right on. Florida Don't be too sure about the idea that they wouldn't sue for such a small amount. One lady in Oregon thought they wouldn't sue for 8 cents but she was wrong. They did. Judge wasn't too happy about it however and fined them $1800.00. At least that was a news story that went around a few years back.
FOAD is F... Off And Die. Someone's colorful description for a letter that basically says "This debt is past the SOL so you can't sue me. Stop contacting me about it." Most of the sample ones I've seen also include some language about how it would be illegal to put this debt onto a credit report as well, but from what I've seen that's not really the case unless it's more than 7 years old. It's my understanding that they can't sue for debt that's past the SOL, but they can still attempt to collect it. Obviously, since it is including a full cease and desist I want to be absolutely certain that it really is past the SOL before I send the letter off. Thanks again, Brett
Those who claim they can't sue you for a debt that is out of SOL are truly dangerous teachers. If they will attempt to foist bad information off on you like that on one subject will most likely lead you astray in some other manner sooner or later and probably sooner than later. The truth of the matter is that they can sue you 50 years after the SOL has run out on the debt. Even your passing from this earthly realm does not mean that you cannot be sued for a deficiency balance because they can and just might go after a judgment once they learn you were the one who died. So maybe their stupid FOAD letter is just as bad as their telling you that they can't sue you after the SOL has expired. In fact, I already knew what FOAD stood for before I asked you. I just about kicked the slats out of my baby crib the first time I saw that dumb idea. It holds no validity whatever and might very well provoke a debt collector into filing a lawsuit against you just to prove how wrong you are and how dumb your idea is. Problem is that far too many people think that the dumb crap they find on various message boards is valid information just because it sounds so cute. If it sounds cute then it probably is nothing more than false and misleading and probably downright dangerous as well. FDCPA tells you in no uncertain terms how to handle that type of situation and it sure don't say anything about any dumb FOAD letter. I'm fixing to send off my version of a FOAD letter and it is only 4 words long. Anything with more wording than that is purely stupid and would instantly tell whoever receives it that the sender has been getting his nonsense off the internet. They can and do sue past SOL and they get judgments past SOL regularly as well. Trust me on that one. It isn't illegal to do so under any state law that I know of. The trick is to realize that if you get sued for a debt that is outside of SOL you have to be able to prove to the court that it is outside of SOL and properly plead a SOL defense. That is at the state level. Things are a bit different at the federal level. There it is illegal to file a lawsuit that is outside SOL. That's the difference. More dangerous teaching. I teach that one should never send a full cease and desist nor even mention the words to a debt collector or an attorney. That is simply inviting a lawsuit. Bud Hibbs used to preach that nonsense. Maybe he still does, I don't know but I wish I had a dollar for everybody that fell for his nonsense. Trust me when I say that if your FOAD letter has more than 4 words in it you have said way too much and that using the phrase cease and desist is a dangerous thing to do.
Thanks for the reply, Bill Perhaps I was oversimplifying a bit when I suggested that being past the SOL made me sue proof, and I think the point of the letter is to convey the fact that I am aware that the debt is out of SOL and that I will be using that as my defense if they should decide to sue me. The theory is that if they can't contact me because of the full cease and desist and they know that I have a defense against their law suit that they'll just give up and move on to easier prey. I was hoping for a nice quick and simple solution here, but I probably should have known better since nothing related to credit repair really has a quick and simple solution All that said, I am still somewhat vulnerable because even if they do agree that the debt is past the SOL and don't try to sue me they can still stick it on my credit reports for another year (it's not on there at this point). So I guess this leads me to my next question... what do you suggest I do in this case? I just received the dunning letter and I asked for validation. Below, see the text of what I received in return. I did note as I was typing this that they have the total amount due listed as -$400 on the letter. Perhaps I should write back and ask them when I can expect my $400 check Thanks again, Brett
Your are missing the important part of what I have been saying. One of the most important rules of engagement with debt collectors and lawyers alike is never attempt to educate the other fellow. Your goal should always be to find out how ignorant the other fellow is, but never, never attempt to educate him. He knows he is far smarter than you are. If you don't believe that just ask him. One way or the other, he will let you know how ignorant he thinks you are and how smart he thinks he is. (LOL). So, in order to make that a bit easier to understand, never tell the other fellow anything he don't already know. Never give him any information he don't already have or should have. Make that a cardinal rule. So, to make it even more personal, don't bother to tell him it is out of stat. He probably already knows that and if he don't then let him find out the hard way. Let him get stupid and sue you then slap him down in local court and when that is over slap him down again in federal court. That way he and others will learn that the best course of action for them would be to leave you the H alone.
