Having to warn a consumer the sol has run is a BS as it is not as simple as date of delinquency plus sol in debtors current state equals date sol expires.
I knew you debt collectors would just love that part of the new New York law.
Get ready for it. This will soon be coming to other states as well.
FTC vs. Asset Acceptance has already indicated the direction the Federal Government is heading on this.
And the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been proposing some great new law ideas to protect consumers from debt collectors...
"VI. Time-Barred Debts
Time-barred debts are debts that are older than the applicable statute of limitations.
There are no requirements set forth in the FDCPA or the Dodd-Frank Act regarding time-barred
debts. The Bureau is generally interested in comments about the need for and the costs and
benefits of proposed rule provisions concerning the collection of time-barred debt. The Bureau
particularly is interested in comment about the need for and the costs and benefits of requiring
debt collectors to provide consumers with information relating to time-barred debts.
A. No Legal Right to File Suit on Time-Barred Debt
The FTC and consumer groups have raised the concern that many consumers do not
know or understand their legal rights with respect to the collection of time-barred debts. For
example, a consumer may not realize that a debt collector is collecting on a time-barred debt and
that it is unlawful236 under the FDCPA for collectors to sue on such debts if the consumer does
not pay. Some empirical research suggests that information about the time-barred status of debts
may affect consumers’ decisions to pay debts and in what order to pay their debts.237
The FTC and the Bureau have taken law enforcement actions arising from the collection
of time-barred debts. In 2012, the FTC brought an action against a debt buyer that allegedly
collected on time-barred debt without disclosing to consumers that they could no longer be sued
successfully on the debt. The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the FTC, filed a
complaint against Asset Acceptance, LLC (“Asset”) alleging that when Asset collects timebarred
debts, “[m]any consumers do not know if the accounts that Asset is attempting to collect
are beyond the statute of limitations. . . . When Asset contacts consumers to collect on a debt,
many consumers believe they could experience serious negative consequences, including being
sued, if they fail to pay the debt.”238 The complaint alleged that it was deceptive for Asset to fail
to disclose to consumers that they could not be sued if they did not pay.239 Asset agreed to a
settlement under which it was required to disclose such information when it collects on debts that
it knows or should know are time barred.240 Later in 2012, the Bureau also entered into a
settlement agreement with a bank collecting on its own debts that requires the bank to provide
disclosures concerning the expiration of the bank’s litigation rights when collecting debts that are
barred by the applicable statute of limitations.241
The Bureau and the FTC also recently explained in a joint amicus brief that consumers
may be deceived in connection with the collection of time-barred debts.242 Consumers, in some
circumstances, may infer from a collection attempt the mistaken impression that a debt is
enforceable in court even in the absence of an express or implied threat of litigation.
Accordingly, where a debt is not legally enforceable, a debt collector may be required to make
the affirmative disclosure to that effect to avoid misleading consumers."
