using sol defense

[junker]

many replies to questions about being sued say to use the sol defense immediately if it applies to you. When i went to court, the judge said the ONLY question today will be DO YOU OWE THIS DEBT. if you answered yes he ordered you outside to the lobby and were to try and work out a payment plan with their attorney. if you couldnt come to an agreement he said he would order a judgment in their favor. if you denied you owed the debt, he would set a future court date for you. SO, do you say i do NOT owe this debt, or i do Not owe this debt because it is past sol. it seems to me if you admit owing it but say it is time barred or past sol, you are admitting the debt and its up to the judges discretion what he wants to do at that time.
fortunatley for me i had a legal aid attorney that raised other issues and the case was dismissed. maybe the answer will help someone facing being sued for cc debt. By the way, of the 100 or so people there that day, at least 90 admitted they owed the debt, and 7 or so denied the debt, but only a couple had a attorney. even though at the start of the hearings, the judge said there was a legal aid attorney here that would gladly answer questions or help anyone. one more thing> even though you might not be past the sol, there are other reasons they can dismiss your case, such as right to sue, not having right paper work, etc, so dont be so quick to admit talk to legal aid if possible.

[magyar123]

Scary how some judges interprit the SOL laws. They must be receiving big bribes from creditors.

[junker]

i wanted to add, that this county is 87% right wing republican, and florida is known for being a (red) state, and given, the republican congress and their track record with helping the creditors with bankruptcy reform to favor cc companies, no doubt this judge, favored the collectors, and would try and help them in anyway he could.

[CompTweaker]

What you say is "this debt is past the statute of limitations to be legally collected through a lawsuit". It is an affirmative defense. The judge is not above that, and you can request a motion to dismiss. They can continue to try to collect from you, but they cant sue you. It looks to me like the judge was just trying to trick some people and some of them fell for it.

Another approach is a graduated sworn denial, and this puts the burden in the collectors hands to produce a live witness representing the original creditor with whom they claim you owed the debt to. They have to prove you owe it and that the amount is correct (and of course it usually isnt). Most collectors cant or wont abide by this, and the case will be dismissed.

[justbroke]

Some judges just have cookie-cutter approaches to things. Their calendar (schedule) may have Monday's for initial appearances. if you were there on Monday, the only thing he wants to hear is that you owe it or not. if say you don't owe it (statute of limitations), his clerk will then schedule another date on his calendar (maybe Wednesdays he does more in depth cases). At that second hearing is when he'll hear your defense or offense.

Anyhow, glad it worked out for you. I would have stated that I do not owe the debt, so I could get to the real hearing and state my case (statute of limitations defense). The sad part of how that judge runs his courtroom, is that he seems to drag things out.

However, I feel for a judge. I can just imagine how many "excuses" he gets! He's trying to work the calendar, not have the calendar work him.