Expert: John Hall - 6/1/2006

Question
I just received a letter from the National Arbitration Forum stating that they awarded a settlement against me for 17,900 for a credit card that went into collection in 2000.  The original credit card limit was only 4500.00 and the charged off amount was 8500.00.  The letter states that I failed to respond to prior notifications from the Arbitration forum, however the first letter that I am aware of is the award letter.  The date of last activity on the account was 3/2001, that was the last time I sent any money to the collection agency.  I have cleaned up all of the past debt that I have had with the exception of this one account because they had tacked on such an incredible amount of penalty fees etc that I could not come to an payment agreement with this agency even though I worked my other debts out with all other agencies.  My credit has been clean with the exception of this last big one that is hanging over my head.  Now that a settlement has been awarded by the Arbitration forum what does my situation look like?  Is it likely that they will sue before the SOL is up in 2007?  Am I responsible for the 17,900 awarded on a 4500.00 original debt(I don't even think that I had the full limit charged originally)  What should I do?  I live in the state of Ohio.  Thank-you for your help.

Answer
Hello Amy:
If they have gone this far, it is likely that they will sue you for the whole amount prior to the running of the statute of limitations.  However, if you are looking to minimize the negative effect on your credit, you may have some other options here that would be a heck of a lot easier talking ab0ot on the phone.  Call me on my cell phone if you like and we can discuss this further   661  492-2673  I will not charge you just to talk on the phone.  I have had several cases like yours in Ohio just within the past few weeks and you may have more options here than you might think.