I need to know my legal rights concerning being sued by credit card company?
Question Details:
I am being sued by credit card company that I paid off 7 years ago. I cannot produce a check because of the time frame, the bank only keeps copies for 5 years. What can I do to make this company show me proof of how I owe this?
Hi. I am an Illinois attorney that handles debtor representation in collection suits filed by banks, credit card companies, etc...
If a lawsuit has been filed against you, you are entitled to request and obtain certain information from the plaintiff (credit card company) by filing discovery requests. These are legal documents that are typically prepared by an attorney. Also, you have a deadline for filing an answer to the petition filed by the plaintiff. An answer is a legal pleading in which you admit or deny the allegations contained in the petition. A debtor attorney would be able to review the allegations in the petition and the responses to the discovery requests in order to determine if you have a potential legal defense to the suit. If an answer to the petition is not filed within the required time period, the plaintiff is entitled to take a judgment against you, so I would not delay in filing an answer or talking to an attorney who would be able to file the answer for you, and prepare the requests for discovery.
I hope this helps, to some extent at least. For convenience, I can be reached via e-mail at mth2000@yahoo.com. Website-www.harvathmissouriillinoislawyers.com.
NOTE: This answer is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship or privilege between the user and the attorney responding.
If your bank only keeps copies of cancelled checks for five (5) years and you do not have the needed check(s) to show that you paid off the credit card company that you paid off seven (7) years ago, ask your bank to provide you with your monthly statements going back to when you paid off the credit card company.
Although your bank may not have copies of certain checks, it should be able to retrieve your monthly statements going far back. From your monthly statement you should be able to see what debit and check number was used to pay off the credit card company years ago.
Also, the credit card company may be barred by the statute of limitations for suing you on a claimed debt more than seven (7) years old.
Good luck.
