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Some Things You Should Know About The Statute Of Limitations On Credit Card Debt

By Anthony Samuel

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 23Mar2007
Word count: 523
Viewed: 334 time(s)

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Every state has a statute of limitations on credit card debt. The statute of limitations on credit card debts refers to the phase after which, creditors cannot take legal action on you to accumulate the debt. The span of time is calculated from your preceding payment date or when you last utilized your credit card for any transaction.

In the credit sector, the statute of limitations on credit card debt does not exist unless you bring it up. Debt collectors and scrap debt buyers sometimes attempt to extract money from unwary credit card debtors, which they have no lawful right to accumulate in the first place. Terror and threats are usually the weapons they use.

In the past decade, a rising trend has developed where forceful debt collectors purchase old debt accounts and vigorously follow customers to collect the debt, even though the statute of limitations on their credit card debts had expired. They acquire these accounts for pennies and expect that the debtors will pay up. Even if, they can get $1 on the account - they can make a decent profit.

This is an infringement of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. These companies are so daring that some of them threaten to take legal action on you and in many cases they are brazen enough to initiate court proceedings.

If the statute of limitations on credit card debt is past in your state, you should not send in any money to debt collectors. If you do so, it will make your delinquency look current. Also the debt collectors will target you as a gullible individual and try to extract more money from you.

You should also monitor your credit report to ensure that they are not placing negative remarks on your account.

If the statute of limitations on your credit card debt is past, your old debts should not feature on your credit report. If it features on your credit report, you should take corrective measures immediately.

You should also sever all ties with the debt collection agency and avoid their phone calls. If they send you notice, you can keep it as a proof of harassment.

The collection agency can go on harassing you but if you hold your ground, you can negotiate a good deal with your creditors one the statute of limitations on your credit card debt is past. You can decide what percentage of the debt you want to pay as final settlement, if at all.

Take your time to reach a conclusive decision. Do not ever suggest to creditors that you want to settle the debt because you want to buy a car, home stereo or other personal luxuries.

If more than one collection agency gets in touch with you for the same debt, it means that the original creditor has appointed a secondary collection agency to collect it. This means that the original creditor and the primary collection agency have given up on you. This also means that the secondary agency has paid even less for the debt. In this situation you can be sure that you can get a much better deal for yourself.

This article was brought to you courtesy of Anthony Samuel, the webmaster of http://www.apply-for-a-credit-card-now.com. A credit card directory where you can search, compare and apply for credit card offers from leading credit card companies as well as find tools and credit card articles to help you choose the right credit card.

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