Wait to be sued for old CC debt? Set up payment plan? Ignore it?

[StartingOver08]

I looked up Unjust Enrichment in the Nolo glossery and it says:

A legal doctrine stating that if a person receives money or other property through no effort of his own, at the expense of another, the recipient should return the property to the rightful owner, even if the property was not obtained illegally. Most courts will order that the property be returned if the party who has suffered the loss brings a lawsuit.

Looks like it would be pretty tough for you to return you basic living expenses (food, gas etc) LOL It does sound a little wierd that there is no date - could be they are trying to scare you.

Did you look up the suit in your county court docket yet? Not all districts are on line, but many are now - so you can check out the suits' status. Here we just go to the Clerk of the Court for our county. You might have a different proceedure for your state. It might help to have all the documentation filed with the court before you meet with your attorney.

[treehugger1]

"suitable for arbitration" is almost a requirement in the state now. I'm not sure of the details, but if you answer, then I believe the case gets moved into the arbitration pile. I've never heard of unjust enrichment. Perhaps this is soem new tactic.

I don't know what county you're in, but you should be able to call your local county civil court clerk and they can check for any recent suits against you. Or, you can go down to the courthouse and look through their public computer. You will need to know what county the summons was recorded in. While there are many places where you must be sued in the county in which you live, this is not always the case in Oregon. You can be sued in the county where the contract was signed. If this is a national CC, then I'm guessing you were sued in your home county.

If you are filing before the 30 day answer period ends, then you probably do not need to worry about the suit. Check with your attorney.

[BigJohn]

I looked up Unjust Enrichment in the Nolo glossery and it says:

A legal doctrine stating that if a person receives money or other property through no effort of his own, at the expense of another, the recipient should return the property to the rightful owner, even if the property was not obtained illegally. Most courts will order that the property be returned if the party who has suffered the loss brings a lawsuit.

Looks like it would be pretty tough for you to return you basic living expenses (food, gas etc) LOL It does sound a little wierd that there is no date - could be they are trying to scare you.

Did you look up the suit in your county court docket yet? Not all districts are on line, but many are now - so you can check out the suits' status. Here we just go to the Clerk of the Court for our county. You might have a different proceedure for your state. It might help to have all the documentation filed with the court before you meet with your attorney.

Unjust Enrichment can mean just about anything. Last year, a car dealer paid our bank loan off for the car we had financed thru the bank. We had bought the car from the dealership and they told us if we gave them a bad survey or filed any complaints, we would lose the loan. We 'lost the loan' because the dealership paid the loan off and then demanded the car back. The dealership claimed we never did get financing. The dealership went so far as to file with the police that we had embezzeled the car. When the bank sent us a letter saying the car was paid for and when we went to the DMV and got a clear title, that s when what the dealership had done criminally started to unfold. At the same time, their lawyer claimed we had acquired the car by Unjust Enrichment.

If you notice, we did absolutely nothing wrong but had this thrown at us.

[treehugger1]

I agree with BB on the statements by the poster who seemed to be convinced of what can "reset" SOL. Each state has it's own definition of SOL. For instance, in some states it appears that the SOL does not even begin until the 180 day chargeoff. In other states, such as my own, the SOL begins upon the first day of non-payment. I can talk with anyone I want to and make all kind of agreements, but the SOL tolls from the first missed payment, regardless of what my good or poor intentions were when dealing with OC's or CA's. After speaking with legal counsel here only a PAYMENT RESETS SOL. Other states may have different laws, so if you are hoping for the SOL defense, then you need to do your own due diligenece with YOUR state laws/statutes.

It pi**es me off that some folks seem to think that debt collection and laws are universal. They are not!

[catleg]

I think the unjust enrichment doctrine is an attempt to frame the controversy outside the scope of contract law. This way if you don't admit to the contract or they can't produce all the paperwork and statements they can still say you got some benefit from somebody and didn't pay for it. I know there is a latin phrase for this that is also used.

I've read a bunch of court cases from here in NJ and the feeling you get is that in civil court, the judges don't want one party to benefit because of a technicality. So the lawyer may find that unjust enrichment just plays better in court. I think as a debtor the deck is really stacked against you, and maybe that is not so unrealistic since the whole economic system would collapse if it was "too easy" to void contracts.

Nevertheless I would love to attack a credit card contract in court as unconscionable, or otherwise, what term would you use to say "beyond human comprehension".

[treehugger1]

Maybe a debtor could file a counter-claim of "unjust enrichment." LOL

[pdxgrrrl]

Okay, I called the circuit court this morning. The clerk told me the suit was filed on February 18 -- during the DV process. I didn't receive a copy of the summons until March 27. The clerk told me I still have 30 days from the date I received the summons to file an answer and the filing fee is $128.00.

This really, really pisses me off. What sneaky bastards. ARGH.

[pdxgrrrl]

Bumping this up because my financial situation went from bad to worse, as I was laid off today. I got a few weeks of severance pay, but I have no savings. I'm still meeting with the BK lawyer tomorrow and am hoping he'll have some half-decent advice for me. I seriously doubt I can file for BK now due to the lack of income and it'd probably be better to file later anyway. I have no idea who this will affect the lawsuit and I'm freaked out about it.

When it rains, blah blah.

[EricaCallaha]

Yikes and Holy Hell. You're right...when it rains it pours.

Still meet with the lawyer tomorrow. You probably qualify for a Chapter 7 now. Take the summons with you and lay it all out. Take all of your numbers and make the most out of your consultation.

Take a breath.....we are all here to help.

Good luck.

[BigJohn]

Maybe a debtor could file a counter-claim of "unjust enrichment." LOL

There might be something to what you said. I am lazy but the accounts I have audited all resonated the same - the amounts were wrong and I was always overcharged.

How many of us calculate the interest to see if they are calculating it right?

[catleg]

For one thing I would call the court clerk and ask if there is a way to get the fee (for filing an answer) waived as you are broke and jobless. No reason this lawyer should get a default judgement because you cannot "afford" justice. That way you could file an answer just to empower yourself a little bit and fight back and piss them off. Never hurts to learn something from this, it might help someday down the road.

[pdxgrrrl]

Yikes and Holy Hell. You're right...when it rains it pours.

Still meet with the lawyer tomorrow. You probably qualify for a Chapter 7 now. Take the summons with you and lay it all out. Take all of your numbers and make the most out of your consultation.

Take a breath.....we are all here to help.

Good luck.

I think I could have filed Chapter 7 while employed anyway, since I make under the median income for my area. As for coming up with lawyer's fees, etc., that seems freakin' impossible now.

[pdxgrrrl]

Bumping this up because I met with a BK lawyer on Tuesday. He suggested that I wait until I'm employed to file BK, not just because of the lawyer's fees, but because if I file a 13 (a must with the taxes), I need wages, obviously. He told me I should file an answer to the lawsuit just to stall the other lawyer and focus on finding a job, which should be fun in this economy. (Not.)

I guess my question now is, how do I file a answer with the court? Since I'm not working, what can the other party legally do to me?