Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

Re: old debt

You're on the collection docket in Associate Court in St. Louis County -- I didn't even need to look at the zip code to figure that one out (although I used to live in Overland). The relationship between law firms and judges on the collection docket is very cozy, but you need to be very careful on asserting your statute of limitations defense. It often isn't as easy as simply saying the bill was from 1997. There are ways to extend the statute that are not obvious, for example, if you made a partial payment at any time during that intervening seven years, that may toll the statute.

Your probably need some legal advice, and if you do not have funds to hire an attorney, you might consider asking for help from the legal clinics at Washington University or St. Louis University School of Law. In some situations they can help by appointing a senior-level law student to represent you on these kinds of cases with faculty oversight. Not always, but sometimes.

If you are committed to doing this yourself, you could draft a motion for summary judgment and then file a notice of hearing for the next court date in January. The Court Rules for Summary Judgment are found under Rule 74 in the Missouri Rules, and those are available on the OSCA website at: http://www.courts.mo.gov/courts/ClerkHandbooksP2RulesOnly.nsf/c0c6ffa99df4993f86256ba50057dcb8/a7a3f4b8cda201e986256ca600521571?OpenDocument

You set out the undisputed facts (the date of the debt) and you set out the statute of limitations, and you ask the Court to enter an order of judgment.

Good luck.