My sister was served!

[Robinrs]

And she's a WRECK!

My sister was married to a real jerk, I packed her up and moved her to Atlanta from NY a few years back after a nasty break up. Well, it seems that one of her nightmares have reared it's ugly head.

This morning she said she heard a LOUD knock on her door. It was a marshall serving her with papers from Providian, a company in which she had a credit card with when she was trying to get her own finances together. She says she had a small limit, something like $500, paid it every month and paid it off but ... did NOT keep her records.

She has not used the card in about 5 years and now she's being served by them for $1600. She has moved into her own house, her credit has been checked several times clean for years and now this shows up. She is a wreck and is wondering if she should seek legal advice.

Does anyone have any experience with this? What should be her next step?

Thanks in advance!

 

[diskids2]

First, I would call the attorney's on the summons. She should tell her side and see what they say. If she does nothing, then they will attempt to garnish/freeze her accounts or her wages. They usually give 15-30 days before the judge would sign a garnishment/freeze. Usually the first step is a freeze on an account. Depending on the bank they will freeze up to two times the amount of the judgement, so $3200 in this case. Some banks even charge a fee. THE BEST THING TO DO IS CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE AND WORK WITH THEM.

The law office will probably give her time to product some type of documentation. If she paid the card, then the bank should have copies of cancelled checks even if she did not keep records. The credit card company will also be able to provide her with statements of the charges in case it was done fradulantly.

If all fails or she realizes that she does own the money, the law office will work out an arrangement with her.

You could contact an attorney, but I would call the law office on the summons first. PM me if you need more info

 

[Cindy's Mom]

First off - its not the end of the world - have your sister call Providian, explain to someone what happen and see if a settlement can be reached. I don't think she needs an attorney. Is there anyway she can recreate her payment - how can all that info be lost? Can she call her bank - it may take some time, but if she did indeed pay it off - I think it would be worth it to prove it Providian.

 

[chyam]

I too would contact Providian and ask for documentation of the charges and how recently they were made to see if in fact the card was used by someone else. Then contact her bank and get statements. Providian is a Horrible company, I swear they would try and get me for late charges almost monthly when in fact the checks were mailed plenty early it just seemed like they held them before they cashed them. I will never do business with them again, and this too may be an attempt to cash in on something that is not legit.

 

[mchames]

I would seek legal advice. If nothing from this cc company has shown up on her credit reports, it's possible that it is a SCAM. I had something similar to this happen to me a few years ago where I was sent a letter stating that I owed over $10,000 on a cc that I supposedly had back in college. I didn't remember ever having that particular card, never mind not paying it off. It never showed up on my credit reports. I am lucky, my DH is an attorney. A couple of phone calls and a letter later and they quit bothering me. My situation was a SCAM. I would suggest she have someone look into this for her.

Mary

 

[janette]

Check www.creditboards.com, she should be able to find some information there on the best action. Probably best to do nothing until she has a plan.

 

[mtblujeans]

That does seem kinda' strange that, if they had her address, they did not first contact her by mail and ask that she call them and make arrangements for payment! :

 

[Robinrs]

Thanks for all of the advice, I'll forward it to her.

I was also confused as to how they knew where she lived and did not contact her, but I'm not sure if they didn't!

I guess it's time for her to do some investigating.

 

[MzDiz]

I have nothing useful to add, other than how much I hate that knocking. Even if you're only served papers once in your life, you never, ever, forget how loud those people knock on your door.