Q: Can I bring suit against a former business partner for outstanding & defaulted credit card debt tied to me?
I have statements showing charges tied to him, none of which were made by me. I need help recovering the funds and working with the credit card company to resolve this. After many hours spent on calls trying to determine how and when this happened (initially thinking the card was fraudulently obtained) I offered a payoff for about 30% of the amount owed, but the debt dept. never called me back to discuss. I also have suffered a severe hit to my credit score and need to work with the credit bureaus to restore. The principle balance is approx. $12K, with penalties and interest accruing. I was unaware of this until March 2021, but charges are as old as 2018.
A: What did your partnership agreement say about who was to be responsible for what? Was the debt incurred for business purposes or personal purposes? In very general terms, you would resolve the issue with the bank that issued the credit card. Then, yes you could sue the former partner for paying something that was more than your share or more than you agreed to. However, if this former business partner is located in North Carolina, we have no wage garnishment for debt. Most people have no assets that can be taken to satisfy a judgment. You could get a judgment that is uncollectible. Look for a commercial collections attorney for further more specific advice.
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