hello, does anyone know what the sol in wash. state is for a credit card that was charged off on 2/98 with last payment 8/97? i have a lawyer suing me. when i had to talk to him on the phone to get a continuance he kept saying it was 6 years. i have filed my notice to appear beleiving the sol was 3years. he gave me this to look up rcw4.16.040 wash code. i have no idea where to even go to look this up. i have been trying to take care of this myself not having the money for an att. losing alot of sleep can someone help me ? thank you in advance :O)
It looks like good news for you. As far as I can find, the sol in Wash. is 3 years for open contracts, which credit cards are usally considered. I found it here: http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html Also, at www.creditinfocenter.com if you point to debt at the top of the page, it gives a link to sol, which also states 3 years.
thank you Lkh for your help. i have been to both of those sites that is why i thought i was right but boy this guy insisted i was wrong. he even gave me the code to look up. so i am so unsure now. i guess its just he wants money and will try to make me believe i am going to lose in court. do you have any idea where i could look the code up? RCW 4.16.040.
Found this link doing a google search. http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/rcw - text/title_04/chapter_016/rcw_4_16_040.txt It looks like the sol is 6 years.
I disagree. A credit card acct. is usually considered an open acct., not a written agreement. My suggestion is to just call a lawyer and ask. Most lawyers will take a minute to answer a couple of questions.
ok i took the advise called a couple of different att.'s and i get different answers. i am so lost i dont know who is right. does anyone know how to find out the exact right sol for a credit card (open account) in wash. state? i am being sued and need all the help i can get..
I would try and look for some legal precedent. Do you live near a law school? If so, go to their library and try to find some similar cases.
If you are being sued already, are you going to handle the case yourself? If so, and you already filed your answer, then file a motion for summary judgement using the SOL affirmative defense. Let the judge rule on the motion. If you have not answered the complaint, raise the SOL as an affirmative defense in your resonse and then file a motion to dismiss. If you are unsure of any of this or how to type it up, you need to get a Lawyer to handle your case for you. Court is not the place to seem confused or unsure of what you are doing.
Whoops, I typed quicker than my brain worked. It would be a motion for dismissal, not summary judgement.
yes i filed my notice to appear and answer form. wrote the palintiff's claim was barred by the statue of limitations. i was fine until i had to call the lawyer for the ca to get a continuance because the court date they gave was when i was going to be out of state. the guy said woudnt you rather just settle i told him no then he said the sol was 6 years. he said he would do the continuance which i am greatful but now i am really worried i was wrong here.
Clutterbug, Here iswhere I think there is a problem. The fact that 2 lawyers gave conflicting answers means there is more than likely conflicting court rulings on how cc accounts are defined. The fact that opposing counsel called and offered to settle means he realizes this is no slam dunk. Were I you, I'd have a meeting with the lawyer that told you the SOL was 3 years and find out why he believes that. Tell him you want specific case law to support the position. Also, ask why the 6 year SOL has its followers. This will be worth the legal fees to find out just how strong a case you have with the SOL of 3 years.
Did you really expect him to admit he did not have a case? Of course he is going to pretend he has a good case, just like you are going to pretend he does not. It's a bluffing game. The Judge won't care and will rule on the SOL if in fact it is over he will dismiss. If you have any doubts on this at all you need to hire an Attorney to look after your interest. You could call the Attorney back and tell him you are filing a Motion to Dismiss based on the SOL and see what his response is. Either way, you need to decide quick how you are going to proceed. If you don't want to do any of this, use the Motion to Dismiss as a negotiating tool. Tell him you will settle for X and if not you will will just file the Motion to Dismiss. If you do not want to handle yourself, then get an Attorney and he will file the motion to dismiss if in fact the SOL is up. If you want to handle yourself, then you better get yourself to the courthouse to research cases and go to a law library and start putting a game plan together. Have they provided a copy of the signed contract that you signed? If not, time for discovery to see what exactly they have. You may find that once they see you are going to fight back they will back down. However, you need to prepare yourself in case they don't.
yes they have sent me a copy of the credit app. i signed with cap 1. also i filed a notice if appearance,certificate of service and the answer,affirmative defenses and couterclaims with the court and mailed the lawyer his copy. on the answer & defenses i stated that my defense was "Plaintiff's claim is barred by the statue of limitaions. at the bottom of the notice it says defendant request that the lawsuit be dismissed. i filed this after going on several different web sites where they had 3 years as the sol for open accounts and i was told credit cards are concider open accounts. i was trying to handle this myself now i have myself in more trouble.
Why do you say you have yourself in more trouble? You have raised the SOL as an Affirmative defense. All you need to do now is go to a Law Library or to the Courthouse itself to research some cases. Try to research case law on the SOL for open contracts. If you can't find any, go to the Courthouse and lookup cases where a credit card company is a plaintiff and see if any SOL defenses were raised and what the courts ruling was on it. You may have to pull alot of cases to find one but that is what the research is all about. Most courthouses have a computerized database where you can search by plaintiff or defendant. Put in a known credit card company like Capital One and look at some of their cases. Once you have a good handle on whether you have a SOL defense all you need to do at that point is prepare a Motion to Dismiss based on the case law your research has uncovered and file it with the court. Request a hearing date and send a copy to Plaintiff's counsel. Again, if you are unconfortable with any of this you need to retain an Attorney. I do not want to make this seem easy or a slam dunk. You either have to put the legwork in or hire someone to do it for you. This will not go away and you have to deal with it.
The definition of "open-end account" for a credit card is in the TILA-(Truth In Lending Act) It has nothing to do with signing or not signing. The TILA takes preccedence over any State rules as to what is a "written contract" The following link gives a summary of the definitons of "open-end" and "closed-end" accounts. http://fair-debt-collection.com/federal/More_Credit_Laws/truth-in-lending-act.html
This is what I found: The term ''open end credit plan'' means a plan under which the creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions, which prescribes the terms of such transactions, and which provides for a finance charge which may be computed from time to time on the outstanding unpaid balance. A credit plan which is an open end credit plan within the meaning of the preceding sentence is an open end credit plan even if credit information is verified from time to time.
