Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: Statute of limitations on debt/judgement

Thanks for your posting. Is there a statute of limitations on a debt? Well, sort of. A judgment can last forever, but California law requires the holder of a judgment to "renew" the judgment every 10 years, or it lapses. Most creditors use this opportunity to increase the amount of the judgment to include the state's interest rate of 10% or whatever the contract allowed, although they can amend a judgment before the 10 years to add interest.

If you didn't have a judgment, then the statute of limitations on a written contract debt is 4 years.

You ask what your options are. You have the following, as I see it:

1. Negotiate with the creditors to make a lump sum settlement of a percentage of the amount, or make payments;

2. Go to court, and get the default judgment lifted, based upon the incorrect address. This may be expensive, and will set you back on track for a trial, which you may lose. Also, delay works against you here, and the long delay may make a judge more likely to deny you relief.

3. You can also file bankruptcy again ... if your paperwork was "wrong filing", as you said, and you did not obtain a discharge, you may be eligible to file again and get this debt wiped out, although they can still renew in another 10 years.

I hope this helps ... but if you would like assistance, have other questions, or want more information, please feel free to email me, or call my office, toll free, at 1-877-568-2977. I'm happy to help if I can, and best of luck to you.