How Long Can a Debt Collector Legally Pursue Old Debt?
The "statute of limitations" bars creditors from suing for unpaid debts after a specific amount of time.
If you take sometime, unpaid debts, you might exist safety from lawsuits to collect them. Creditors and debt collectors take a limited number of years to sue you for outstanding debts. This time limit is called the "statute of limitations." The time allowed varies greatly from state to state and for different kinds of debts; written contracts, oral contracts, promissory notes, and open-ended accounts (like credit cards) can all have different statutes of limitations.
Under specific circumstances, the statute of limitations can restart. And then, exist very careful when talking to debt collectors about former debts. If y'all say the wrong thing, you could extend the time the creditor has to sue yous for it.
Finding the Applicative Statute of Limitations
State law sets the statutes of limitations. They usually range from virtually 3 to ten years and depend on the type of debt. To find out the statute of limitations for debts in your state, you tin:
- check out Nolo'south 50-state chart
- consult a lawyer, or
- research your state laws past going to a local law library, contacting your state consumer protection agency, or doing some legal enquiry on the Internet.
Using the Statute of Limitations as a Defense to a Lawsuit
If a creditor waits besides long to sue you, yous must raise this as a defence in the papers you file in response to the lawsuit. If you lot can testify that the statute of limitations period has passed, so you won't have to pay the debt. If the debt collector knows that the statute of limitations has expired on the debt and yet sues yous, it might accept violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
But a statute of limitations doesn't eliminate the debt; it only limits the judicial remedies available to the creditor or drove agency after a specific amount of time. A debt collector may nonetheless seek voluntary payment of an old debt even though the law can't force you to pay it.
Some Debt Collectors Try to Enforce Time-Barred Debts
Aggressive debt collectors sometimes try to enforce debts that are barred by the statute of limitations. They purchase these debts from original creditors for pennies on the dollar, and then they make a tidy profit when they collect annihilation.
Some of these debt buyers use ambitious tactics when they try to collect on time-barred debts. According to media reports, they abuse and harass debtors and try to pull a fast one on debtors into reaffirming debts and so that the statute of limitations begins anew.
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Source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/time-barred-debts-when-collectors-29805.html
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