Zombie Bill Collectors, Jurisdiction & More

I recently received a phone call from my mother who lives in Ohio. I live in Georgia and have been here for 10 yrs.

She told me that there was certified mail at the post office from the court of the county where she lives for me. She also told me that I have been receiving mail from a collection agency.

I think that I am being sued for an old credit card debt that is over 6 yrs old and is no longer on my credit report.

She is going to send me the letter fron this collection agency but she is not going to sign for the certified mail.

I think that the statute of limitations has expired not to mention that I do not live in the state of Ohio.

Why would they be suing me from there?

Should I seek legal advice as to what to do about this.

I would appreciate some advice.

Please help.

Thank you

Trunita

I am no longer a lawyer and can't give you legal advice. I will try to explain what I think is going on (without seeing any of the paperwork), but you have to see a lawyer if you want to be truly protected.

Unless a plaintiff - the person you owe the money to - can show a court good cause, what is called "in personam" jurisdiction is required in most states. That means you have to be sued in the state that you reside in - unless you meet certain criteria that creates what is know as "long arm jurisdiction".

If you have not been a legal resident of Ohio for over ten years, Ohio has no jurisdiction over you. Make sure your mother does not sign for the certified letter. You do not want her to do anything that might create jurisdiction over you.

It is unlikely that the certified letter is a summons and complaint. Again, in most cases these are required to be served upon you personally, although mail service is becoming more common.

If you are sued in Ohio, you can either challenge the jurisdiction of the court or ignore the suit. You should prevail on the jurisdiction issue unless you agreed to be sued in Ohio when you signed the credit contract. Then, who knows what the outcome might be.

If you ignore the suit, the creditor will get a default judgment. It would have to come down to Georgia to collect its judgment at which time you could challenge Ohio's jurisdiction to enter a judgment against you, especially if the creditor did not achieve personal service.

[If you have property in Ohio the creditor might be able to seize it without any further action.]

If you force them to collect the judgment in Georgia, you could raise other defenses, especially if Georgia's statute of limitations is shorter than Ohio's.

The first option is the safest. A Georgia court might give the Ohio judgment "full faith and credit" and refuse to listen to your arguments.

I don't know what the statute of limitations on contracts is in Ohio or Georgia. I believe the laws of Georgia should govern your case, although many times you agree to set jurisdiction in a another state when you sign a credit agreement.

In most states the statute of limitations is four to six years, although in some states it is longer.

The certified letter is probably an attempt by the collection agency to establish that you still live in Ohio at that address. That is why it is important to ignore it. The regular mail letter is probably a duplicate.

You probably are dealing with a zombie bill collector who's looking to collect an old and likely uncollectable debt.

Bill collectors are allowed to contact friends and relatives just to find out where you presently live. They are not supposed to do anything else with third parties, although they will likely cajole and threaten them.

For now, wait until you get the letter and find out what this is all about. If you are about to be sued, see a lawyer. There are many issues involved here and only a local attorney will be able to help you.

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