By them not being in NC can they even issue arrest warrants on me?
Response 1: Only a Court/law enforcement agency can issue a warrant for your arrest. In debt collection cases, arrests warrants are only issued to compel your appearance in the Court. If these law firms have not even filed a lawsuit, arrest warrant cannot be issued. As far as being out of state, the law firms always have local counsels/attorneys that can file the case on their behalf and then request that the Court issue a warrant to compel your appearance, only if you do not show up for the Court hearing . Even if you do not show up for the hearing, warrants are rarely issued for debt collection cases not associated with child support.
Do I even have to pay these guys?
Response 2: You don't have to if you do not have the money. In any event, in order to force you to pay, they must file a lawsuit and serve you with the notice of the lawsuit to give you the opportunity to tell the Court your side of the story.
Don't most companies get paid when a collection company takes the case???
Response 3: Not necessarily. Your original creditor may have just simply turned your account over to a collection agency or it might have sold the account to a debt buyer. Either way, the fact that your original creditor has been paid by someone else does not release you from your obligation on the debt.
Attorney
Massachusetts licensed Attorney with over ten years in general law practice.