Hi all! I'm fairly new to this board and have learned so much in the past couple of weeks from reading all of the post. For the past seven years I have been pretty much ignoring my credit...once things started to go bad I just let them slide and figured that eventually I would do a chapter 7. And I kind of adopted an attitude of "if anyone is stupid enough to give me credit, then they're getting what they deserve." In May of 1998, Newport News was stupid enough to send me a pre-approved $3000 offer, which I promptly used up. I made a couple of payments but none after July of 1998. After that, I moved around a lot....I believe FCNB charged off the account and sold it prior to going out of business. I personally have received only one letter regarding this account (although I know my parents and other members of my family have received letters from all kinds of CA's about me but they usually return them marked "unknown person") However, about a week ago, after I had already discovered this board and learned about the whole SOL thing, I got a phone call from a debt collector about this account. I told him that the statute of limitations for that account was past, (I'm in Washington state and the SOL for contracts OTHER THAN WRITTEN is three years.) and he told me that I was incorrect, that the statute of limitations for this debt was up in April of 2005, and that he would mark me as refusing to pay and would take action immediately. Although I'm certain that I never signed anything and that the RCW's should back up my defense, I'm still very nervous about going to court on this, particularly as I read about a very similar case on another board in Washington state where the debtor lost using the SOL defense for a credit card. Okay...sorry for taking so long to get to the point...today at my work (I happen to be the one currently responsible for opening all of the mail our office receives) there was a letter from a law firm in Washington by the name of Plovis politely requesting that my employer verify that I was currently employed there. I panicked and stuck the whole thing in the shredder, although I'm wondering if I should have. Has anyone experienced anything like that before? Could it signal that they are gearing up for a lawsuit and if so, will they attempt to contact my employer again? Can they even do this? I know my boss wouldn't give them any information without my consent but I don't like the idea of them even asking. This is the first job that I've had in years that would allow me to marginally support my family and I told my boss that my credit problems were far behind me when I signed on. Also, does anyone know of any cases using the SOL defense for credit card defense where the debtor won? i could use the encouragement. Thank you!
I'm sorry, I can't help with your SOL defense, but I can respond to your question about what this letter might mean. I worked payroll for a number of years, including managing the many garnishments our employees were subject to. In my experience, verifying employment is often (but not necessarily always) a precursor to getting a judgment for garnishment. If that's what they're after, then shredding the letter or ignoring subsequent letters isn't going to help. I don't believe your employer is required to respond to the verification of employment, but they MUST respond to any court-ordered garnishment orders. In fact, if an employer disregards a garnishment order, many states will find the employer responsible for their employee's debt. If you think your boss would be bothered by YOUR credit problems, imagine what he might think if HE ended up having to pay your debt! :-O The good news is that your employer can't fire you or otherwise discriminate against you if your wages are garnished or if you are threatened with garnishment. Hopefully, you'll get some great info about the SOL defense and all this will be a moot point. Good luck!
You said you have moved around a lot and that previous collectors' mailings were returned by family members.....how do you know that the creditor does not already have a default judgment against you? Maybe the letter from the WA law firm means that they have tracked you down and are preparing to enforce the garnishment order? If this is the case then SOL discussion is moot.
The fact they contacted his employer probably means they have such a judgment as they would need it to go to his employer for garnishment. merri72 needs to get out of ignore mode before he gets into more trouble than he's already in .
You're absolutely right about the disgusting state of my attitude back then, and yes I have changed it It really isn't my intention to sound like I'm proud of my stupid mistakes and poor judgement in the past...but it's the truth, and it's in my past. As far as judgements go, i don't see any judgements on any of my credit reports, nor can I find any evidence of any on any public records that I've found. I suppose I will just have to wait and see if any court papers do show up...I was planning on a chapter 7 before I found out about the whole SOL thing so that is still an option. And if it were to come to garnishment I would have no other choice. I had just started to believe that maybe the light at the end of the tunnel was a little bit closer. And the letter, although written on a law firm letterhead, was clearly nothing more than fishing and any response from my employer other than a refusal to answer any of their questions without my express permission or a court order would have been a violation of my rights. Other than this case, every other blemish on my credit reports should be dropping off within the next year so if I can avoid adding another ten years to the seven I have already spent with a poor record I would prefer to avoid it. Thank you for your replies
Re: Re: lawyer sent letter to my employer you are nowhere out of the woods on this. just because it isn't on your credit report doesn't mean it didn't exist and the fact that they only sent a letter doesn't supercede the fact that you interfered in a potential legal matter. a lot can happen in a year (before the SOL is up). you need to be proactive and call the various counties to see if there is a judgment. is there a collection on your credit report? don't just wait out the last year. is this something you could pay or settle?
