Defense Against Debt Scavengers / Stale Debts

Let’s say you’ve been served with a summons and complaint (a lawsuit). You’re being sued by a company you don’t recognize. It alleges the lawsuit is based upon a credit card you used at some point years earlier.

When the original credit card issuer wrote off that account, they sold it into a secondary market of companies that buy debts at significant discounts to collect on and make a hefty profit. Sometimes companies even buy debts that are beyond the statute of limitations or that have even been discharged in bankruptcy.

These lawsuits can be defended by the Flynn Law Firm directly, and if the debt was discharged in a prior bankruptcy, Mr. Flynn can sue the Debt Scavenger on your behalf for violation of the Discharge Injunction. If the last payment or charge made on a credit card or “open account” was over three years prior to the date of filing of the Complaint, the lawsuit may be able to be thrown out on the basis of being beyond the statute of limitations.

(However, some credit card companies are arguing that five years is the appropriate statutory period, though Court decisions are split on this subject and will likely be governed by the quality of the evidence produced by the debt buyer or credit card company).