Powered by Yahoo! Answers

what is the statue of limitations on a credit card bill?*

The bill is from 1993 or 94. the bill was bought by asset acceptance out of Michigan I live in Ohio if that makes a difference. I received papers from the court that AA had 14 days to come up with the paperwork that was back in June. They keep getting granted more time. I no longer have any of the bills, I CANNOT afford a lawyer. Please if all you have to say is that I should have paid it please keep it to yourself. I don't mean to sound rude but, I need help not judgements from people

Answers:

1) It's outside the statute of limitations for all 50 states...The maximum SOL is eight years for open ended credit card debt....1993 would put this well outside the SOl regardless of what state you live in. ....This doesn't stop bottom feeder debt collectors from playing the default judgment game.....They are hoping that you make a mistake like not showing up in court or not responding to court papers which would enable them to get a default judgment in spite of the debt being outside the statute of limitations. Whatever you do, don't be bullied/intimidated by AA into making a payment or admitting in writing that you owe the debt....If you did this it would reset the statute of limitations on the debt. Most debt collectors don't have access to the original signed contract...this is in your favor. If this goes to trial...insist that they produce this document. You really need to file a "Motion of Dismiss" based upon the debt being outside the statute of limitation. Ideally, an attorney should do this....being that you cannot afford one...petition the court/judge yourself. Simply state that the debt is time-barred and outside the statute of limitations. Always state "alleged" debt...do not admit that you owe it. ----------------------- Disclaimer: PLEASE be careful about accepting/soliciting free advise on legal matters for pending lawsuits on this or any message board on the Internet. Ideally, your legal advise should come from a licensed attorney in your state. Any free legal advise you receive from anyone, however well intentioned the advise is, could end up being blatantly incorrect. The advise from "AR" below is a perfect sample. This person is confusing the 7-year reporting cycle for credit reports, which can NEVER be reset....with the statute of limitations, which is the time period allowed to take legal action on debt. Please note that the statute of limitations CAN be reset in some states by: making a recent payment on the debt or admitting in writing that you owe the debt.

2) Each state's statute is different. In Ohio, the statute on open-ended accounts is six years. On this page, look for instructions of how to handle this illegal violation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act: http://ezinearticles.com/?Credit-Card-Debt-Statute-Of-Limitation---What-You-Should-Know&id=82122 Click the highlighted statute of limitations chart to find the various state rules.

3) First of all, calm down. Let me explain a few things. First of all, if you've messed up and made a payment to them it does NOT reset the statute of limitations in any state. EVER. The seven year reporting period is set in stone. FIrst and foremost you need to pull your credit report and find out if AA is reporting to your credit. If they are, this is illegal and it must be immediately removed. Write the Consumer Reporting Agencies letting them know that this debt is FAR beyond the statute of limitations. They will remove it. Now, you're going to write a cease and desist letter to AA. Make this a formal typed letter letting them know in no uncertain terms that the statute of limitations for legal collection on this debt in your state expired YEARS ago and that if they attempt to collect on this old out of statute debt you will file a lawsuit so fast their heads will spin. Make it perfectly clear that you are enacting your right to not be contacted by them in ANY medium EVER again. They have no choice but to comply with the law (and if they don't, you can and should sue them. The federal fee for violations is $1000 per violation paid out to YOU for harassment). You can't be legally sued for this debt. Your credit report can't be hit for this debt and they can't legally collect on this debt. Period. Done. Make sure you watch your credit reports and if somehow they do decide to file a judgement against you (and they won't, once they recieve your CD letter they'll know you mean business) make sure that you show up in court. Oh, and send all correspondance to AA Certified with a Return Recipet. That way you can prove that they recieved your letter because someone has to sign for it. Don't worry, junk debt buyers cannot touch you after this long.

*The answers on this page are supplied by users of the Yahoo! Answers forum or by visitors to this site. CreditOptions does not necessarily endorse or agree with the answers provided.