Credit Card Debt In California

Credit card company wrote off the debt in 1997. Now a credit it agency is trying to collect.

ok.this is easy for me :)......If the cc debt was placed in collection in 1997 the debt has a statute of limitation of 7 years. Now keep in mind that if you've ever made a payment to that agency in any of that 7 year period you 7 years starts all over again.

You can also be sued by the collection agency for the debt during that 7 year period if the debtor decides to pursue you in small claims court.

The best way to remedy this is to file a chapter 7 Bankruptcy if you have other debts that are non-secured. This will stay on your reporting credit for 10 years and will wipe them out completely.

If you choose to wait it out....Then stick to your guns and DO NOT pay the collections agency. When they call tell them never to call you again at home or work!. They are governed by the Fair Debt Collections and Report Act and once you tell them NOT to call they have to abide by what you've told them to do. If they call you again....keep a log of the dates and times they've called and report them to your attorney and sue them for harassment!!

2006-06-09 11:53:30 by MARGARET B

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I am finding conflicting information on the net about this. Do collection agencies have four years or four and half years to bring legal action pursuing collection of credit card debt?

That lawyer is probably hoping you will be an easy target and will roll over and pay even if you are past the collecting SOL.

The collecting SOL is 4 years.

California SOL info:

§337. Within four years:
1. An action upon any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing, except as provided in Section 336a of this code;
2. An action to recover
(1) upon a book account whether consisting of one or more entries;
(2) upon an account stated based upon an account in writing, but the acknowledgment of the account stated need not be in writing;
(3) a balance due upon a mutual, open and current account, the items of which are in writing; provided, however, that where an account stated is based upon an account of one item, the time shall begin to run from the date of said item, and where an account stated is based upon an account of more than one item, the time shall begin to run from the date of the last item.


Some items that may interest you:

From the California FDCPA:

1; Adopted in 1977,regulates the conduct of "debt collectors."
The Act prohibits numerous unreasonable, deceptive,dishonest and unfair debt collection practices by debt collectors,and it also regulates the form and content of communications by a debt collector to a consumer debtor and others.

81. In Kimber v.Federal Financial Corp.(M.D.Ala.1987)668 F.Supp.1480, the court held that it is "unfair " within the meaning of the federal statute to file a time-barred collection suit against a consumer,and that it is a deceptive act to even threaten to file such a suit.


From the California Penal Code:

523. Every person who, with intent to extort any money or other property from another, sends or delivers to any person any letter or other writing, whether subscribed or not, expressing or implying, or adapted to imply, any threat such as is specified in Section 519, is punishable in the same manner as if such money or property were actually obtained by means of such threat.


Exerpts from the FTC FDCPA Staff Opinion Letter - Wollman:

...regarding the type of verification required by Section 809(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act......
.......The statute requires that the debt collector obtain verification of the debt and mail it to the consumer.....
.....the verification of the identity of the consumer and the amount of the debt be obtained directly from the creditor. Mere itemization of what the debt collector already has does not accomplish this purpose........


I would suggest following what crazyjester and OC1999 posted in your other questions.

As you can see in the FTC FDCPA Staff Opinion Letter, they must get the validation/verification information from the original creditor and forward that information to you.
It cannot be something that is printed on the collectors own letterhead. It cannot be in the form of a computer printout, a bill from the collector or an affidavit of debt by an employee of the collector, etc.

2008-06-13 17:34:30 by u2sista

I am 29 in California. I am employed and make over $100,000. I have a gambling addiction which has ruined my life. I owe a lot of money but i owe $30,000 among 3 different credit cards, a USBank Card, CitiCards, and Discover Card. I have lost all my money and can't afford any of these payments. 2 of the cards have let me go over my credit line. I am currently attending Gamblers Anonymous and seeing a therapist for my problem. But i was wondering if you guys had any solutions to what i can do about the credit card debt. Can i work something out with my credit cards companies? Or can i say i'm not paying because online gambling is not supposed to be allowed with credit cards but yet somehow all 3 of those cards let me gamble with their cards? Do you guys have any suggestions about how i can maybe get out of paying this debt or at least getting it reduced? Thanks,
Dave

You might get your problem solved by telling them about your addiction. If you agree to pay 20¢ on the dollar that you owe. The settlement would be for cash today; not a payment plan..

2008-12-01 10:41:39 by Kickin5

What I mean, is that if you had a credit card over 8 years ago, and if it went unpaid, wouldn't that be considered to be covered in the statue of limitaion?
what does SoL mean? =(

In California the Statue of Limitation for ANY debt is 7 years as long as you do not make ANY payments at all. Beware of collection agencies who wanna collect from you. Once you make ONE payment you gonna start from square one. So do NOT make ANY payment for seven years, then send them a letter to stop harrassing you and they will have to and it also falls off your credit report.

2008-09-26 00:11:09 by ɷ ɹəɥʇɐəɥ ɷLogan born 8/18/09

How about after being sold to a third party creditor or sent to a law office?

i believe it is 4 years after last transaction,payment.

2009-02-27 19:57:43 by Cricket