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[GunLawyer001]

In a way it sounds like a scam, was the online dealer reputable or a fly by night operation? If they're saying "Use this FFL" and the FFL is in on the scam they ship the product and the FFL never delivers leaving you with nothing. Assuming the online dealer can prove they shipped your order and it was delivered all responsibility is off them. It would be the receiving FFL that you should have taken to civil court or requested they return back to the online dealer so you could get a refund less I'm guessing a restock fee.

The credit card company isn't going to care, if the dealer shows tracking info with it delivered it's not their problem either. All you've done is lowered your credit score and ended up with a giant headache. Something still doesn't make sense though, generally if a company is buying debt owed from collections they don't actually take people to court. They just send BS letters and annoy you on the phone hoping to collect the debt they purchased for pennies on the dollar since the credit card company sold it off to them.

How many years ago did this happen? Debt can only be collected from 7 years back, if you don't acknowledge the debt or respond then it's basically free and clear with no responsibility on your part after. However, if you start to repay etc then you've just reset the clock.

Debt collectors DO take people to court, they use the same lawyers for hundreds of accounts in each geographic area, and they rely on (a) default judgments from folks who just ignore stuff instead of dealing with them, and (b) those who respond to the summons instead of deaulting, get their cases all scheduled on the same day in Common Pleas court, so the lawyer makes 1 trip to handle multiple cases.

You can make your account difficult for them by responding to the summons, rescheduling the date when possible, sending them discovery requests, subpoenaing officials and record custodians from the original cc company, challenging their exhibits as hearsay or lacking foundation (which most of them are, they sometimes offer Page 5 of a contract without any context), and offering to settle for a reduced amount AFTER they realize that you're going to be a difficult lawsuit. DON'T violate the laws and regs by frivolously making litigation vexatious, but DO assert your rights. They sure will.

[free]

The credit card company isn't going to care, if the dealer shows tracking info with it delivered it's not their problem either.

Well, that's not quite true, in general. The FCBA (Fair Credit Billing Act) does give protections against being billed for something that wasn't "delivered". In this case, one can argue that it wasn't delivered to the BUYER - the BUYER never received it. However, as GL pointed out, the OP nominated a receiving agent. Does that pass muster for the FCBA? You could litigate it, but would probably lose.

Something still doesn't make sense though, generally if a company is buying debt owed from collections they don't actually take people to court.

They do for large balances. If I buy your $25K credit card debt, you can bet your ass I will take you to court, get a judgement and try to garnish your wages. Absolutely fucking lutely. The agency I worked for did this ROUTINELY. Made bank on doing so too.

Pissant debts like this? No, they are generally not going to bother. It's pretty fucking rare for a debt collector to bother suing you for such a small amount of money. So.....yeah.

How many years ago did this happen? Debt can only be collected from 7 years back, if you don't acknowledge the debt or respond then it's basically free and clear with no responsibility on your part after. However, if you start to repay etc then you've just reset the clock.

In PA, the statute of limitations on being sued for a credit card debt is 4 years. If you are sued, you will need to appear in court and prove the debt beyond this limitation. If you don't appear, you may get a default judgement against you. Once they have a judgement, they can pursue wage asset garnishment, including bank accounts.

[GunLawyer001]

. . . Once they have a judgement, they can pursue wage garnishment.

It's been a while since I looked into this, but I don't think that PA law allows wage garnishments for most creditors. They can go after most everything else, though. Bank accounts, cars, real estate, guns, your TV & furniture . . .

[free]

It's been a while since I looked into this, but I don't think that PA law allows wage garnishments for most creditors. They can go after most everything else, though. Bank accounts, cars, real estate, guns, your TV & furniture . . .

WOW!! Well, that sucks.

Between the short 4 year limitation and no wage garnishment, PA should be a haven for deadbeats!

p.s.: thanks for the correction, I updated my post.

[staylo]

Not that I recommend the OP do this, because I believe he owes this debt, but there is a statute of limitations on how long a debt can be collected. I think that was mentioned by somebody else. Depending on how old the debt is it may already be beyond the statute and legally uncollectible. Many debt collectors purchase this debt and then start haranguing the debtors on the hope that they*ll send them *something*. If you send a single penny it reaffirms the debt, restarts the clock, and the debt becomes collectible once again. That*s how most of these debt collection companies make their money.

[streaker69]

I am without doubt within the time frame for which I am being sued.
I wish I wasn't but it I am.

Have you contacted them yet to determine if you can just pay it off without going to court like I advised you affirmed was a good idea? I think it's been determined that you do indeed owe the money, pay it off and then do what you can still do to go after the FFL.

[Jhaydeno]

It's been a while since I looked into this, but I don't think that PA law allows wage garnishments for most creditors. They can go after most everything else, though. Bank accounts, cars, real estate, guns, your TV & furniture . . .

Correct, but a person can garnish wages with court approval for non-payment of rent to landlords, but one specifically must sue the tenants for non-payment of rent, not as an uncollected debt. At least in York county courts there is a distinction between these lawsuits (been there, done that).

[widgetman101]

Well, that's not quite true, in general. The FCBA (Fair Credit Billing Act) does give protections against being billed for something that wasn't "delivered". In this case, one can argue that it wasn't delivered to the BUYER - the BUYER never received it. However, as GL pointed out, the OP nominated a receiving agent. Does that pass muster for the FCBA? You could litigate it, but would probably lose.

They do for large balances. If I buy your $25K credit card debt, you can bet your ass I will take you to court, get a judgement and try to garnish your wages. Absolutely fucking lutely. The agency I worked for did this ROUTINELY. Made bank on doing so too.

Pissant debts like this? No, they are generally not going to bother. It's pretty fucking rare for a debt collector to bother suing you for such a small amount of money. So.....yeah.

In PA, the statute of limitations on being sued for a credit card debt is 4 years. If you are sued, you will need to appear in court and prove the debt beyond this limitation. If you don't appear, you may get a default judgement against you. Once they have a judgement, they can pursue wage asset garnishment, including bank accounts.

The OP mentioned a pistol purchase so I just assumed the dollar amount wasn't that high considering most pistols are > $1.5k unless he's buying a speciality gun. It would seem like a lot of work for a debt collector to buy back debt like that and take people to court but I guess I'm wrong. Makes sense if they're also suing a bunch of other people the same day. I thought it was 7 years on the debt but I guess 4 is right per everyone's replies.

[free]

Debt collection agencies don't really care why you didn't pay the original creditor, or why you don't want to pay them. They don't want a sob story, excuse, justification or anything else. When the debtor is not on the phone, they compare the shit they hear and laugh at the deadbeats that they talk to all fucking day long. The good ones will be nice on the phone because nobody wants to pay an asshole. So sure, they will listen and say whatever it is they think will get them paid. All they REALLY want to know, as per the guy who trained me, is "How much is your next payment and when are you sending it?"

I had one guy who owed a couple thousand bucks for a few years. He had been passed around a few times and nobody could get anything out of him. One day, he ended up in my queue. At the end of the call, full of the usual bullshit, fuck me and fuck my mother and whatever else he wanted to say, I just said, "Well, sir, it's 10am. This office closes at 5pm. You have our address. If we have not received payment in full before we close, it's really out of my hands and you can't blame me if a man with a badge comes knocking on your door tomorrow" and hung up.

Now...I did not threaten him with arrest. I didn't say I would contact the police. I didn't say he might be arrested. I just made a comment about someone knocking on his door..someone with a badge. Could be a cop. Could be a PI. Could be a kid at Halloween. All I know is that he was here with the payment about 3:30.

I will say that all our calls are subject to being listened to by a supervisor, and that one was. I did get called into the office and told that while I didn't explicitly and definitively violate the FBCPA, to not do that again.

Boss man did let me know when the payment came in though, and it showed up in my commission report.

-former debt collector

[streaker69]

I contacted the debt co on the phone with a question which they did their best to answer , and even though it took them some time.
Found the answer to my question.
When that was over and done , they brought up the subject of resolving it by paying the debt.
They even went as far as to make a dollar amount offer , we talked a bit.
I gave them my story and what I thought a fair thing would be to happen and why I wasn't interested in paying the debt.
The lady was rather pleasant and helpful.
Should I have called them at all?
Answers will vary I am sure on that.
But I did find the info I wanted and found it helpful for me.
And actually when I deliver my written defense to the court house , I will be using some of which I found to include in my paperwork.
That is my next move.

Ok, well good luck storming the castle.