CA barelling through process
Date: Sun, 03/20/2011 - 21:39
I really need some advice and I need it fast :( the CA is barreling through his process without even giving us a chance to clear or debate our debt...
First of all, I need to state that i am not from this country. The country I am from we need to pay past dues without any right to ask questions. So I am very inexperienced what my rights are. But I am learning.....
About 3 years ago, I received a mystery bill from one of the utility companies, demanding a payment for a delinquent bill under my husband's name. Handling all the bills in our family, I called and I was not told how old the debt is but it must have been at least 8 years old since i was up to date with the balance for the past 8 years. I discussed it with my husband and we agreed that we will try to make a payment arrangement to avoid it growing even bigger. I agreed to a monthly payment and started to pay it faithfully. But the debt disappeared from my next bills and my payments started to accumulate a positive balance. So I called the utility company and asked what happened to the debt. The person i talked to said that there is no sign of a debt on my account and I should just keep paying whatever is on my bill. I found that weird....That was it for another 3 years.
I have a feeling that with that agreement I restarted the statue of limitation. :( The question is, can I restart the statute of limitation on a debt that is under my husbands name?
About 20 days ago we received a letter from a CA that is contracted with the city and lodged in the courthouse with an office, that we have 10 days to respond to a debt on a utility bill or they are taking us to court. They said they have sent a 30 days notice before, but we never received that. I have no idea if this is for the same debt or not because the face value does not match and they would not tell. They said they don't have to explain the details of the debt.
I researched the company and found that they seem to have a system worked out and it is somehow backed by a law. In the past year or so, they have taken people's homes over delinquent utility bills. So obviously we were scared.
My husband contacted them on the 8th day (they did not specify if business days) and asked for a payment arrangement. Which may also have restarted the statute of limitation?
They gave an outrageous agreement and would not budge. He discussed it with me and we decided that we need to pay at least the first (rather large amount) in order to keep from them taking us to court. We collected the money and he called back 3 days later that he is ready to pay the 1st installment over the phone and was told that by the way they do not accept payments over the phone, we have to go on their website to pay. So obviously they stalled us. On the website it said the payment will take 5-6 business day to clear. So obviously we would be beyond the 10 business days. Suspecting that we are shooting the payment into a black hole we paid it, kind of hoping we can avoid court.
Today we received a consent judgement - which we do not intend to sign - with an additional $800 added to the amount of 10 days ago. Weird that while the amount we paid appear, but $50 is missing from the full payment. Two questions here:
- If they acknowledged our payment within the 10 days, is it legal for them to take us to court?
- Is it legal that the amount we paid is not fully reflected in the consent judgement?
Additional questions:
- As far as I can tell the debt is at least 10 years old. Are they allowed to suddenly collect on this, and did we defaulted on the statue of limitation with our payment?
- How can I force them to give me a straightforward answer about where this debt is coming from and how much do we exactly owe? I think we have been duped into paying into a debt but it does not matter how much we put into it it will never go down.
- What should be our next step? I am afraid if we get a lawyer the cost is just going to grow and grow uncontrollably and we will still loose.
- Should we let this go to court? Should we take it to the FTC or the Attorney General? If they are contracted with the city I am afraid there is not much power we have over our fate.....
First of all, I need to state that i am not from this country. The country I am from we need to pay past dues without any right to ask questions. So I am very inexperienced what my rights are. But I am learning.....
About 3 years ago, I received a mystery bill from one of the utility companies, demanding a payment for a delinquent bill under my husband's name. Handling all the bills in our family, I called and I was not told how old the debt is but it must have been at least 8 years old since i was up to date with the balance for the past 8 years. I discussed it with my husband and we agreed that we will try to make a payment arrangement to avoid it growing even bigger. I agreed to a monthly payment and started to pay it faithfully. But the debt disappeared from my next bills and my payments started to accumulate a positive balance. So I called the utility company and asked what happened to the debt. The person i talked to said that there is no sign of a debt on my account and I should just keep paying whatever is on my bill. I found that weird....That was it for another 3 years.
I have a feeling that with that agreement I restarted the statue of limitation. :( The question is, can I restart the statute of limitation on a debt that is under my husbands name?
About 20 days ago we received a letter from a CA that is contracted with the city and lodged in the courthouse with an office, that we have 10 days to respond to a debt on a utility bill or they are taking us to court. They said they have sent a 30 days notice before, but we never received that. I have no idea if this is for the same debt or not because the face value does not match and they would not tell. They said they don't have to explain the details of the debt.
I researched the company and found that they seem to have a system worked out and it is somehow backed by a law. In the past year or so, they have taken people's homes over delinquent utility bills. So obviously we were scared.
My husband contacted them on the 8th day (they did not specify if business days) and asked for a payment arrangement. Which may also have restarted the statute of limitation?
They gave an outrageous agreement and would not budge. He discussed it with me and we decided that we need to pay at least the first (rather large amount) in order to keep from them taking us to court. We collected the money and he called back 3 days later that he is ready to pay the 1st installment over the phone and was told that by the way they do not accept payments over the phone, we have to go on their website to pay. So obviously they stalled us. On the website it said the payment will take 5-6 business day to clear. So obviously we would be beyond the 10 business days. Suspecting that we are shooting the payment into a black hole we paid it, kind of hoping we can avoid court.
Today we received a consent judgement - which we do not intend to sign - with an additional $800 added to the amount of 10 days ago. Weird that while the amount we paid appear, but $50 is missing from the full payment. Two questions here:
- If they acknowledged our payment within the 10 days, is it legal for them to take us to court?
- Is it legal that the amount we paid is not fully reflected in the consent judgement?
Additional questions:
- As far as I can tell the debt is at least 10 years old. Are they allowed to suddenly collect on this, and did we defaulted on the statue of limitation with our payment?
- How can I force them to give me a straightforward answer about where this debt is coming from and how much do we exactly owe? I think we have been duped into paying into a debt but it does not matter how much we put into it it will never go down.
- What should be our next step? I am afraid if we get a lawyer the cost is just going to grow and grow uncontrollably and we will still loose.
- Should we let this go to court? Should we take it to the FTC or the Attorney General? If they are contracted with the city I am afraid there is not much power we have over our fate.....
small correction. The letters and the consent judgement is only
small correction. The letters and the consent judgement is only under my husbands name. Kind of makes me think they have no knowledge of me talking to the utility company 3 years ago.
