collections lawsuit question

[bxpete]

My mother in law just received a court summons and notice that she's being sued for a $27K credit card bill that belonged to her deceased husband. I'm hoping some of you can help me to answer a few of her questions:

First, the summons and complaint are both dated Apr 10, 2009, but she just received them today. Obviously someone sat on these for several months before sending them out (regular mail, by the way, not certified). The summons allows 30 days for a response, but from when - Apr 10th? That date is already passed. I checked the online court records, and the case is valid, and the court hearing is scheduled for October 7th, 2009.

Second, this debt was for a US Bank credit card account that was opened by and belonged to her husband, who passed away 3 years ago. US bank apparently sold the account to "Easy Loan Corporation" who is now suing her for the full amount. She has already told them that this was her deceased husband's credit card, and she was not listed on the account. They calim it doesn't matter and say she's liable.

We're in California, and I'm not sure if she can still be liable for this debt that was only in her husband's name at the time he passed away.

Can she do a DV or something to require them to prove she was on the account, or does this fall into some type of "community property" rule where she inherits his debts after his passing?

Any help/advice would be appreciated...

[walkthaplank]

1. They can send it by mail, I would go by the post-mark on the envelope to be safe.

2. California is a community property state which means that she may be responsible for the debt.

3. There is a bit of a backlog and turn around time on those lawsuits. I had one filed in April that I just received last week.

She needs to speak with a lawyer and look at whether or not she'll be responsible for it. I'm sorry that your mother is having to deal with this, I hope everything comes out for the best.

I would file a response to the lawsuit with a denial of the claim just to buy some time.

[AngelinaCatHub]

1. They can send it by mail, I would go by the post-mark on the envelope to be safe.

2. California is a community property state which means that she may be responsible for the debt.

3. There is a bit of a backlog and turn around time on those lawsuits. I had one filed in April that I just received last week.

She needs to speak with a lawyer and look at whether or not she'll be responsible for it. I'm sorry that your mother is having to deal with this, I hope everything comes out for the best.

I would file a response to the lawsuit with a denial of the claim just to buy some time.

Adding to that, I received a default Judgment the very same day I received the summons. I wrote the Judge a letter and to my surprise, it was vacated. So there is hope.

In Mother's position, it would be prudent not to acknowledge the debt or knowledge of it at all (if this is true). The person who accumulated it is not in any shape to pay it back, and the wife should not have to or any other party. I don't know about crazy California, but anywhere else, (except for the IRS) a dead person does not owe anything, unless it is a joint debt, property state or not, it died with him.

They are sucking wind at this point and are attempting to upset her enough to make a mistake and pay it, or sign a note to do so. She does need a lawyer, but then, that lawyer should file a cross complaint of fraud. 'Hub

[bxpete]

Thanks for the replies and info. To answer a couple of your questions:

1) There was no "estate" of any kind when he passed. He had no will, no life insurance and they had no major assets (other than their vacation home), so everything continued business as normal after he passed. She has continued paying on all their other cards, but this one was too large and she couldn't make the payment.

I was also wondering if she might be able to become "judgement proof" and just let them go pound sand. Her situations is as follows: 66 years old, currently receiving social security and her late husband's pension from the city (retired police officer). She does not work. She rents her main home, but does own a vacation home with about 100k in equity. The vacation home is her main concern - she doesn't want to lose it. I suggested she may want to file a BK to discharge the debt, but I think she'd lose the vacation home, right?

With regards to the SOL, I didn't realize it was only 4 years in CA. Since he passed over 3 years ago, I would suspect they have not used the card at all for 4 years or more. I'll have to look into this for her.

I think our best defense at this point is to flood the JDB with documentation requests like BigBoy suggested. She asked them verbally to provide the original credit agreement showing that she signed on the account, but they told her it's been too long and that document is not available (account was originally opened ~1990 or so). I know that we could have done a DV before the suit was filed, but what are the options/procedures to request this type of info AFTER the suit has already been filed?

Please continue to provide any tips or info, no matter how small. She is devastated about possibly losing her only asset, her vacation home.



THANKS AGAIN!!

[thereshope]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. My mom went through a similar situation with the passing of my dad. He had incurred debt that was only in his name. They do not live in a community property state so he was the only one responsible for the debt. You may want to do a google search and find some info online that was how I found information for my mom's situation. I sent the creditor a letter and copy of the dc. They eventually left my mom alone. As noted above California is a community property state so it may be a bit different.