Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Connecticut

Re: Old credit card debt ($2200),statute of limitations ?

Professional debt collection of consumer debts is governed by the Fair Debt and Collection Practices Act. The Act mandates that the collection agency and/or the attorney that contacted you, must provide you with details of the debt, including the amount owed and proof of the validity of the debt in writing. Once provided you have a 30 day window in which to contest the validity of the debt.

Contact the creditor in writing, by certified mail and inform him that you contest this debt and request that he validate the debt.

Also state that you do not wish to be contacted over the phone.

The creditor must then supply you with information about the debt in writing.

To determine if in fact the Statute of Limitations has expired in this case, you must first determine what law applies to your relationship with the credit card company. It may be the law as outlined in the credit agreement that you entered into with the company when you first signed up for the card or it may be the law of the State of New York.

In most states, 8 years would be beyond the Statute of Limitations for commencing a collections action, unless the Statute of Limitations is tolled (frozen).

I would advise consulting an attorney when dealing with a Statute of Limitations issue such as this.

Re: Old credit card debt ($2200),statute of limitations ?

There is ALWAYS a statute of limitations. The important questions are (1)WHICH STATE'S statute applies and (2)HOW LONG the statute takes to run out.

The answer to (1) is EITHER the state in which you lived when you opened the credit card account OR the state in which the credit card issuer had its major card-issuing operation at the time.

The answer to (2) is determined by the laws of the state that is the answer to (1), so I can't tell you.

The GOOD NEWS is that if it's really been more than 8 years since you last heard from the creditor on this account, there's a real good chance the statute, however long it is, has expired.

YOU NEED TO DO TWO THINGS right away. First, send the collection agency and the NY lawyer certified letters instructing them that the debt is disputed and that you do not want them to contact you again. You should receive not more than one more letter from each one, in which they tell you what they are going to do next. SAVE ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THEM. Second, get a half-hour consultation with a creditor's/consumer's rights attorney, to determine what state's statute applies and when it ran out.