Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Washington
Personal Individual Loan
The Statute of Limitations will expire next year for a personal loan I made to a friend of mine and nothing has been repaid yet. Can this friend sign a document and waive the Statute, or can a new Promissory Note be signed, or should I take this person to Small Claims Court for a judgment which is usually good for about 20 years?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Personal Individual Loan
Your friend can sign a confession of judgment or a consent judgment which you can file with the court, but if you wait until the statute runs, the debt is no longer collectable.
If the debt is less than $4,000 you can go to small claims to get a judge to sign a judgment awarding you the right to collect.
Judgments in WA are valid for ten (10) years and renewable for another ten years so long as you do it before the ten years is up.
Statutory interest runs at 12%; don't forget that.
Hope this helps. Powell