I co signed on a lease for my sister back in 2000 and she turned the car in June of 2003. She never settled the remaining debt of $3,800 for the lease. I was in the military from Dec 2001 until Dec 2009. She had them put into effect the Solders Sailors Relief Act on the car in Nov 03 without my knowledge. Can she even do that? Also I was never notified about this pending debt until the 17th of May 2010. I had to call them three times from May 17th 2010 until 24 May and finally got some answers to understand all this. They have tried to pressure with the letter that was dated 12th of May 2010 which I need not receive until the 17th of May 2010. The letter stated I failed to contact them after many adepts which is not true because the first letter I have received way just recently. The letter also stated that they were going to send this debt to a collection agency if it was not settled within 20 days. I confirmed this with one of the Managers handling this that they never tried to contact me before the letter date May 12th 2010. At first they stated that they held off notifying me about the issue because I was in the military. Then they changed their story and said they could not contact me if I was deployed. I have been back about at least half of those 8 years in the states which they could have contacted about this. So basically in my opinion they slacked in telling me and now they are trying to pressure me into paying them. I did some research on the internet about my state and it says that the statue of limitations is 4 years. I asked for proof that owe the money, the breakdown of why I owe them this amount, copy of the SSRA, payment history, and any other paperwork they have. I had told them I was willing to move forward with this matter once I could verify all this by getting all of this documentation and had a chance look it over. I am actually liable for this amount? If I am not can they still send this to a collection agency? How can this affect my credit? Please help….
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This is a sticky situation, hang out, someone will be along to help you out.
I can tell you that she probably was wrong about putting the soldiers and sailors act on it since you were not the primary borrower. You really would have to look that law up or the act up I should say and see what makes you eligible for it.
Did she have a power of attorney while you were away?
statute of limitation for co signer
Hi Superman,
Welcome to this community :)
As far as I understand, the person in the military service can only avail of the Solders Sailors Relief Act provisions. Thus, your sister was wrong in putting the Act on this debt. More, you are just a co-signer on this account, and not the primary account holder.
Can you tell as to what is the status of this account on your credit report? If you want you can try to settle this debt. Settling the debt will lower the outstanding debt amount. However, debt settlement can adversely affect your credit score.
Thanks,
Aaron
what is on your credit report?
It sounds like you have made a timely DV request (within 30 days), which is great. did you send it by CMRRR? if not, pop another one in the mail by CMRRR. By law they cannot pursue any collection activity with out these records. I go by the theory that this debt is at least 6.5 years old and they have no right to toll your obligation. How have they pursued your sister for this debt. is the dofd 11/03 or before that.
where is your sister? can she finally step up?
Reply to power of attorney question....
No she did not have power of attorney while I was away or did she ever have power of attorney from me. I had my credit ran for my car I recently leased and my score was in the mid 800's. Although, that was DEC 09 when my credit was last checked. So I am guessing I should get my credit score and see if this is on there. Forgive me I am not sure what a DV is? And what is CMRRR? And what is dofd? The debt is almost 7 years old within about a week. Yes they have tried to pursue my sister but she does not care about her credit since hers is already tanked. The last time they talk to my sister about this was Dec 2005. She was recently informed about this at the same time I was with the May 12th 2010 letter. She is not stepping in as usual like I said her credit is terrible and does not care. She was also informed by me about this debt owed that she owed and that need to take care of it. When I called the last time I confirmed that she has not talk to them since DEC 2005 as I stated earlier. If I do have to pay this I read that I can sue her for the amount owed. Is there anything else you can tell me about that? Lastly I have to tell you that at this point I am dealing with Ford Motor Credit not a debt collector.
statute of limitations for co signer
Hi Superman,
Yes, you should check what is there on your credit report regarding this account. DV is debt validation. Debt validation allows you to know how much you really owe, and who the original creditor was. However a debt validation is sent to a colelction agency, and not the original creditor. You will get a debt validation letter with this community.
CMRRR is certified mail requesting a return receipt. Whenever you send any letter to a creditor, or collection agency or even the bureaus, you need to send it through CMRRR, so that you may retain proof the letters sent to them, and that they have received the letter.
As for your intent to sue, can you tell whether this will help you in recovering the money to pay down the debt? If not, it is really not worth wasting your money on suing your sister. You can rather try to settle the debt as I have mentioned in my previous post.
Thanks,
Aaron
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uhF6u0 Major thanks for the blog post.Much thanks again. Fantastic.