Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Statute of Limitation for timeshare purchases

In a lot of cases it pays to have an attorney look at all the relevant documents regarding a transaction or claim. This is one of those times.

More importantly, you need to contact a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. That person can give you the proper advice on the law in the place where you live.

Where a bad debt is concerned a creditor often has its own policies. What a creditor can do and can legally collect are two separate things. In most circumstances, a debt never actually goes away unless it is discharged in banruptcy. In the case of a coisignor, when one co-sigor goes bankrupt the other co-signor remains liable for the entire debt. Where the debt was secured the bankruptcy usually deals with the asset, often foreclosing. If there is a balance on the debt that the sale of the asset doesn't deal with this is known as a deficiency.

The original debtor has already taken a charge-off on the bad debt. But it still holds the bad debt as an asset. So eventually they either assign the bad debt to a collector to attempt to collect against the debtor or more often, sell the debt to a scavenger.

These scavengers, there are more proper terms, but scavenger makes the correct point. Buy the bad debt for pennies on the dollar and often harrass debtors to cough up some money.

The trick to dealing with these scavengers is to stand up to them VERY aggressively, as with any bully. Read the Fair Debto Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act and hold the scavenger's toes to the fire as a debt collector. Often these scavenger's call themselves original debtors in order to renew a statute of limitations. It doesn't work. If need be sue the scavenger in small claims court for FDCPA or FCRA violations. Also, be sure to monitor your credit and dispute the reports regarding these debts.

And, really, contact an attorney in your locale for proper advice in this particular circumstance.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]