Collection Agencies" Statue of limitations

adelgado, do not believe what the CA is telling you. They are trying to intimidate you by making such statements.

The SOL is calculated from the date of last activity in your account. The state where this account was opened will be taken into consideration and based on the statutes of that state, it will be determined whether the CA or the OC can take any legal actions against you.

Let us know the state where this account was opened and the date of last activity in it. Since you are nearing the 7 years mark, it is likely that the statutes have expired. However, if you have made any payments on this account in the recent times, the statutes have been renewed.

Please respond to me with the required info so that I can confirm you on the statutes.

I am in Florida last activity was 5-99. Who is first american credco???

In Florida, the statute is set for 5 years from the date of last activity. This clearly explains that the debt is out of the SOL period. Hence, legal actions cannot be put by American Credco. I don't have any information on who American Credco is, but I know very well that they cannot force you to pay the debt in legal terms. Send them a letter disputing the item and mention the expiry of the SOL. Send your letter through certified mail/return receipt requested. Keep everything documented in a file for records. If the company ever takes the matter to the court, you should have proof to defend yourself with these proofs.

Asset Acceptance is the collections agency. First American Credco is a company listed at the bottom of my credit report to find out information about the items on the report. But who are they? Do the work for the creditor????

adelgado, Asset Acceptance being listed on your credit report means that they are collecting the debt on behalf of your creditors. Or they have now purchased it from them. Though I am not sure but it gives me a feeling that First American Credco might be doing collections for Asset Acceptance.

In any case, you can place the item on dispute with the CRA. They will verify the item with your information providers and present your CR with accurate figures. Highlight the item and send it to the CRA through certified mail with return receipt requested. You must hear from them within 30 days from the date you have disputed with them.

just got of the phone with collector threating to place judgment on me . the sol in tx i believe is 6 yrs which was about 2yrs ago. should i be consern about this?

estela, in Texas I believe it is actually 4 years for unsecured debt such as credit cards, etc. Sounds like some junk debt buyer who purchased out of SOL debts. If they foolishly try to sue, you should easily be able to prove the SOL has run. I would threaten to file a counter suit. Record all calls with this collector. It is legal in Texas, whether the collector knows you are recording or not.

The Statute of Limitation starting date is different for different states. You have to find out which definition and starting date applies in your state. You need to know this before you deal with any creditor and in determining whether you even want to deal with them.

In "date of last activity" states - which are not typically consumer friendly - it is the date you last made a pyment or made some representation that you intended to pay the debt. Perhaps there are other things that are included in the definition of "activity." I can't identify them offhand. You need to know what these "activities" are before you deal with any creditor or CA. You could do something that would restart the SOL clock.

In "cause of action" states the SOL begins when the original creditor (e.g. American Express, Master Card) first has the right to sue you. That is normally the first month after you miss your payment. Your payment is due July 5. You fail to pay. They have the right to sue you in August. (Obviously they don't do this - they try and try to get you to pay. BUT they do have the right to sue you then.) If you never bring your account current, then that first month following your missed payment is always the date the SOL begins to tick for purposes of law suits in cause of action states and for purposes of reporting on your credit reports.

If you do bring your account completely current - not just make some payments - then the old SOL start date is gone and any future failures to pay start it ticking again.

As I am sure you all know, one of the big problems is collection agencies fraudulently tampering with the SOL start date so they have more time to sue you. That is illegal. The SOL start is important. Seven years after SOL starts your bad debt drops off your credit reports. If you make a payment or settle up an old debt in year 5 of your 7 year SOL then the SOL starts all over again for another 7 years on that debt - unless you can work out some agreement that it won't be listed.

In my jurisdiction with a 3 year SOL for all debt and a cause of action jurisdiction, I cannot be successfully sued for any debt beyond the 3 year mark. They may try to sue me but they will not succeed if I raise my SOL defense. Even if they fraudulently claim they served you properly (a common practice)and get a default judgment you can file to get the judgment vacated. Better to regularly check to see if there are any suits pending against you.

If your debt is beyond the SOL, inform the collection agency that the debt is beyond the SOL (be sure that it is before you do this) then they are not allowed to sue you or even threaten to sue you. Both actions are violations of federal law. Creditors can still attempt to collect from you until the end of time but they can not call you if you tell them not to. They can only mail you.

I am not an expert in this area so I urge everyone to do lots of research on their own as I did. I think we all know not to take anyone's word for something, especially not some lying collection agency that is hoping to trip you up.

Didn't mean to make this so long. Good luck.

Just a quick tip. Just because somehting is out of the SoL period or has fallen off of your credit report doesn't mean that you don't still owe the debt. You owe it until it's paid.

Hi Estela
I believe that the statute of limitations for your debt has expired and any collection agency can no longer sue you for payment. Though you still owe the debt but you can't be sued over it. The debt collector can still ask you to pay off the money, but they can't threaten to sue you. If they threaten or harass you then it's a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In my opinion you should send them an "Expired SoL Letter" to inform them that the debt has become ???????out of statute debt??????? and you are aware of the expired SoL defense.