Can a credit card company say they have no record of debt and then try to sue?

Can a credit card company say they have no record of debt and then try to sue?

My father-in-law got a credit card in his name and added my husband onto his account. My husband’s father passed away and his mother kept paying the bill. She stopped paying it around 4 1/2 years ago and did not tell us. We applied for an auto loan at our bank 8 months ago and was turned down. We got a copy of our credit report and it showed that the credit card hadn’t been paid for all that time. My husband called the credit card company and the collection agency both to try to settle the debt so we could get an auto but both said they had no record of the debt. Now they are threatening to sue. Can they do that? Would it help if we had a copy of the phone bill showing that we tried to call them?

Asked on March 5, 2012 under Bankruptcy Law, Tennessee

Answers:

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