Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia
if an unpaid debt has been in collections and a suit has been filed in the past, can another company file a suit for the same debt?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Maybe, depending on many facts you chose to omit.
What happened to the first suit? Was it dismissed with or without prejudice? If it was dismissed without prejudice, then a new company can certainly sue on the same debt. However, as more time has elapsed, is the suit still within the statute of limitations?
If the prior suit was dismissed with prejudice, the new creditor cannot sue. They also cannot sue if a judgment was entered on the first action. However, I have seen situations in which one creditor obtains a judgment and then transfers the judgment to another creditor who then tries to collect on it. If that is the case here, then the second creditor could try and collect on the judgment.
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