Statue of Limitations question

My opinion is the state you are a full time resident of but I do not know the specific laws. You can only be a full time resident of one state at a time. Each state has requirements that must be fulfilled to become a full time resident. In general it takes about 1 year of living in that state to meet those requirements. Some things that may be required to establish residency are the following: have a valid state driver???s license, have a full time job, have a valid address, file a state tax return and so on. I don???t think they could force you to go back to Michigan for a law suit though if you can show that you live in CA even if you are not considered a full time resident. I think a current driver???s license and proof of address would be enough to prove improper service and get the venue changed if you were ever sued. I do not know what would happen at that point if a collection agency tried to argue SOL laws of Michigan in a California court.

I have been a full time resident of california for 2 years now. Currently unemployed but have filed tax returns here in california.

I guess my follow up question is how does SOL Exactly work. I have paid off of two of my current 3 credit cards because i got a good settlement. My last one is with Providian and they have sold my Debt to LVNV. I have not paid on that card since 2005. California law states that SOL With written agreement is 4 years. I would have to look up exactly when I stopped paying but It was roughly this time ago either 2005 or 2006.

Anyone?

The SOL only comes into play if you are sued and you use it as a defense. Basically, when you answer the summons you would state that the SOL has expired if it has. The time that has passed is calculated from the date of last payment to present. If that time is greater than your state SOL requirement then you can use it as a defense. Using the SOL does not make the debt expire though. It only makes the debt uncollectable in the courts. They can still report to your credit report until 7 years has passed.

Great Advice!

So question,

Does each state have its own law governing the SOL? Also you mentioned the debt cannot be pursued after the SOL has passed. meaning the debt is still collectible, but you are immune to being sued over it? Example judgements, garnishments, etc.. Thanks!

Every State has it own laws regarding the SOL. The laws of the state in most cases including credit cards and utility bills are applied your state of current residence as that would be the venue if you were to be sued.

Thanks frogpatch :wink:

I have just found out that there can be 2 SOL's in question.
Case in point, I moved from CA to IL and was told that the SOL for CA was 4 years, and the SOL for IL was 10 years (written contracts) From what I am to understand is that CA's can apply the longer of the 2 SOL's. do NOT quote me on that. I think it was brought up just a few days ago. I will find that post and add it in here

here is the link.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/collection-agencies/afni-oldbill.html

And Froggy, it was you who corrected me. LOL

i filed b/k chapter 13 in jan 98,however fell out because i could not make the payments, i recieved a letter from a collection agency in new york ,i called them and they said i acknowledged the debt when i file b/k now ten years later they are writing me ,i now have a credit score of 780 and dont want to lose it .do i have to pay from ten years ago i did pay all the debts that contacted me in 1999 ??/

If the SoL has expired on a debt it only protects you from being sued. It does not make the debt dissapear. Neither do they dissapear because they have fallen off of your credit report. Chances are that if a debt is beyond the SoL that the company doing the collecting do not have all the correct paperword to validate the debt. My suggestion would be to send them a debt validation letter. If they send you back a completed validation then it would be up to you to decide if you want to pay it or not. If they do not have the correct paper work then you need to start a demand process for them to not contact you any futher.

I agree so many of these older debts have been resold and re-aged and re-worded by this time 9 years later I think you could possibly have several debts showing for one single debt and if you pay one of them it doesnt mean that someone else wont try to collect the same debt years from now - get proof of correct paper work and if they can't prove it get it removed it takes a lot of work but you can do it!

Yep. They can try to collect all they want, but they cannot sue you, and they cannot report it to the credit bureaus after 7 1/2 years after discharge.

Send them a Cease and Desist letter. I don't personally think a DV letter is warranted on a debt obviously past SOL.

BUT, that depends on the State. Some of them, the SOL stops when you leave the State and then the counting will resume if you return. What state are you in now? What state were you in when you filed B/K?