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Is There a Statute of Limitations for Credit Card Debt?

View PDF | Print View | Html View Written by: Kathy Cromwell
Total views: 14 | Word Count: 410 | Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 | 0 comments

There are various laws for different states with regard to credit card debt statute of limitations. The statute o limitations for credit card debt can be anywhere from as little as three years or go can go as high as ten years, and some states have higher limits than that. And while it might not seem like it, these laws are in place to help you, the consumer, and not the credit card companies. A credit card company would not be able to sue you for the owed balance after the statute of limitations has ended.

This does not mean that you do not have to pay off your debt. A debt collection agency can still attempt to collect on the credit card debt. This simply means that when credit card debt collections companies purchase your credit card debt, they can not legally sue you for the debt if the statute of limitations has passed.

Many credit card companies sell old paper, or debts to collection agencies for fractions of a penny on the dollar. They sell a lot of this old debt off at once to at least recoup some of the monies lost from the lack of these debts being paid. The collection agency will then try to collect on the original amount of the debt. When you pay, the collection agency keeps the money to pay for the debt that they purchased.

Because of Fair Debt Collection laws that have been passed, collection agencies are not permitted to harass you, but they are still justified to collect the debt you owe from you. No matter how much time has passed, consumers are still required to pay the debt. If a friends or family were to lend you money, it would still be owed to them regardless of how long it has been since you borrowed it. This same principle applies to credit card debt.

Most people believe that once the statute of limitations has ended that their bad debt will just disappear from their credit report. And this is a complete fallacy. The debt is still on the books, but you cannot be sued by the company that now owns the debt. This is the the only thing the law changes. But you should keep this in mind; since the collection company bought your bad debt for pennies on the dollar, you can settle with them for less money.

About the Author

Kathy Cromwell a renowned proficient in Credit card debt statute of limitations . Check this site credit card debt laws.net/ and get more information about it.