WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ COULD SAVE YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE. MOST OF THE TIME CONSUMERS FALL VICTIM TO A DEFAULT JUDGMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR FEAR AND IGNORANCE OF WHAT THEIR LEGAL RIGHTS ARE AND HOW TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AGAINST THOSE WHO ARE WAITING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM.
The statute of limitations is extremely confusing to most people who are dealing with debt collection issues as potential plaintiffs or defendants. I hope in this article to clear up some of that confusion for you. To make it as readable and as simple as possible I am going to breakdown the topic and discuss what the statute of limitations means specific to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, The Federal Trade Commission and finally the individual states.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
You do not have forever to file a complaint against a debt collector. As some have stated the FCRA is not consumer friendly and the the 2 year time line for a consumer to file a complaint against a subscriber or a credit bureau is prohibitive. The 2 year time line refers to taking the action within 2 years of the violation not when the violation was discovered. The only exception to the 2 year rule according to case precedent is where the violations have been deemed to be willful and intentional violations of the act; not from negligence. To read the actual chapter and verse please go to U.S.C. 1681.
If the complaint against the credit bureau is based on state law violations then the specific state statute of limitations would apply. See what they are right here.
The confusion arises because people confuse the reporting period or how long an account can be reported with the statute of limitations. Let me try to clear this up. The reporting period or the time that the credit bureau is allowed to report a negative account begins on the the "date of last activity" for the specific account i.e., when the last transaction occurred or when it was charged off by the creditor. It is allow to remain on your credit report for 7 years plus 180 days. If a reporting agency keeps it on longer they can be sued but you have to initiate your action within 2 years of the occurrence of the violation. So hopefully you now see the difference between the reporting period and the statute of limitations.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Many people believe the statute of limitations for credit reporting (7 to 10 years) is the same as the statute of limitations for enforcing debt. Absolutely not. You need to go by each state's specific rules to determine whether a debt you owed or still owe is within the "SOL".
Understanding the differences between the statute of limitation for the FRCA and the FDCPA could potentially save you time in court, stop a default judgment cold and most of all save you thousands of dollars. Third party debt collectors or out of statute debt buyers simply play a numbers game. They are betting that anyone who they try to collect an old debt from is too stupid to know that they legally cannot do so. However if you don't tell the court that the debt is out of statute the judge is certainly not going to take care of the matter for you. You have to appear and defend yourself or have an attorney do it.
I would not say that the FCRA or the FDCPA are particularly consumer friendly. You need to know how to use them as they are. Hopefully in the future they will be amended to be more helpful to the consumer. Although it is self serving I would strongly recommend that you purchase my basic system or my entire kit. Once you are done studying what I have presented therein you will have a thorough understanding of all of these issues. I guarantee it or you may have your money back. Just click on the tab "stopthecallsfast system" for a complete description of what I offer.
FTC Time Barred Debts
The FTC in the memorandum I will link you to here discussed two aspects of time barred debts. The first refers to listing your account under the FCRA. The agency states that after 7 years plus 180 days that negative accounts must be removed. The agency then goes on to discuss when debt collectors cannot sue you. This is guided by the statute of limitations in the state where you reside but the rub is that if a debt collector does illegally sue you you can file a suit in Federal Court against that debt collector if they have sued you on a debt that is past the statute of limitations in your state. If any of this is confusing including what I have written above, please email me at stopthecallsfast@gmail.com with any questions.
