In September I received a summons from Midland Credit Management for an old Providian credit card account. I went to court and on the day of my appearance my lawyer informed me that Midland had asked for a continuance and that he had agreed to it! So when it came time for me to stand up in court, my lawyer asked that we continue the case until January 22. He then proceeded to act as plaintiff in a few cases from another junk buyer and got a few judgements for no-shows. The next week he said that he could no longer be my counsel as he had another job opportunity he was taking.
I then obtained a copy of my credit report and it shows that the debt was charged off in 1998. The SOL in Tennessee is 6 years on an open ended credit obligation. My question is: If I reappear in court without counsel on the 22nd, should I raise the SOL defense and use my credit report as evidence? Before I knew what was going on, my lawyer filed an answer to the summons denying the debt. (he said this was the best course of action) So, am I now still able to use the SOL defense, or is it not an option to change the defense once you have filed an answer? Any help or advise with specific course of action would be greatly appreciated. Time is of the essence. Thank you.
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