I had a car repossessed back in June of 2002. I have not made any payments since it was repossessed. Just 2 days ago I was served with a court summons from a law firm for the amount of the repo plus an additional $4,000 in interest. I'm at a loss of what to do. Some people are telling me not to respond because the statue of limitations is almost up and it will be falling off my credit report. Others are telling me that if I respond that I will be starting the 7 years all over again. The summons says that if I don't respond I can have a judgment issued against me. Does anyone have any advice?
First, check the repo laws in your state and see if the repo was in compliance. Things like when they have to tell you of a deficency balance, if they can compute interest and at what rate, and even how the repo itself is handled. And make sure 6 years is the SOL for that type of debt in your state. See if everything is in compliance (I'm betting not). Then report back.
Most states have enacted the UCC ... and the UCC-specific SOL for repo deficiencies is typically four years ... you won't find it in with the other SOLs for your state ... it's under "secured transactions" ... check it out. WHy Chat has great state-specific repo stuff. Look up her site. Whatever you do, be sure to answer in time (original to the court with a copy to the attorney), and be sure to raise the applicable SOL as an affirmative defense.
Adding to what Flacorps aptly noted, you may want to look for U.C.C. Article 9 which is, again, "Secured Transactions." Gives you a better search term is all.
Bad advice. There are two time periods involved here. SOL - That's what others here are talking about. But, if it is past the SOL to prevail in a lawsuit, you must answer the court and claim such as a defense, otherwise the Plaintiff will win. Its called an affirmative defense, one you don't have unless you ask for it. The second time limitation is the 7 year reporting period. While from what you say, it should fall off in June of this year - that in and of itself does not mean a debt no longer exists - it simply means it isn't reporting. Wrong. Unless they get a judgment against you. A judgment is a separate debt with its own reporting period from the date it is filed. Yep. You have to be proactive now.
