[janefreakindoe]

Please help -

I was recently served with a 30 day court summons - Circuit Court state of Oregon. It says I must appear in this case or the other side will win automatically. It also states I must file a motion or answer which must be given to the court clerk or administrator w/in 30 days.

The summons has been filed by an attorney's office on behalf of a collection agency (Asset Acceptance).

This is for credit card debt that fell delinquent in (aprox) December 2003, and was charged off in March 2003 by the OC.

I lived in CA when I opened the account with the OC and when the account went delinquent and was charged off. I moved to Oregon approx 1 year ago.

I started getting collection letters and phone calls over the summer from the CA, but stupidly, I ignored them out of fear and an inability to even attempt payment. I am just barely getting back on my feet financially after a very difficult time in my life.

I would be grateful for any advice as to how to proceed and the best way to get out of this mess. Also, can someone tell me if SOL would be considered under California (4 years) or Oregon (6 years).

Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer.

[Enigma]

Who is the credit card company?

Did you receive any thing from an attorney prior to being served?

[janefreakindoe]

The credit card was originally with Citibank/Home Depot. (Debt currently owned by Asset Acceptance LLC).

I received nothing from an attorney prior to being served.


Thank you!

[stargazer0725]

Did you make a typo with the last payment date, or with the charge off date, because they both say 2003? Can you retype the correct dates?

And when EXACTLY did you move out of state? (Help determine if SOL ran out in California while you were still living there.)

When was the case filed with the court, and when were you served? (They have 60 days to serve you after filing the case, otherwise they have to use the service date as the date the lawsuite began.)

Oregon has a borrowing statute in Chapter 12.430, so you can borrow California's statutes to benefit your case (even if the SOL hadn't completely run out before you moved) by arguing that you defaulted in California, the debt was charged off in California (and maybe the debt was purchased by Asset while you were still in California depending on what their complaint says).

I'm assuming you defaulted in 2002 and the debt was charged off in 2003, otherwise you probably wouldn't be asking about SOL's at this point. It gets a little tricker if it's later (I think California tolls the SOL...anyone know for sure?).

[janefreakindoe]

Thank you for your response, Stargazer -

Yes, I made a typo in my original post - delinquency occurred Dec of 2002, charge-off March of 2003. I moved from CA to OR in Nov 2006. The summons does not indicate a filing date. i was served on Sunday, 12/2.

I appreciate any advice anyone can offer - I have not been through this before and am a little panicky.

Thanks!

[stargazer0725]

Call the courthouse and get the date that the case was filed. If it was filed more than 60 days (NOT 2 months) before you were served, then it appears the 12/2 service date would be the date the lawsuit commenced.

It looks like you're cutting it REAL close on the SOL for California. You appeared to have moved a month prior to the SOL running out. And if California tolls the SOL while you're out of state (like I think it does), you might not be able to use California's SOL as a defense (does anyone know for sure??). But you could try to raise it anyway...

I'd also start drumming up info to use the standard defenses that are listed on the forum here attacking the chain of custody, the authenticity of the debt, etc.

[Ohio Boy]

First of all no need to panic. The people on this board are overwhelmingly helpful and the resource info is superb.
Read into the info on the forum. Asset is know to buy debts that are close to SOL.
I think the first thing is to find out the SOL that you can use, if you cannot use Calf. SOL then you need to find other things to attack them back with as mentioned above.
Most important is look up you RCP to make sure you have 28 days to answer the complaint.
And no need to panic, many have beaten Asset in discovery phase.

[Enigma]

If it were me and the rules allowed it, I would:

1. File an Answer, use expired SOL as an affirmative defense

2. File a motion called Notice of Filing - Sworn Denial

3. File for Discovey seeking credit card agreement, chain of custody, etc.

[janefreakindoe]

I want to thank all of you for your input.

I called the court this morning and was told that to-date they have no record of me being served; however, the lady I spoke with said the 30 day response period would begin once I have been served (I was served on Sun 12/2). I asked when the case was opened - she said 10/16/07.

She said I must respond within the 30 day period and pay a filing fee of $126.00. She said there is no standard form to fill out and told me I could use the law library to figure out how to respond.

The amount Asset Acceptance paid to buy my charged off account was probably less than the filing fee ... the charge-off balance (which included late fees and interest fees) was just a little over $600.00.

From what I have read in the posts, it looks like I need to send both the law office and Asset Acceptance a letter requesting validation of the debt. I also need to figure out how to respond to the court ...

Right now is the busiest time of year where I work, and I am kind of new on the job and can't take time off for this ... I wish it would all just go away.

[Enigma]

Have you received any letters from Asset to date?

[PDXBLAZERFAN]

Have been told this by an attorney:

"However, I can tell you that in general, if a
party writes to the plaintiff and states that they intend to file an
appearance in court, the plaintiff must give the defendant ten days' written
notice prior to taking a default. This should be delivered today in such a
manner as to create a record that it was sent and received, such as via fax
with a transmission log retained."