Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Sure - it does not magically go away because you avoid paying your debts.

Yes. (Note that at some point you may have a statute of limitations defense your attorney can raise, depending on the type debt, which could be 4, 6 or 20 years).

Yes, they can try to collect on the debt until you die and even then they can try to collect from your estate. Debts never go away.

If this is a Georgia debt, then it is governed by a 6 year statute of limitations. Caselaw says 6 even though a reading of the statutes seems like it would be 4. So if you have not been sued, there is still time.

Suit can even be filed after 6 years. The statute of limitations is a waivable defense generally - meaning that if you get sued after 6 years, you need to raise the defense in your answer. If you don't raise it its waived. So don't just ignore a lawsuit because you think the debt is time barred. It will be well worth it if you pay a lawyer to draft a proper answer for you and get the case dismissed if you have a valid defense.

If this is a debt incurred in another state, then the law generally is either the law where the debtor resides or the state where the debt was incurred, whichever is longer. And watch out for this. I read about a case where a debtor lived in Oregon and the credit contract provided it would be governed by the law of New Hampshire. New Hampshire law provided that if the debtor was absent from the state the statute of limitations never began to run at all! So the court held that a lawsuit more than 6 years later was proper. So read your credit card agreement carefully if you still have it.

Even if the debt collector or junk debt buyer agrees with you that a debt is barred by the statute of limitations and hence is no longer legally collectible, you still have a moral duty to pay the debt and the collector or junk debt buyer is allowed to ask you to pay.

As a final matter, I have been reading articles where homeowners go to refi their homes and even though a debt is barred by the statute of limitations mortgage lenders are requiring that the debts be paid as a condition of refinancing. Also, several junk debt buyers have gotten in trouble for trying to collect on barred debts.

Don't rely on the Federal Trade Commission or the debt collectors to tell you of your rights. If you are contacted by a devbt collector or junk debt buyer or if you are sued, get your own attorney and get apprised of your rights. Even if you want to pay the debt, well and good, but partial payments can revive the statute of limitations so make sure that you pay the right way.

There are too many permutations to discuss here and it would be easier if you could just read the articles. I have written several small articles on this topic at my website: www.rachelhunterlaw.com. If you have more questions, I give free email consults and charge $50 for a 30 minute phone consult. Please contact me at [email protected] if interested.