Defendent a lawsuit after re-aging

Contact the OC and see if they can provide you with a statement or letter stating when the last payment was made. Whatever the SOL is in your state expires from that date.

I have tried contatcing the original creditor, they told me that they no longer have the account and that the colletor will give me the information, but since they have it, the last date of payment on my credit report is wrong.

Well, make sure you answer the summons before the deadline or they will be able to obtain a default judgment against you. Answer that you have no knowledge of the debt. Ask for validation of the debt during discovery and proof that their claim is within the SOL.

More to the point... They say you made a payment within SoL. You say you didn't. The burden of proof is on them. Make them prove you made the payment when they say you did.

How do they claim the payment was made? Checks or bank transfers can be tracked for years, as can credit card activity.

They didn't tell me how the last payment was made, they wouldn't be able to anyway, beacuse I never paid them. When I made my last payment is was to another collector.

My point was, they should be able to prove that a payment was made. In your shoes, I'd lay my old bank statements before the judge.

I'm not sure since it was so long ago, but I think I paid with money orders, like you said they need to prove it, don't think they can.

OK, unclewulf...my 'other half' has an almost identical situation to this one going on right now. So, if you can't prove that you didn't make a payment, whose to say they won't come up with a fake statement or false credit reporting to try and prove you did? How do you defend yourself against that? What do most judges require as proof?

If you have actually been sued then you are entitled to discovery which means they have to produce copies of their records to you so you can defend the case. PM me for more info.

Floridaconsumerlaw, would you mind sharing in this thread? There are lots of people who could benefit from good advice.

Sure; Although I am not licensed to practice law in North Dakota and have no knowledge of ND law other than a quick review online. This same basic procedure would probably work in similar cases in most other states as well.

First, you have 20 days from the date of service within which to file a formal response, called an "Answer." You should raise your state's Statute of Limitations in your defense. The statute generally starts to run from the date of your last payment on the debt. You would say something like "This claim is barred pursuant to (insert state) (insert a citation to the law which sets forth the SOL). If the party suing you is any one other than the original creditor, I would also raise some fdcpa defenses or even a counterclaim as the FDCPA prohibits third party debt collectors from suing on a legally unenforceable debt.

Then, depending on whether you are being sued in circuit court or small claims, the rules generally provide for you to issue a Request for Production to whoever is suing you so that you can get copies of their records. This is called the "discovery" process. If the records prove that the debt is outside the SOL, you win.

You could also try the standard debt verification letter.

PM me for more details.

But what do you do if you believe they have falsified their 'records' and you have no way to prove it? The CA we are dealing with is claiming that payments were made and are reporting a lower original balance to the CRA's (not the balance they would be sueing for, which is much higher, of course) than what the OC charged-off. What 'proof' are they required to provide in court? I'm thinking they are doing this in order to re-age the SOL. (MI- 6yrs.)

what kind of debt is it? What form of payment do they claim that you made? What court are you in, circuit or small claims? When did the account first go delinquent? Is it listed as a chargeoff on your credit reports?

Bank ABC, CC debt, DOFD- January 2000,
Charged off July 2002, Amount: 14000, dropped from reports December 2007

Bank XYZ (acquired all Bank ABC's accounts? in 2003?)
Charged off/sold December 2005, Amount: 14000

CA, via a MI attorney, has sent three copies of a consent judgment to be signed, filed in circuit court September 29, 2008. (Not gonna sign!)

Latest CR Statement from CA (from October 13, 2008): account previously disputed-now resolved
Original Balance:11500 Recent Balance: 20,000
HUH???

They have not disclosed what type of payment was made. I have sent them a letter CMRRR requesting validation, limited C&D, and stated the account is outside the SOL. All I got back was a simple verification.

Which brings up another question: Can I take any action to get rid of the consent judgment sitting in court? A motion to vacate?, since I continue to dispute? Or not worry about it since they would have to serve a summons, anyway? It's just a little unsettling to have it sitting in court for 91 days not knowing what they're going to do next.

They won't be able to fake a copy of the actual payment they claim you made..they would have to show a copy of the check, or moneyorder, or bank transaction.

Thanks so much...I was wondering about that. They are claiming these payments were made during a time when my husband (we weren't married yet) was pretty much down and out..got laid off, his car was repo'd and didn't even have a bank acct. He paid what bills he could with money orders and even went to the bank to try and look up his past money order records, just in case he forgot or something...they couldn't find a thing! And you know what I just realized? Our small town bank that he used to get his money orders from is now the big bank that sold the account to the CA!!!