OK Folks listen to this one and give me your thoughts. Thanks I have a court hearing Monday 11/3 on an account where the statute of limitations has expired. You would think that this is cut and dry but its not and here is the reason why.... The account was in Massachusetts and I left the state on or about the 5th year of my 6 year SOL max. That 6 years in now up but I have lived in another state and I am told that at least in Massachusetts that once you have left the state the SOL time clock is on hold until you return to that state. Can you legal minds out there give me your input on this and how you get around it if at all. Thanks
What your referrig to is called "tolling" and I don't believe it applies to your situation. Tolling would apply where lets say you had filed BK 13 and stayed in it a year then missed a payment and it got dismissed. The time you were under BK would thus be tolled. The attorney is obviously trying to circumvent the laws. Go over to whychats site at www.cardreport.com and let him know whats up. He should be able to give you the info you need.
Thanks for your feedback. This information came directly from my own attorney and Bankruptsy is not involved here. Here is a drect quote from my attorney about the confusion on the SOL cominmg out of the state of massachusetts. Please give me your feedback on the following info. Thanks " Iâ??ll, of course, raise the SOL defense, but itâ??s not as clear as you think: Chapter 260: Section 9. Nonresident defendant; suspension of limitation. Section 9. If, when a cause of action hereinbefore mentioned accrues against a person, he resides out of the commonwealth, the action may be commenced within the time herein limited after he comes into the commonwealth; and if, after a cause of action has accrued, the person against whom it has accrued resides out of the commonwealth, the time of such residence shall be excluded in determining the time limited for the commencement of the action; but no action shall be brought by any person upon a cause of action which was barred by the laws of any state or country while he resided therein. "
Are you back in Mass.? Are you being sued in Mass.? Where were you during your absence from Mass.? Did you leave a forwarding address? Were you incapacitated?
There has always been a forwarding address. Yes, being sued in Massachusetts for a $700 open account classification going back to 1996. Got a letter from their attorney over a year ago and I responded back letting him know that I did not owe the $700 and also informed him of the 6 year SOL. Never heard from him or his client again until 2 months ago when I did a dispute on my report where I found they were still listing the account incorrectly. It was that dispute that woke them all up again. This time I am suing and will not keep it in small claims but will be requesting it be moved to a regular court with a jury. I moved out of Mass in 1999 and moved to New Hampshire. The SOL legal jargon I received from my attorney was a surprise but confusing. There must be a loophole here somewhere. Thanks for input
The tolling statutes are designed for those actions where service is not possible. These are mostly criminal cases or other types, NOT money judgments which have a LOT of alternate service possibilities. If you go to my website, and look under "misc. legal stuff" you will see State Rules Of Service. Get Mass. rules printed out and bring them with you to prove this is a "harrassment" law suit, which, by the way, since they had notice it was past SOL is a BIG violation of the FDCPA.
I clicked onto the url.I do not see anything with misc legal stuff...there is alot there but I cant find it
WhyChats statute of limitations http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-chat/WhyChatsCredit/ http://community-2.webtv.net/Y-chat/WhyChatsCredit/ statute of limitations http://www.edebtnetwork.com/content/collection_laws.asp """"```--~~~~~~~~~--```'""'''
Here's the problem: "if, after a cause of action has accrued, the person against whom it has accrued resides out of the commonwealth, the time of such residence shall be excluded in determining the time limited for the commencement of the action;" Any individual who resides outside the state, will have that time EXCLUDED from the time calculation in determining the SOL. While Snuffels believes it's not that simple, I disagree. It may not be so simple to escape by applying the SOL, but I do believe the statute is brutally simple. Snuffels IS within the SOL. Doesn't mean all is lost however Snuffels. We may need to approach this from another angle. .
Snuffels, BTW - By my post above I didn't mean you should'nt assert that it's post SOL, I would if it were me. Make your adversary prove you wrong. Then whip out some other violations. The first dispute you sent a year ago, do you have the green card for that? ??? /
Section 9. Nonresident defendant; suspension of limitation. Section 9. If, when a cause of action hereinbefore mentioned accrues against a person, he resides out of the commonwealth, the action may be commenced within the time herein limited after he comes into the commonwealth; and if, after a cause of action has accrued, the person against whom it has accrued resides out of the commonwealth, the time of such residence shall be excluded in determining the time limited for the commencement of the action; but no action shall be brought by any person upon a cause of action which was barred by the laws of any state or country while he resided therein. " Since the SOL had also expired in NH, there IS no way he is within SOL. _
My "own words" would likely be more convoluted than the legal jargon in State statutes-- however-- it means you can't file sut against someone who was living outside of Mass.and then came back to Mass. (or in this case is being sued in Mass.) if while he was living in the other State -THAT State's SOL had expired. So, unless someone had moved from Mass.to a LONGER SOL State,(Wyoming)and then moved back before the Wyoming SOL had expired they would not be subject to Mass. tolling.(or any other State's tolling as far as I can tell, as they all have similar tolling statutes for these types of civil actions)
Ok well ... My take was that if your in another state (say CA with a 3 yr. SOL) the OC can't sue in MA. (where the contract was signed) if the SOL expires in the OTHER state. We know that suits can be filed either in the area where the debtor lives OR where the contract was signed. So in my scenario, even if the adversary could sue from MA. with a 6 yr SOL, he may NOT do so when the SOL expires in the debtors current state, 3 yrs., and one day. But if he moves back to MA. then they could. (which probably is even more confusing LOLOL) Sorry Snuffels. BUT --- I'll have to look around a bit, but I think WC's right. I hope so. .
If someone has moved to a shorter SOL State.and is sued in the longer SOL State, that judgment (assuming a change of venue was not requested) can not be entered and enforced in the shorter SOL State without notice and the right to contest it as not enforceable under that State's SOL.
Let's examine each of the caluses of this section. I believe the attorney is trying to trick you. "If, when a cause of action hereinbefore mentioned accrues against a person, he resides out of the commonwealth, the action may be commenced within the time herein limited after he comes into the commonwealth" Translation: If you have reason to sue someone who lives outside Massachusetts, you may sue him under the Massachusetts Time Limits after the defendant comes into Massachusetts. In other words, when a potential defendant moves to Massachusetts, the Massachusetts SOL laws apply. "and if, after a cause of action has accrued, the person against whom it has accrued resides out of the commonwealth, the time of such residence shall be excluded in determining the time limited for the commencement of the action" Translation: If you have reason to sue someone who is outside Massachusetts, the time outside Massachusetts shall not be counted towards the SOL. " but no action shall be brought by any person upon a cause of action which was barred by the laws of any state or country while he resided therein." Translation: The Massachusetts SOL does not apply to any case where the defendant is outside mAssachusetts and suit is brough outside Massachusetts. The OTHER state's SOL applies. So.... are you in MA now? If so, WHY?
