Q: A lawyer called me about a credit card debt from 2008 said they were going to sue me I live in Monterey California.
Can they legally make me pay. He also said they are gonna serve me papers at the place of employment friday and I could possibly get fired
A: You should contact a Bankruptcy attorney in your area right away. Most likely a debt from that long ago has past the statute of limitations but there is more to it than a simple answer on a website like this. Get on this right away.
A: I agree with my colleague - this debt may be too old for them to sue. If you don't otherwise need to consider bankruptcy, a collection attorney should be able to give you the information you need to confirm if they can sue or not.
A:
I smell something really wrong. I doubt they are legit. And I believe there never was any such debt.
First, the statute of limitations in California is only 4 years from the date of default. It sounds like they have no right to sue even if the debt ever was legit.
There is a lot of criminal scamming and fraud taking place to scare people into paying debts that never existed, so be careful. I think that is what is going on here.
These things always come up in a phone call, never a letter, because they are afraid to put their fraudulent representations in writing, (that would be the Federal felony of Mail Fraud).
And the collector often says weird and legally inappropriate things, like "we will serve you friday and you're going to get fired."
It is unlikely that a bill collector will ever say you are going to be served on this day or that day. Process servers don't want to give you a heads up, they want to catch you by surprise so that the service can be completed.
Here's what you can do: Demand that they validate the debt in writing, by showing you proof that they you owe the debt and that they are legally entitled to collect it. I would be very surprised if they come back with anything.
You can also point out that a lawyer has told you the debt appears to be time barred by the statute of limitations, and if so you won't pay them anything.
Do all of what i suggest, and I'm confident you won't ever hear from them again.
Good luck.
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