Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland

Statute of Limitation

I believe I am a victim of unfair and deceptive collection practices. A collection agency recently got a default judgment against me because I didn't show up for court. The reason I didn't show up is because my court date was on Dec. 6, 2002, the same day as the big snow storm in Maryland and I assumed the court was closed. I would not have been able to make it on that day anyway because of the weather conditions. Having said that, this is my issue. My check was recently garnished for a Sears account that was charged off in January of 2000. The last payment to the Sears account was made in Feb. 1999. The court case was put into action in Sept. 2002. I now feel that the SOL was up on this collection and I should not have been sued. I live in Maryland and the SOL is 3 years. Am I correct in thinking this?

Please help! Thanks in advance.


Asked on 5/07/03, 2:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Press Chung & Press, P.C.

Re: Statute of Limitation

The statute of limitations may have been 3 years, or it may have been 12 years if your account agreement was "under seal." But the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense that has to be pleaded and proved, and by defaulting you waived it. You had 30 days after the judgment to move to vacate it on the grounds that you could not make it to court that day, and that you have a good defense, and the court would have almost certainly granted such a motion and set a new trial date. There was a notice to that effect on the notice of entry of judgment that you should have received. At this point it is too late to do anything about it - the judgment is final. So they have every right to garnish your accounts or wages.

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Answered on 5/07/03, 2:51 pm


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