Can a credit card company force me to sell my home?
I received this letter and what to know exactly what it means.
The letter reads:
RE: CAPITAL ONE BANK (CANADA BRANCH) v. [NAME] ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENT AGAINST [PROPERTY/ADDRESS]
We are the lawyers for the plaintiff in the above-captioned proceeding. Enclosed is a copy of the seizure and sale filed in this proceeding and a pay-out statement showing the balance owing of $13,241.00 as of today.
Further to our letter to the defendants of August 21, 2015 and the defendants failure to satisfy this debt within the time required therein and pursuant to Rules 60.02 (1) and (b) 55.06 (1) of the RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, R.R.O 1990, Reg 194, the plaintiff is in a position to enforce the judgement by way of a court-supervised sale of the following real property owned by the defendants: PROPERTY
The first step in this process will be to seek a court order for a reference hearing at which eah of the recipients of this letter will have the opportunity to establish his, her or its interest in this property and show cause why the interest of the defendant judgment debators in the lands and premises described should not be sold to realize the amount payable under judgment.
Our client has advised us it will accept a reduced amount to satisfy this judgment debt. We invite the defendants to contact our office within 14 days of the date of this letter to make voluntary arrangements to deal with this matter, failing which we will seek our clients instructions to commence the above-described court proceeding for the sale of the property.
We note that multiple previous opportunities to resolve this matter voluntarily have been extended to the defendant, all of which have failed to produce a mutually acceptable solution. We again urge the defendant to resolve this matter without further enforcement action, the cost of which we will seek from her.
To discuss this matter, please contact assistant yaddayadda
I need to know if they can make me sell my house even though my husband owns half as the credit card is only in my name.
I have not made a payment sine November of 2013. My daughter thinks there is a statue of limitations on credit card debt. What does that mean exactly?
1 Answer
Here’s what you should do:
- Do a Google search determine if this organization is actually a law firm. The contents of this letter sound suspicious. If you cannot find it on Google, contact the Law Society of your province and inquire if this organization is actually a law firm.
- Your daughter is referring to a statute called the Limitations Act. Every province has their own version of it. Here’s how it works: in Ontario, a creditor has 2 years to sue you in court from the date you default on your debt. If they haven’t taken the steps to sue you in court within that 2 year period, then the debt is no longer enforceable. The steps a creditor must take to sue a debtor in court are as follows: (i) they have to schedule a hearing date with the Small Claims court of your province; and (ii) after obtaining a hearing date, they have to serve you with a Notice of Hearing at least 20 days before the hearing date (please note that 20 days is the required notice period in Ontario – it could be different in your province).
- Try to determine if you were ever served with a Notice of Hearing within the 2 year period described above. So first you need to determine when your debt first went into default. You can find this out by getting a copy of your credit report, which would have this information.
- If you don’t recall being served with a Notice within the 2 year window, did you move and neglect to give that creditor your new address? The only way for you to be sure is to check the records of the Small Claims Court of the city where you resided when you were owing this money to Capital One. You want to determine if they actually filed a claim against you in Small Claims Court during that 2 year window.
- If the letter turns out to be legit, seek the advice of a lawyer.