We are still trying to answer our interrogatoy questions. The one we are really stuck on is how to answer.... Do you agree you owe $29K?? When we stopped paying to At & T (Citibank) in Nov 2005, we were at $23K. Can ANYONE give some advice on how to answer this, please? We are really stuck =( And at this point, they have sent all statements and all necessities are in place. I just am afraid to say "yes, we owe you $29K". Is it legal for them to charge that much interest in 8 months (They filed w/ the court in August for $29K). I would be ever so grateful...and don't worry, I know this is just advice. I take full responsibility.
Based on the statements provided, are the interest and fees charged in compliance with the terms of your contract, and do they add up to $29K?
This is where we are stuck. WHERE do we find that information at? I don't know where our terms are... or do I look at the last statement we received? Thank you.
The terms should be included in your card agreement. The statement should itemize all fees, including over the limit and late fees, and should show the interest calculation, including the interest rate used in that calculation. It should then show the resulting balance on adding those fees and interest onto the prior balance to arrive at the new balance.
Is there a legal limit to what a CC company can charge for interest rates/late fees, etc..... ? I also don't have a copy of my contract. This card is OLD. Do they provide me with that contract? Or am I too late in trying to retrieve it? Thanks!
They should be able to mail you a copy, and presumably you could request it in discovery, since you are already in litigation. Start with determining whether your statements add up, showing your payments, and that they fees and interest are at least consistent with what they claim. That should tell you what interest and fees they charged, which should match the terms included with credit card statements at some time. At least that should determine whether they just piled on some arbitrary amount or not. Many banks have located in states without effective usury rates, so there might not be any limit to what they can charge other than what they have notified you in a card agreement.
Thank you so much! I know I don't have the original contract signed. I don't even know HOW I got this card to begin with, to be honest. It's been that long. We will request it. We will also check all figures. I am just afraid of that "yes, we owe you $29K" answer. I'm not denying charges, but want to make sure that $29K is legit. We will do our research. Again, thank you for your insight and suggestions!
"Insufficient information to admit or deny" is an answer -- and that's what you have right now, right?
The account and charges are ours. On some of the questions, we have put "lack sufficient knowledge" as our answer. We put "yes" to we rec'd statements and that we made charges. We answered "no" that we AGREED to pay 6% annum on $29K. We put that we lacked knowledge that we SIGNED anything. The other strange one was "You agree that you owe $29K". We put "Statement as of May 2005 states $29K". We didn't accept or deny it. By re-stating it, did we agree to it? Or did we?! If we are not disputing any of the charges, we don't know how to deny a lot of it. We have answered the best we could to it all. Any other insight would be great...thanks for adding your insight so far. We really appreciate it.
Is there any reason a court could decide that you don't owe $29K? Based on the terms of the CC agreement, do the allowed late fees and interest from when you stopped paying increase the amount due from $23K to $29K?
That's what we don't know. In the answers, we request a copy of our signed cc agreement. Because truthfully, we don't KNOW what the original cc agreement was. I do know for a fact that NOWHERE did we agree to pay them 6% per annum on the $29K! They already have a document for the judge to sign that states we have to...but I am not agreeing to it from the discovery process. Are we just wasting our time in the long run?
It might have nothing to do with the terms of the CC agreement. State laws generally allow some amount of interest to be paid to the party owed the judgment if the judgement is not paid immediately. It is possible that 6% may be the statutory rate in your state due on judgements until they are paid. If that is the case, if they get a judgement, they may get that rate on the unpaid balance of the judgement. In some states it is more like 10%. Either way, it is probably less than the default rate you have been accruing on the CC itself. I was actually questioning whether the $29K itself is in agreement with your CC agreement. If not, then that would be one reason to raise that issue in your defense.
My answer is -- I don't know. I am unsure what our cc agreement is. Once they prove it, then I can say, yes, we owe the $29K. The APR on the $23K a month was almost 33%. $6K was incurred on the account in 6 months between rates and fees.
The statements should show those fees, and that the interest was at 33%. If that is what the statements show, then the missing piece is whether the CC agreement allows for the 33% charged. Some default rates are that high. Have they provided a copy of a credit card agreement that they claim was in effect?
No, they have not. They sent copies of ALL the statements in this HUGE envelope. The other evening, I went through that stack to make sure there wasn't a CC agreement in there. We do not have it. We did request it on the interrogatories, though. If that's what they were allowed to charge, so be it..... but I don't know if that's the case. Is the only place TO find that answer in the CC agreement?
The statements would show what the CC company thinks the rate should be. The agreement is what makes you bound by those interest rate terms. Usually all they have to have done is send a new card agreement inserted in your regular bill, and 30 days later those terms apply, unless you notified them other wise. Of course, the default terms may even go back to when you originally opened the account.
So should we bother even "questioning" it? If they inflated them, how will we know? Also..... the first question of the interrogatories is "name, address, and place of employment of the person who's answering these questions". Do they need to know WHERE I work? Isn't it irrelevant right now or until a Judge TELLS me I need to tell them where I work? Getting me to admit I made charges has nothing to do with where I work. Or am I wrong in my thinking?????
I don't have experience either being sued, or dealing with interogatories. Perhaps others do. You might also try www.debtorboards.com I would presume that you would say that you do not know whether you owe $29k, and leave it to them to prove. What documentation do you have on the account? Any statements from before it went into default?
If you go to debtorboards . . . avoid Rottweiler at all costs. One person has basically ruined that board.
