Should I go to cort
Complaint
Matt
Country: United States
I got a cival warrant on my door a week ago with a cort date of April 14th. on a old credit card dept from 2008. I dont remember appling for the HSBC credit card and when I asked company for proof that the account was mine they said I need to contact HSBC..Sould I pay account off or go to cort and ask for proof its my dept? and if I go to cort will I be responsible for cort costs and fees and will I need to hire a lawyer?
Comments
This is even more likely if you never received any other communications from them, as they would likely have called or sent dunning letters to people they thought owed the debt (even possibly several), prior to suing, just because it's cheaper. That doesn't mean they ended up suing the same person they sent dunning letters to.
PRA is a debt collector, that focuses on buying and collecting on old debt, some of it out of statute, where they might not even legally sue, Regardless, they appear to be devising strategies to take advantage of whatever variations in rules of evidece apply to different jurisdictions, that might allow them to obtain judgements, usually by default, on their old debt portfolios.
This might be someone else's account, it might be out of statute, or it might even be identity theft. In either case, you don't legally owe it, or you might be able to challenge their right to sue based on SOL, or they may not even have any documentation to show that you owe it, but if you don't respond to the lawsuit, the court may decide that you do anyway, possibly even if the statute of limitation has passed.
They may have incorrectly identified you as the debtor, but if you ignore it, you will lose and have to pay what the court awards even if it's not your account.
"when I asked company for proof that the account was mine they said I need to contact HSBC"
Really bad advice, as it deceives you into believing that that will somehow resolve this case, and stears you away from being able to respond effectively to their lawsuit. It sets you up to lose by default, which is generally their goal. It also violates FDCPA, since not only are they suing you, since they are a debt collector subject to federal law, by implying that YOU have to disprove it, rather than they have to prove it, they are using deception to collect this alleged debt..
If they had first contacted you with a dunning letter, you could have disputed it and requested validation, but since they have sued you must respond or you lose. Still doesn't mean it's your account, and you can still challenge it, in court, and use discovery to force them to either prove it's owed or show that they have no such proof.
Contact a consumer attorney, as not only do you want to file a response, but if it isn't your account, you may be able to sue them, for example, for their deceptive response when you disputed, for using deception to collect this debt you may not even owe. If they sued you without sufficient documentation to ensure they were suing the correct person, that also might be a violation of FDCPA.
Being able to countersue for violations of FDCPA not only gives you leverage, but also may allow the court to order them to pick up your attorney fees on top of damages. That might either assist you in covering your legal costs, or even get you an attorney to represent you on contingency, as your cause of action under FDCPA is separate from the issue of whether the debt is even owed, based solely on their violations.
As a result, you might be able to shove some or all of your attorney fees and costs back onto them if it's not your debt. Alternatively, they might not even show up, and lose by default, since they are filing lots of these lawsuits, and counting on YOU losing by default.
Your best outcome, whether you negotiate settlement of a debt you owe, or countersue them for suing on a debt you don't, is most likely with legal representation. You can find a consumer attorney in your state through www.naca.net
If it was your account, or if HSBC thought it was, it should show up as a tradeline posted by HSBC, including a notation showing when it was originally opened, when it went delinquent, and what the final balance was.
If it was sold to PRA, then the current balance should show as $0, and it might say it was sold.
PRA might themselves show a collection account, with information matching or similar to the HSBC information. That would allow you to pin down the time period, maybe even the last payment made, and when it went delinquent, and thus whether it is past SOL in your state.
Even if that shows up, it might still NOT be your account, either due to error, or due to id theft.
If HSBC doesn't show up, but PRA is trying to collect it from you anyway, that would be consistent with PRA "misidentifying" you as the "debtor". It would suggest that some part of the original identity information that HSBC had associated with the account, like the name or SSN, was different than yours.
And if you don't recognize the account from what you find on your credit report, but addresses also show up at which you never lived, then you may be looking at either id theft, or a mix up in the credit reporting between you and someone else.
It can help you avoid being bluffed to look at your adversary's cards, but regardless, get an attorney.
1.) You can get your credit reports once a year for free from each of the three reporting agencies, so don't be scammed into some sort of credit monitoring scheme while trying to resolve your current issue. I recommend getting all three reports to ensure there are no errors in your credit history.
2.) "HSBC" generates credits cards for a number of retailers, such as Best Buy. If "HSBC" is not on your credit report(s), cross-reference the the dollar amount in dispute.
3.) Verify the Civil Warrant is legit by taking it to the court house. A few debt collectors have been known to use rather unsavory tactics to collect money.
4.) Collection agencies buy delinquent accounts for pennies on the dollar. Although I firmly believe in paying all that is owed, if you find this HSBC debt is indeed your past due account and your finances are limited, negotiate for a reduced payoff.
In cases where it matters (like a lawsuit that I assume may cost you several thousand if you lose), don't cut corners.
In addition, if you suspect that this is not your account, call HSBC directly, and contact their fraud department, to check if an account shows up under your name and SSN.
If not, then that would confirm your suspicion that it's not your account, and allow you to proceed accordingly against PRA with more confidence. It would also alert you to look for FDCPA violations by PRA in attempting to pin this "debt" on you, to assist you in recovering damages.
Again, always respond to a lawsuit.