Is there a statute of limitations on debt collections?

Question

My sister and former BIL have been divorced for about 5 years. Just today, she received a call from a collection agency about a $1500 Discover Card charge-off from 1993. They had my former BIL listed as the "borrower" and her as the "co-borrower". She says that she doesn't remember them ever having a Discover card, and furthermore she has since remarried and has a non-published phone number, so she's wondering how they even got her number to call her. Is there a statute of limitations on a unpaid debt such as this? She and the former BIL lived in the same house, with the same telephone number from 1994 until 2002 or 2003 when they divorced, and he continues to live there right now. He only in the last year or so had the house phone disconnected, so the phone number was the same one they'd had since moving there 13 years ago, and that one WAS a published number. I told her I'd try to find out if there is a statute of limitations. Can anyone help??? Thanks!

Answer 1

Holy smoke! These guys have covered the answer to such an extent there is nothing left for me to add.......

Oh wait!

Ken C....you idiot!


ahhh......I feel much better!

Edited....

Ah yes I just love bill collectors. As you can see my answer seems to have irked our professional financial consultant. He did send me a private email, which I responded to.

So just for the record, let me state this again. If you choose to challenge my answer, please post a source for your information so that I can research it. If I am wrong I will gladly issue an apology and give future answers by the responder a great deal of respect.

Fail to offer sources makes you fool extremely foolish.

Again, let me offer yet another source to refute the bill collector...

http://www.debtzine.com/blog/51.htm

This is an article that goes quite deep into the SOL, tolling, extensions, and all that technical dribble.

I also want to share something...This was a lost link I finally located....it's from a blog of a collection agent.

http://www.michigancollectionlawblog.com/

"In his blog, Mr. Stein talks about the Statute of Frauds and how to prove it. In his blog, he raises a good point. A debtor who can prove that a debt is out of statute, can escape liability for the debt. But....as a collector, I know that most debtors will default on the complaint and thus, my client has a 9 out of 10 chance of getting a default judgment anyway. Secondly, the Statute of Frauds must be pled as an affirmative defense. Hence, if the debtor does not raise it as a defense, it is waived. Finally, something that many people including other debt collectors don't know, is that the Statute of Limitations is renewed from the date that the debtor last made a payment on the debt."

This illustrates what I have stated time after time! When you are fighting a bill collector, you are AT WAR! Knowledge of the law is your ONLY WEAPON! You need to GET ARMED and read the laws. The bill collector knows them by heart, and as illustrated above they will use it on you.

What this collector is talking about is this. The SOL only prevents a collector from filing a lawsuit against you. It does NOT prevent him from TRYING to collect a debt. He can continue to call and harass you. And they CAN file a lawsuit against you. In order to use the "SOL" defense you simply have to inform the judge that the debt has expired. Then PRESTO! The judge dismisses the case.

But......what if this collector manages to get a lawsuit filed without you knowing about it? This is not only very common, but they teach this in Collection Agents 101 in school....

One example....have the process server lie about serving it on you.

So....now we have a trial..the collector shows up....you don't.....so the judge awards a default on the complaint. He gets his judgment and now comes after you.

I do believe that our collection agent who posted is referring to this when he states "All an organization whom you owe money to is get a judgment ....." I think this is what he is referring to. I still don't know he means by "refiling"....

Again, this is easily solved if you KNOW THE LAW! This tactic ended up costing a collection agency a huge fine, and several process servers landed in jail.

Educate yourselves folks! I did, and I do not get impresses when so-called professionals tell me I'm wrong.

Last edit...I promise...

Note that Ken choses to attack the source, but obviously didn't bother to read them. And he fails to offer once single source or law statute to support his claim.

One of my sources is written by an attorney (who Ken claims should know everything)...but he must be wrong. Another sites law statues...but that's not good enough either. Being written into law doesn't mean anything to a collection agent, who will simply find a way to circumvent it with legal jargon. As I pointed out above, the burden of defense is on the debtor. You can go to court and ask for anything. Unless you supply an affirmative defense the judge will grant it. It's not the judge job to research your defense! This is why/how Ken can get past SOL rules.

I guess you either believe my "web sources" or you take his word for it, or do your own research. Let the buyer beware.

Answer 2

First of all, Studly said it best, so thank you Studly for the excellent information.
There are two things people call "Statute of Limitations" and use them interchangeably, however, they are not the same thing.

First is the jurisdiction's statute of limitations. Although the amount of time and certain other minute differences do exist from state to state, they are pretty much the same.
A statute of limitations is the maximum length of time from the date the debt was original incurred that a debtor can be sued for a judgment. Most states, this time is seven years.
That being said, some jurisdictions have a statute "reset". This occurs when any activity on the account is recorded. So, if your sister sent a hundred dollars "good faith" money, they then can reset the statute of limitations. For 1500 hundred bucks, they'll probably sue within the month.

Now then, the other so called "statue of limitations" is the maximum length of time a collector can report to the credit bureaus the debt. The maximum length is seven years, except in bankruptcy's, which can be ten years.

Now that we got that settled, let's deal with these collectors. First of all, collectors are bottom feeders. This particular collector probably bought this debt for pennies on the dollar, and like a shark smelling blood, wants to circle in for the kill.
Tell your sister to NOT send these people any money. I can not stress this fact enough!! In fact, if they call again, have her say "I am recording this message on tape". Even if she isn't, have her say it. Then have her tell them to quit calling her.
Have her go to http://clarkhoward.com/topics/drop_dead_letter.html
and follow Clark's example. Have her send it to the collection agency, registered mail. If she really wants to get them, have a notary sign an affidavit of mailing.
Alright, now she's on the offensive. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, after this mailing, they are unable to contact her any further. Her specific rights are at:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/031224fcra.pdf
She may have more rights given depending on her state.
Now, she needs to go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com and pull a credit report, for free, from each of the three major credit bureaus. If this debt is on ANY of them, she needs to send a dispute letter to both the credit bureau and the creditor. If the creditor refuses to remove it, she's in luck. And a bit richer.
So, now she found out this bottom feeder is still ILLEGALLY reporting her to the creditors. Have her go to
http://www.nolo.com and purchase the book on how to sue in small claims court. Make sure she also sues for "plus court costs". Have her keep any and all receipts for any mailings, gas going to the courthouse, etc. For each offense the creditor has broken the law, she is entitled to 1000 dollars in damage. If they do it again, she can sue again, and again, and again. Cha ching!
If you still have any questions, I will be glad to help you. Good luck.
This is NOT legal advice. If you have any questions specific to your state, contact an attorney.

Answer 3

The time for the Statute of Limitations goes from the date of last activity (which is usually your last payment). That has looooong since passed if what you say is correct. This is what is called a zombie debt. They can pursue you for it, and they can even file suit against you for it, but if you answer the suit and cite the Statute of Limitations as an affirmative defense, they cannot win against you. Tell them to go pound sand. They can't win against you in court and you have no incentive to pay it, since it is off your credit report. If it shows up on your credit report, dispute it and it WILL fall off.

Answer 4

Yes there is. Sorry to disappoint the banker guy who answered before me. I am a professional debt avoider. Ha Ha Ha... It is different in every state. Most contracts (this being your debt) have a limitation. Go to the site below and read the laws that pertain to your state. This site has some great information on all sorts of legal issues. Good luck, and stand strong against the bankers...

Answer 5

Yes there is a statute of limitations on collecting.
As a previous poster said - every state is different.

You might click on my profile and go to the site I have listed to check the SOL in your sisters state.

For credit cards, look under the Open not written.

The collecting SOL starts either from the first 30 days a person was late and never brought the account current leading to the charge off OR from the last charge or payment made on the account before the charge off.
If the charge off was from 1993 - that point is kinda moot.

If the charge off "was" from 1993, then she is way past the collecting SOL for "every" state. And she should send that collection agency a SOL letter.

If it was charged off from 1993, they cannot legally sue - that would be a violation and your sister could claim affirmative defense of SOL and then counter claim on them for filing on a time barred debt - which they would have to pay her up to $1000.

If it was charged off from 1993, they CANNOT place it on her credit reports.
The legal reporting period would have started from the first 30 day late and the account was never brought current leading to the charge off - and run for 7 years only !!! it cannot be re-aged and run longer

If they place it on her reports, that is a violation, and actionable for up to $1000 should she persue it.

SOL letter template:
http://whychat.5u.com/nottoca.html

Scroll to the bottom in the following link and click on your sisters state to find the statutes to use with the SOL letter
http://whychat.5u.com/

If she lives in California, she would need to use the Penal Codes, (listed in the 2nd link above - under her state)

If she lives in Oklahoma, she would have to remove the TILA references in the SOL letter. Okla. had opted out from TILA

If she or you have any questions about using the SOL letter, go to the last link in my profile and ask any question, you or she may have, in the credit forum.

Tell her NOT to sign the letter to them, only print her initials or type her name - signatures have a nasty habit of jumping from one paper to another.
Send everything to them certified mail return receipt

Answer 6

Yes. The Statute of Limitations on Debt is..... The rest of your natural life. And on occasion, on the settling of your Estate.
This is the harsh reality. Sorry.
Well it would appear there are some who would disagree and call me names. However as someone who is forced to deal with folks who do not pay their debt's please do not be confused by the unlearned answers you have received. All an organization whom you owe money to is get a judgement or refile and the clock starts. The statute of limitations starts over again. This is a regular practice done by lending organizations, for those who choose not to pay their bills. I saw a case where during a probate, because they are public records, an Estate get sued and had to settle a debt incurred by the deceased over 30 years prior.
So, no, just because someone gets by a 7 year period, if the lending organization had done their job, that does not "excuse" a debt. But then again, as Studly said, I'm just an idiot, who knows nothing. Just 20 years of collecting debt from people listen to the kind of answers you are getting.
Ah yes to my new pal Studly. Yes I did e-mail him and yes he did respond. Though I respect everyone and their opinion, I am rarly called an "Idiot" by folks who quote websites as a source of fact. Ever been in a court as either debtor or creditor? In a case that was 15 years old? Didn't think so. I have seen cases tried under Farmers Unsecured Liens, where the Lien was placed on the future home sale proceeds and as such not on Real Property which is a general no-no with unsecured debt. And please Studly, don't send me websites, those don't work in court. Now is anyone gonna go out of there way to use a different means or matter of law to seek remedy over a couple thousand bucks? Probably not. If amounts are high enough there can be civil suits filed that have nothing to do with credit card debt per se, but the creditor proved harm. Please do not be so naive. So I do apologize if you do not understand this or if it beyond the scope of the blog or website you quote. Any lawyer good enough to get a Judge to agree to a motion, then court proceedings can begin, going around the statute of limitations, by using a whole different tactic and precedant.

Answer 7

I think each state is different. Here it is 10 years maximum.

Answer 8

Tell her to contact the card company and verify her signature.