Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia
Discovery Question
A collection agency contacted and told me there had been a discovery in court against me for breach of contract and bank fraud. They said I had no right to be notified on it and it had taken place a month prior. I never received any documentation, notification, summons, or supbeona. I contacted the county court where this supposedly occurred had nothing regarding anything being filed with my name ever. When I confronted The collector with this info he tap danced. This sounds very suspicious to me. Can anyone shed some light on what is discovery and does the above make any sense? Can discovery occur without notifying the person involved etc? (This is re: a credit card I consigned for my exhusband 11 years ago in the amount of 343.00 that apparently he never paid on ever and we divorced and I never heard anything on it until now.) The account was opened in Georgia and I live in VA) Any help would be great as they are saying they (the debt collectors) are now going to issue me a summons.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Discovery Question
Discovery is the pretrial process which occurs in a legal case which may lead to the disclosure of additional evidence by and to the parties involved before the case commences trial. It most definitely does not happen, however, in secret nor before formal charges have been filed(if a criminal matter)or a complaint/petition filed (if civil).
The tap dancing collector is "blowin' smoke" and trying to take you for a ride with his particular claims. Tell him to go ahead and issue their warrant in debt to which you'll respond accordingly, but that in the meantime these collectors are not to bother you any further with this stale claim from the past.
Re: Discovery Question
Rather than go back and forth with this collector and possibly cause more time, trouble, and worry for yourself, you may considering resolving it with a payment IF the debt is valid (you indicate it is). You will want a written agreement it is not to be reported on your credit report. Why invite a lawsuit, other other action, even if you have a defense and even if the collector is not quite a model citizen (or a scumbag, as the case may be). As for being "stale," generally, if a person owes a debt, they owe it until paid, whether 10 or 20 years later. The fact that you may defend a lawsuit with a statute of limitations defense, or avoid it other ways, does not mean it is not owed. Many people consider paying for no other reason than they agreed to pay it.
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