How long before they can't come after you

[dn4192]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

If a credit card company has written off a debt and that debt was picked up by a collection agency, is there a time frame that they have to attempt to collect that debt? Say if Bank X wrote off the debt is 2002, does a limitation of time come into play in 5/10/15 or 20 years?

[OP85063]

six years from the last date of activity on the account (your last payment). If it transfer from one agency to the next they can't re-age the account that is illegal.

[Debt Guy]

You will owe the debt forever. Well, not literally. If and when the sun expands to the orbit of Jupiter, I guess you could say the debt is erased.

The debt may be collected until that time. Collecting debts that are out of statute require some more cautious procedures by the collector to avoid violating federal law.

You can be sued on a debt that is out of statute. Out of statute is merely an affirmative defense. If you fail to assert your defense, you waive the defense.

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by Debt Guy

If and when the sun expands to the orbit of Jupiter, I guess you could say the debt is erased.

Not necessarily. I am working to negotiate continuity of collections by means of a shared ownership scheme with the largest collection agency of Alpha Centauri. There are some language issues and they don't really understand this whole FDCPA thing, as they make one call and then use blasters ... but I don't really see anything wrong with that personally.



DC

[nrknlknek]

The statute(s) of limitations has nothing to do with owing the debt. There are two, and to my knowledge only two, ways to get rid of a debt: (1) pay it or (2) have in discharged in bankruptcy. The statute of limitations can be invoked or asserted as a defense to an action that arises out of an unsatified debt, but the SOL does not discharge the debt. By the way, affirmative defenses based on an expired SOL almost never work.