What happens when credit card debt go to the lawyers

It depends. Has the debt been charged off?

If the debt has not been charged off and the attorney is hired by the original creditor they do not have to follow the fdcpa and can therefor sue you without notice.

If it has been charged off and then sent to an attorney or a debt collector then an attorney they would have to follow the FDCPA and send you a dunning letter giving you 30 days to dispute the debt.

Also unless you recently signed up for this credit card, the chances are slim it will go to a lawyer before charge off.

If this credit card was opened within the past few years, most likely there is an arbitration clause in it, giving up your rights to fight this in court.

What is a charge off? They did send it to a law firm, it is a citibank card out of Sioux Falls SD, I am in Nebraska. I was in a debt consolidation and paid it down from 16,000. I went on some meds and went through a bad time, I did get it down to a little under $3000 before I went through my trying time. HELP

hey Guest...I read the part in your post:

If it has been charged off and then sent to an attorney or a debt collector then an attorney they would have to follow the fdcpa and send you a dunning letter giving you 30 days to dispute the debt.


so, if the OC Charged off, sent it to a ca, they have to or are supposed to send a dunning letter that then lets you DV them?? If it's a have to, is there case law to support that or what? if so, how do you prove you didn't get anything? Or how do they prove you got one, I don't see how unless it was sent cert, UPS, or fedex.....hmmm...

I'm just interested...Thank you

the law firm sent me a letter that they are collecting on debt and I need to call them. does this make sense?

Also for the other question on what a charge off is go to this site and it will give you some insight on it...

answers.com/topic/charge-off

:cry: [size=9][/size]never heard of a dv letter til came upon this site. I did receive a letter from a law firm representing a West Lake Financial Grp. I thought it was a fishing letter to get me to acknowledge a long past debt & did not respond to it. The 30 day period would have expired on 12/14.
Now what can or should I do? They are trying to serve a summons on me & have a court date set up. Please advise as to what I can do.

deekay...Just because you didn't respond to that initial letter, it doesn't make the debt valid, like the letter probably stated. ("If you don't respond, we will consider the debt valid."yada-yada-yada, or some such wording.

Go to the FDCPA site and read some of the laws regarding initial contact, summons, etc.

What state are you in?
How do you know they are trying to serve a summons on you?

am in Missouri--saw the summons info on casenet much to my surprise! do I just type in FDCPA to get to the site??
Thanks for responding

When you get to the FDCPA....Scroll to page 12 (c)

LOL! Sometimes ya don't WANNA see yer name on the web, eh? ;)

I don't know anything about Mo. laws, sorry.

if I go to a lawyer for a consultation can he turn me in?? Is the info to him confidential? And am I admitting I owe all of the amt. the collection co. is stating??

if I go to a lawyer for a consultation can he turn me in?? Is the info to him confidential? And am I admitting I owe all of the amt. the collection co. is stating??

okay...so if a CA never sends you anything...then files suit, it violates your rights? So do you countersue them for it? I thought since they filed suit already, my only option was to DV through the discovery process? I can still do that too right...the burden of proof is on them correct?

groovy....Thank you

Legally, initial communication can be oral or written. Had you received calls from them previously? Also,found this researching the topic:

Thomas v. Law Firm of Simpson & Cybak, et al., No. 02-1113 (7th Cir. 12/20/04).

After reading the entire case, the 7th Circuit court stated that a legal summons CAN be construed as initial contact.



You will have to go thru the discovery process for validation and you are correct that the burden of proof is on them but if you are using the affirmative defense of SOL you would have to prove that as well.

thanks for the info I did ck the fdcpa site it was helpful--this blog site has been very helpful too--if they cannot serve the summons can they still take me to court? there is a court date set as I saw it on casenet. you are right I was looking someone else up on casenet & found me instead!

who is sueing you? I'm in MO also.

I had 2 different CA's file suit against me and saw both of them on case net. They had the wrong address so it took them another 6 months to locate me.

both dismissed by the judge due to them not being able to validate

After I send the letter, can they demand full payment at once on the account if they find it legit? Also should I certify the letter and track it on the web or do I need a signature card as well.

This from the orginal post of going to the lawyers, I did get a letter from a law firm and it gave me 30 days to dispute the debt.

what if CA cant contact the person or the person is out of country?? how can they bring that person to court?
my friend has a debt with Credit card sent to CA.

Hi,
Is an OC mandated by federal law (or CA state law) to inform a debtor in writing that a past due (5 mos.) balance will be charged-off?

Thanks!

Not sure about CA state law but under the FCRA, they must inform you about derogatory information being placed on your credit reports. You will likely see 30,60,90 and 150 days late on your reports now