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Collections Law/Filed an answer to a time-barred cell phone debt
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Question
In Dec 09, Palisades Collection LLC filed suit against me in Oregon for breach of contract on an old cell phone bill. The last payment I made was in 2002. In my answer, I asserted that the SOL had passed (both state and federal). In Oregon, its 6 yrs, but federally its only 2 yrs (per the Federal Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 415). I have contacted AT&T (the original creditor) and they have absolutely no record of an account ever existing under my name or SSN. One of the customer service reps at ATT said that their records should go back at least 9 years.
I am waiting to see if the attorney for Palisades decides to proceed now that I have filed my answer with the affirmative defense. If he does, I am going to have to use discovery to get them to prove my SOL defense, because the account is not on my credit reports, the bank can't pull records up past 5 yrs, and ATT has no information.
Should I file a motion to dismiss now, or should I wait until I get some documents from the plaintiff? Should I call ATT back and ask them to send me a letter showing that there is no information in my name? And do you have any other general information that might help me stay on the right track? I'm doing this 100% pro se because hiring an atty would cost more than they are suing for (about $1800.00--for some reason they didn't file it in small claims court).
Thank you in advance!!
While you can see if AT&T will send you a letter stating they have nothing about this debt in their records I would also now proceed with a good set of admissions then followed by demand for production of documents then if necessary demand for interrogatories in that order to see what you can produce in the way of documentation.
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| Comment | Thanks for the info. I'm glad to see that my thinking is in line with someone who has more knowledge/experience in this than me. | ||
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Answers by Expert:
Creditwrench
Expertise
Debt Collections law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), federal law, how to properly answer court summons for collection cases, how to prepare federal cases against debt collectors, how to deal with debt collection phone calls.
Experience
I've been an active consumer advocate for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of people win cases against debt collectors as well as helping them defeat demands for summary judgment lodged against them by banks, debt collectors and defeat mortgage foreclosures and keep their homes.
Education/Credentials
Paralegal courses for the most part.
I have been teaching people how to deal with judgments, mortgage foreclosures and other such problems both on and off the internet for many, many years. I am a Richard Cornforth information provider ever since 2000 and worked with many other organizations and causes since 1980. I was Oklahoma State Chairman for the nationwide drive to defeat the Constitutional Convention which was proposed by various factions within our federal government such as the Council of State Governments and the National Organization of State Governors who were working hard to organize a Constitutional Convention to be held in 1995 for the purpose of rewriting our American Constitution to be more acceptable to the United Nations. I worked with Senator Charles Duke of Colorado and Senator Don Rogers of California and many others across the nation to keep them from getting the number of delegate states required to lawfully hold a Con-Con and we were successful. I have worked with many other legislative issues in Oklahoma and have always been very successful.
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