? about Statute of Limitations... Updated w/another ? Thank you in advance for reading and hopefully helping!! Here is the situation: I spoke with a CA today about a debt that went to Collections Feb 15, 2002 according to them. I live in CO and understand that there is some discrepancy about whether the SOL is 3 years or 6 years at this point. Here is the issue... I just recently moved to CO from VA this past April. So the SOL for VA is 5 years for written and 3 for oral. So even if it is considered a written contract, the 5 years would have been up this past February while we were still in Virginia. Now that we're back in Colorado, the SOL would be in 5 months from now. Right? Since I was living in VA at the end of the SOL, shouldn't it be off my record? Or since I've moved back to CO at this time, has it reverted back to being valid. Well, not off my record, but not a debt that could be collected. Also, is the SOL from the date of the last payment, or the date it got sent to collections... Thank you soo much for any and all answers. I just found out about this debt today, I remember having the card, but thought that I'd closed it out. Obviously not. ========================================================= UPDATED QUESTIONS ========================================================= Sorry to bother you again. but I have some more questions for you. A friend just told me that the SOL restarts if the debt is sold. I was told yesterday that this CA got the account "in their office" 5-14-07. So does that mean that the SOL starts over again on 5-14-07?? And can it stay on my credit report for another 7 years now??? Also, do you know how long a debt goes unpaid before it goes to collections? 1 month, 3 months etc... Is there a standard? Bc in this case (going on the theory that the SOL doesn't start over with the sale of the debt) that might mean that the SOL would actually be before 2-15-08. Also, if that isn't true, and the SOL will run out 2-15-08, then should I just wait a couple of months before requesting it in writing, prior to requestion validation?
Debt and Bankruptcy Laws -- Colorado WAGE GARNISHMENT EXEMPTIONS: Federal law applies MAXIMUM INTEREST RATE: Legal: 8% Judgment: 8% or contract rate STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR COLLECTION: Open Account (credit card): 3 years Written Contract: 6 Written Contract for Goods and Services: 3 years Domestic Judgment (District Court): 20 years (renewable) Domestic Judgment (County Court): 6 years (renewable) Foreign Judgment: 6 years However the sol would be from the state you lived in when you opened the trade line. The sol starts from the date of last payment.
Thank you so much! Where do I find that information for NY as that is where it was opened. Thanks again!
Again have them put it on paper,than send them a validation letter a debt this old the ca will never be able to verify the debt as yours.
Sale of the debt cannot reset the SOL. Depending on how long you lived in VA, its borrowing statute may apply with respect to the SOL, and CO's borrowing statute may already apply as well. And SOL typically begins to run 30 days after the last payment that brought the account current, although there are state-by-state variations.
I lived in VA for 2 years, leaving 3 months after the 5 yr sol would have been up if it went by VA instead of NY. We've been back in CO for 5 months now. Where would I find out if that would apply? Thanks.
From everything I've read, SOL is based on where you currently live. SOL expiring in one state just means that if they sued you, the judge would throw the case out if you argued that it was past SOL. But if you're in CO now, the judge won't accept that defense. Incidentally, being past the SOL doesn't mean they can't try to collect from you...
A few clarifying items.. First, a debt being past SOL means that the CA cannot WIN a judgement against you in court, IF you raise the defense of the debt being past SOL for legal collection. This means that the CA can still try to collect the debt (legally forever), and the CA CAN sue you, YOU must raise the defense of debt past SOL. Also, per my review, the SOL for CO (for CC debt) is 6 YEARs, NOT 3(as of Jan 2007). The "starting date" for SOL is the date the account became deliquent, AND was NEVER brought current. A payment on a debt may restart the SOL. The SOL time period is also for "start" of legal action, i.e., as long as the CA "files" before the SOL ends, they can win a judgement. The actual court date could be significantly later, but as long as the filing is within SOL, they have legal recourse. So, CALL your Attorney General's Office, and make sure you are getting the latest SOL times. Next, write a Letter of "Debt Validation Request", there are plenty of sample letters on this board. It sounds like a CA noticed you're now in CO, and realized they bought some "legal" time. Good Luck, and be careful..
Assuming the SOL expired while the OP was a Virginia resident, CO's statutory scheme is not likely to have any provision to revive the SOL. If the OP had moved to CO with a clock still ticking, then there might be a question that would require a reading of CO's borrowing statute, but I believe that point would be moot. This is all wrapped up with legal notions like "comity" and the principles of "conflict of laws", however when the spaghetti-like mess created by two moves to two different states with two different SOLs, methods of calculating SOL, etc. is untangled I believe the result should be in the OP's favor. No guarantees, and this is not legal advice. The practical advice here would be to get a NACA lawyer if sued and fight on SOL grounds.
The bottom line here is that the CA may feel that "it is worth the try". There is enough "uncertainty" about the SOL expiration/restart to try and leverage the opportunity. A strong argument is that there was sufficient time to pursue legal suit while residing in VA, in other words the previous CA gave up the opportunity to enact the SOL timeframe for suit....
