I am in North Carolina.

Date: Thu, 07/19/2007 - 11:12

Submitted by anonymous
on Thu, 07/19/2007 - 11:12

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Total Replies: 1

I am in North Carolina. 11 years ago I made a Purchase from Office Depot Credit and after a couple years, paid it off. Or so I thought. There was apparently an additional amount left on the account. in 2004 the creditors tracked us down (not that I was hiding - I just never had any coorespondance from them) and said my account balance was $1236 - almost twice the original purchase amount! My wife contacted the Office Depot Credit Department and reached a verbal agreement to pay the balance off in a single lump sum of $900.00. She had a cashier's check drawn out from the local bank and sent to Office Depot Credit. I have not had any coorespondance since then until this week (exactly 35 months and 3 weeks later) from a local law firm threatening me with litigation if I didn't pay them $797. The best I can gather is that this law firm has purchased the debt from Office Depot and are now threatening me with a suit in order to collect. I've sent them a letter explaining this situation and also a copy of the cashier's check. they told me that a verbal agreement is no good and I am still responsible for the debt, which should have only been $336; the difference between $1236 and $900 - not $797!

I have a few questions:

1) what is the statute of limitations for this issue in North Carolina? I am thinking it is three years. This account has not been active since the $900 was paid on August 8, 2004.

2) Is a verbal agreement biding? I have no written proof, just the carbon copy of the cashier's check. Why would she pay such an even amount of $900 if it wasn't to settle the debt?

3) I can't get copies of my credit report over the internet because of some freeze that is on them. I had to send off for them by normal postal means. the law firm gave me only two weeks to pay this amount. Is there some type of time allowance that i should get in order to prove myself innocent?

Sorry for the very lengthy post, I just wanted to get my facts together so maybe someone out there can offer some advice before I decide to pay an attorney consultation fees.

Thanks,
Chris

The first thing you need to do is send a letter to the law firm

The first thing you need to do is send a letter to the law firm requiring them under the fdcpa to validate the debt. They are required to do so. Make them provide the following.
How they arrived at the amount they say you owe.
Proof thay the statute of limitation has not run out on this.
Any payments made to the original lender prior to there receiving the debt.
Proof that they legally own the debt or are legally collecting on behalf of the original lender.
Proof that they are licensed in the State as a collector.

They will usually respond by sending you copy of an old bill. Not good enough. They must provide you with all of the above information and be able to prove it to be true. Do not under any circumstances agree that you owe any amount or you will start the SOL all over again. I will check the SOL for North Carolina and post it.

lrhall41

Submitted by Frogpatch on Thu, 07/19/2007 - 11:37

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