My wife received papers in the mail today for an debt from a little over 3 years ago. We currently live in NC and the debtor is in VA and so is court. We moved to TX about 2.5 years ago and they mailed the papers to our house in TX and they were forward it here to NC. I do not know exactly how to handle it. I can't file an answer since I have to go to the court in VA to do this. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
You absolutely MUST file an answer. You can hire a lawyer in VA to do it for you, or you can file it by mail. Call the court clerk to check, but in most courts you can mail in your answer with a cover letter addressed to the clerk saying "Please file this." You'll also need to mail a copy to the opposing attorney, and include an affidavit of service saying you've done so in your filing.
One other piece of information is this debt is doctor bills. The filing was done by the collection company hired by the doctor's office. The collection company does not own the debt they were just assigned to it. If I am looking at the information correctly the last "charge" was on 2/22/05. In VA the SOL is 3 years for any non-written contract or credit card. Does this constitute a written contract since she signed for the service? I will check into filing the answer also. Thanks.
What should be the reason for filing an answer? I really need some help on this one. I don't know exactly what to do.
How much is this for? It seems you are passed SOL. I would use the SOL affirmative defense and hire a consumer lawyer. Woofer
The amount is for $455 plus costs. Since the case was filed in VA I would use the SOL from VA and not NC where I live now, correct? Also is it considered a "proper serve" of the documents if they were mail (not certified)? Just curious on the last part since I have moved and the docs were forwarded to my current address. What if the post office lost the docs and I would have never know about it. Thanks for all the advice so far.
There sent it regular mail hoping you wouldn't get it.now you need to have old address's taken off your credit report,so it's sent back to them
You don't need to be worried about your credit report right now. You have been served. Is mailing it proper service? It depends on the laws for the jurisdiction where it was served. You'd better become familiar with Virginia laws very quickly. You may be able to say that it's not in the proper court and make them sue you in NC. But again, you need to know the rules. At this point it's probably best to consult with an attorney licensed in Virgina. You may find one near you that's licensed in several states.
The attorney can fight for jurisdiction. Depending where the good/services were done/sold the attorney can stipulate that the court in which it was filed in has proper jurisdiction. As far as the mailing, Hed is correct, it depends on the local courts rules. I doubt they will use a unwritten, express or implied, statute of limitations for a medical debt, if you ever signed for anything as far as the financial responsibilty.
