Credit Help Services by Credit Clean
Collection Agency Information
All About Collection Agencies
Statutes Of Limitations On Bad Debts About Collection Agencies Statute of Limitations *Attention* You should always consult with a qualified attorney for matters that relate to you. We do not recommend any attorney for The statute of limitations relates to a creditors right to sue to collect money. Your original creditor is mandated by federal law, to charge-off an account when no payments have been received for 180 days or less. That date is refereed to as the "Date of Last Activity or (DLA) and reported as such, to the credit reporting agencies by the creditor.
The DLA is a very important date as this is the date you will see as the date your account has to be closed ... either the 180 days or the date the account is in collection status is used for the last date of activity ... which ever comes first.
LDA is the date that stops and starts the limitation on how long the debt can be reported on a credit file. What this means is that an account can generally only remain on your credit file for a total of seven years from the last date of activity. This rule does not always get followed by the creditors or the credit bureaus so disputes must be sent to clear these off the reports. It starts and stops the statute of limitations for taking legal action in your state by any subsequent owner of the account. In other words if a suit is to be filed against you it must be filed by your states statute of limitations.
Many rogue collection agencies, rogue debt collectors file suit on debts that are past the statute of limitations. These are commonly referred to as ‘Time Barred Debts.’ A lot of consumers, unaware that the statues have expired, take a default judgment (this is a judgment you have received notice of but did not 1) answer the letter to dispute the case 2) show up for the court date on the motion to file judgment) on debts they no longer may legally owe. A default judgment has value to a rogue collection agency as they know the consumer can no longer raise any legal claims (in most cases) and collections are easier to attain.
If you ever run in to credit problems you should immediately get copies of your credit files from each of the three MAJOR CREDIT BUREAUS. Equifax, Trans Union and Experian it is in your best interest to have copies of your credit reports over the years whether you are in trouble now or not. Anything can happen in the future and you should guard your credit just like you would guard your money. Credit Reports can be order many different ways, online, by phone or through the mail. Information on all ways to ORDER CREDIT REPORTS can be found by clicking the blue text. Keep your reports for seven years if you want to really protect yourself as this would cover any debts within the seven year time limit. Personally we would never throw a report away since the rogue credit collection agencies dig up debts that are well over ten years old. State
(These are Years) | Oral
Agreements | Written
Contracts | Promissory
Notes | Open
Accounts | Alabama | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | Alaska | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Arizona | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | Arkansas | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | California | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Colorado | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Connecticut | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Delaware | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | D.C. | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Florida | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | Georgia | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | Hawaii | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Idaho | 4 | 5 | 10 | 4 | Illinois | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | Indiana | 6 | 10 | 10 | 6 | Iowa | 5 | 10 | 5 | 5 | Kansas | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Kentucky | 5 | 15 | 15 | 5 | Louisiana | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | Maine | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Maryland | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | Massachusetts | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Michigan | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Minnesota | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Mississippi | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Missouri | 5 | 10 | 10 | 5 | Montana | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | Nebraska | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | Nevada | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | New Hampshire | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | New Jersey | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | New Mexico | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | New York | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | North Carolina | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | North Dakota | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Ohio | 6 | 15 | 15 | ? | Oklahoma | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Oregon | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Pennsylvania | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Rhode Island | 15 | 15 | 10 | 10 | South Carolina | 10 | 10 | 3 | 3 | South Dakota | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Tennessee | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Texas | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Utah | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | Vermont | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | Virginia | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | Washington | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 | West Virginia | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | Wisconsin | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 | Wyoming | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
Return To Previous Page Page Last Updated
Friday June 29, 2007 | 
