I had two (one secured and one unsecured) accounts with Cap One. Fell behind on payments (unemployed and abandoned by "excuse" for husband of 3 decades +). Cap one turned one account over to collection agency. I refused to deal with agency and they turned it over to attorney. The law firm had not contacted me via mail. I sent them a certified, receipt requested letter to verify debt. They never responded. Now it is a matter of public record that a suit has been filed. I pulled my credit reports and see they have doubled the amounts on both cards that I owed. Cap one has not sent me a bill in over seven months. I'm willing to pay what I owe but not these absurd fees they arbitrarily tack on. At this point, I just want some peace in my life which means Cap one out of my life. Any suggestions for me? They had $300 plus their claim of interest added for a number of years but have never sent me a statement of earnings on the interest bearing account.
1) did c1 file, or did the ca representing them file? 2) when was the date of last activity for this account? 3) how far is their attorney away from you? 4) how much is the pending suit for (including all fees)? You need to find out what the SOL is in your state. Everything else can be weighted to figure out what the possibility of them actually following through with the hearing (or whether it is a bluff to see if they can get a default judgement against you -- the lawyer files a large handful of suits, gets hearing dates, hopes you don't show, so his client wins).
First let me correct myself. I meant to type "a number of months" it just feels like years! It has actually been seven months since I recieved a bill. I have not received a summons. How do I find out about the hearing and what should I do first? The law firm is local.
I would call the local courthouse, and local magistrate/small claims court office as well. Tell them that according to your credit reports, someone is reporting that someone has filed a suit against you, but you have not been served, and you are trying to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. The one problem that you will more than likely run into is since the accounts are only months delinquent, there is a very good chance that they will be able to prove their case in court. How long ago were the accounts opened, were they opened more than a few years ago? If so, there is a chance that they may have destroyed some of their documentation from the earlier days of the account, including any signed application. Since they're only 'required' to keep things for five years, most companys decide to destroy them after that.
One was opened in 97 (secured) and the other in 2000. After getting info from courthouse, should I contact attrorneys office and or cap one by phone or should I send letter to cap one? I don't even know which one of the accounts they are talking about. Thanks for your help.
first if you have no knowledge of this dispute it with the CRA and see if it gets deleted if it doesnt go get a copy of this judgment from the courthouse, then look at the file and proof of service f you were not served or sub served they probably obtained the defaulted judgement illegally. state laws and rules of the court vary bottom line you need to get that judgment set aside if Cap 1 has a valid calim they can reargue their case. I would contact an attorney or paralegal to prepare your motion to set the judgment aside. and unless you know what you are doing I would have an attorney represent you in this matter.
