Greater Glendale Finance, LLC Files Stale Suits Against Arizona Consumers

Greater Glendale Finance, LLC, previously known as Walker Motors Financing, LLC, continues to file lawsuits against Arizona consumers well after the statute of limitations has run. Greater Glendale Financing is the finance arm of the J.D. Byrider dealership located in Glendale, Arizona. Over the years, J.D. Byrider has sold thousands of vehicles to Arizona consumers and financed those purchases through its financing arm which has gone by the names of CNAC, Walker Motors Financing, LLC and now Greater Glendale Finance, LLC.

Like its franchise twin Bartolini Finance in Mesa, Arizona, and Bartolini’s sister company Grace Finance in Chandler, Arizona, Greater Glendale Finance is the financial arm for the JD Byrider franchise in Glendale. When a car is sold by JD Byrider, the sales/finance contract is assigned to Greater Glendale Finance. If payments are missed, and the car gets repossessed, Greater Glendale has four years under Arizona law to bring a lawsuit to collect any deficiency it claims to be owed.

What Greater Glendale is doing, like Bartolini Finance has been known to do, is waiting until nearly six years after the repossession before bringing suit. Greater Glendale then tries to argue that the contract is covered by the six year statute of limitations for a written contract, when the law in Arizona is clear that the statute of limitations on a vehicle finance contract is four years.

If you have been recently sued by Greater Glendale Finance, LLC, I may be able to help you. Please call Floyd W. Bybee at the BYBEE LAW CENTER, PLC (480) 756-8822 for a free phone consultation.

Bartolini Finance Still Filing Suits on Old Debts.

Recently I have been contacted by several Arizona consumers who have been sued by Bartolini Finance, also known as CNAC and J.D. Byrider.  In each instance, the account defaulted over four years prior to the suit being filed.

Arizona Statute of Limitations for Collecting on a Repossession is Four (4) Years.

A.R.S. § 47-2725 requires that Bartolini Finance file its suit to collect the remaining balance on your car loan within four (4) years after the repossession.

In the cases I am seeing right now, the repossession took place nearly six (6) years ago, meaning that Bartolini is too late.  However, if the Arizona debtor does not properly respond to the lawsuit, then Bartolini is able to get a default judgment.  This is obviously what Bartolini is hoping for.

Don’t Let Bartolini Get a Default Judgment Against You!

The large majority of the cases Bartolini Finance has filed have ended up with default judgments.  Many times the interest that has accrued far exceeds the amount of the original debt. 

You must file an appropriate answer with the Court in order to avoid judgment being entered against you.

Hire a Lawyer to Assist You.

If you have been sued by Bartolini Finance, hire the assistance of an attorney.  There are several consumer lawyers in Maricopa County which are capable of defending these Bartolini Finance lawsuits.  The cost of hiring a lawyer is usually much less than the amount of the potential judgment.  Plus, with the damage to your credit file by having a judgment entered, the cost of obtaining legal counsel is usually well worth it.

I would be glad to assist you in reviewing your case to see if you have a valid defense.  Please call Floyd W. Bybee at the BYBEE LAW CENTER, PLC (480) 756-8822 for a consultation.



Two More Courts Hold that Statute of Limitations on Credit Cards in Arizona is Three (3) Years.

Arizona Legislature Changes Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Accounts.

The Arizona Legislature recently changed the law to make most credit card collection cases subject to a six year statute of limitations. A.R.S. Sec. 12-548 now states that "if the indebtedness is evidenced by or founded on . . . a credit card. . ." it is subject to the six year statute of limitations.

The following cases will no longer provide the persuasive precedent that we have previously enjoyed.

Recent Cases.

The East Mesa Justice Court in Maricopa County recently followed the holding in the DSS Financial v. Walrod case and dismissed a collection lawsuit brought by a bad-debt buyer, Action Financial, LLC, holding that the statute of limitations on a credit card account is three (3) years. See Action Financial, LLC v. Long, CC2008005084.

The West Mesa Justice Court of Maricopa County also recently held that the debt, which was an old credit card account, was an open account and thus barred by the three (3) year statute of limitations under A.R.S. § 12-543. See Action Financial, LLC v. Foran, CC2008189319.

The holdings in these two cases do not conclusively settle the debate over the statute of limitations on a credit card debt in Arizona. However, as more and more Arizona courts hold that credit card debts are subject to the three (3) year statute of limitations, bad-debt buyers will be less likely to file these stale suits, or at least more likely to dismiss them if challenged.

What to Do If You Have Been Sued on an Old Credit Card Debt?

The worst thing you can do is do nothing. That is what these bad-debt buyers hope you will do – nothing, so that they will get their judgment. Once a judgment is entered, and unless it is set aside by the court, the debt now becomes collectible even if the debt was stale and beyond the statute of limitations, and uncollectible, when the case was filed. So you must do SOMETHING.

The best something is to fight back. You may have one or more defenses to the suit. The debt may be old, such as the cases noted above, or the bad-debt buyer may not be able to prove that it is the current owner of the debt. Other defenses include identify theft, unauthorized use of the credit card, or fraud.

Help For Arizona Consumers is Available.

Many Arizona consumers believe that they cannot afford to hire an attorney to assist them in defending the lawsuit. However, there are several attorneys in the Mesa-Phoenix area who defend consumers in these debt collection cases, and their fees are reasonable, and likely to be a much better alternative than to have an unwarranted judgment entered against you.

Floyd Bybee of the BYBEE LAW CENTER, PLC represents Arizona consumers who have been sued on old credit card accounts.

If you would like a free phone consultation to see if you might have a defense to the lawsuit, please call (480) 756-8822.

Maricopa County Superior Court Rules that Arizona Statute of Limitations on Credit Card is Three Years

Arizona Legislature Changes Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Accounts.

The Arizona Legislature recently changed the law to make most credit card collection cases subject to a six year statute of limitations. A.R.S. Sec. 12-548 now states that "if the indebtedness is evidenced by or founded on . . . a credit card. . ." it is subject to the six year statute of limitations.

The following case will no longer provide the persuasive precedent that we have previously enjoyed.

Maricopa County Court Commissioner Eartha K. Washington recently dismissed a collection lawsuit stating that the First USA Bank credit card debt was an open account and therefor subject to the three year statute of limitations under A.R.S. § 12-543. 

DSS Financial Group, LLC filed suit in the Arizona South Mountain Justice Court against an Arizona consumer on a credit card debt it claims it purchased from Unifund CCR Partners, which claims it purchased the debt from Chase bank, the predecessor to First USA Bank.  The case went to trial and the Justice entered judgment in favor of DSS Financial.  The court denied DSS Financial’s request for attorney’s fees and costs.  The consumer appealed Judge Cody Williams judgment to the Maricopa County Superior Court arguing that the statute of limitations had run since the debt had been in default more that three years prior to the suit being filed, and that DSS Financial had not properly shown ownership of the First USA Bank debt.

Commissioner Washington did not address the question of whether DSS Financial or Unifund had purchased the debt from First USA Bank or Chase, but rather ruled that the case should be dismissed based upon the three year statute of limitations.  Commissioner Washington also awarded the Arizona consumer all her attorney’s fees and costs of the litigation. 

Debt buyers are filing hundreds of lawsuits each month against Arizona consumers on accounts they claim to have purchased.  Many of these credit card accounts are not collectable because 1) they are too old, meaning the statute of limitations has run; 2) they have no proof of ownership of the accounts; 3) they cannot prove the balance owed or how the claimed balance was calculated; and 4) the Arizona consumer either does not owe the debt because of identity theft or misuse of a stolen credit card.

These debt buyers file suits against Arizona debtors believing that most consumers (over 90%) will not know their rights, and the debt buyer will be able to obtain judgment by default without having to prove their case. Common debt buyers who file suits in Arizona include:

• American Commercial Credit

• Arrow Financial 

• Asset Acceptance, LLC

• CACV of Colorado, LLC

• Cavalry Portfolio Services, LLC

• Centurion Capital Corporation

• Debt Buyers Inc.

• DSS Financial

• Easy Loan Corp.

• Faslo Solutions, LLC

• First Resolution Investment Corporation

• Generation Funding

• Hilco Receivables

• Hudson & Keyse

• LVNV Funding LLC

• Midland Credit Management

• Midland Funding, LLC

• MRC Receivables Corp.

• NCO Financial

• Palisades Collection LLC

• Persolve, LLC

• Portfolio Recovery

• Resurgent Capital Services

• RJF Financial

• Unifund CCR Partners 

• Western States Financial

• World Wide Asset 

There are also many new debt buyers showing up all the time.

If you are an Arizona consumer who has recently been served with a lawsuit by a debt buyer, please call Floyd W. Bybee at the BYBEE LAW CENTER, PLC (480) 756-8822 for a free phone consultation to see if you may have a defense to the lawsuit.