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Different than regular debts, a judgment may most often get renewed, and until the judgment debtor discharges a judgment by filing for bankruptcy protection, or succeeds in vacates, satisfies, or appeals the judgment; nothing a judgment debtor may do would alter the time period a judgment is good for. Debts behave differently, as the length of time the debts last starts with a state's Statute Of Limitation (SOL). A Statute Of Limitation most often begins when a debt is 6 months late or when the debtor gets receive a demand letter requesting full payment.
My articles are my opinions and are not, legal advice. I'm a judgment referral expert, and not an attorney. When you want a strategy to use or legal advice, please retain an attorney.
Statute Of Limitation time periods are usually around four to five years, and SOLs most often vary per state. Looking on the web shows the SOL limits in your state. A Statute Of Limitation timeline may get restarted with some action that a debtor chooses, as an example signing some new payment agreement; and with certain states, when the debtor makes just a single payment. When a Statute Of Limitation on the debt is still running, a debt collector may bring the debt into a court, and win their judgment. Naturally, a successful bankruptcy usually wipes out almost every debt.
SOLs are designed for debts that are dormant. Inside certain states, sending one payment may make a SOL dormant, as that payment makes an account "active". Within such states, just sending one payment may restart the beginning date of a SOL.
The SOL laws in certain states say that sending a fractional payment doesn't reset a Statute Of Limitation timeline, unless there's another new promise in writing to send payments. Inside the following states, just mailing your payment doesn't restart a Statute Of Limitation: Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. For the majority of other states, sending your payment on even the final day of an first Statute Of Limitation time limit, restarts the Statute Of Limitation date.
Within certain states, just promising to send in your payment, might actually reset a Statute Of Limitation time limit. Although with this circumstance, a debt collector would need to sue you, and provide proof of the promise to some judge; either bringing proof of your recorded telephone discussions and/or some kind of documentation.
After the debt's Statute Of Limitation has already passed, discussions by themselves can't restart the SOL. When a creditor contacts you concerning a debt that is beyond a Statute Of Limitation, this by itself doesn't restart a Statute Of Limitation. Neither will admitting to a debt collector that you are aware of an old (Statute Of Limitation-expired) debt, or can't pay back that debt.
The Statute Of Limitations are totally separate from a credit report. With credit reports, any newly updated activity dates are not related to any state SOLs. When you have had any kind of communication with a creditor or a collection agency, that shows up as recent activity for your credit record. That kind of update on your account is routine and is performed every day.
When any collection company contacts you concerning some old debt that got discharged with a bankruptcy discharge, or when a Statute Of Limitation has passed, explain to them this; and then mail the creditor your "cease and desist" letter with certified mail, with return receipt requested. Once a year or so, order one of the free credit report sites, to make sure there is not any Statute Of Limitation-barred debts showing on your credit report.
Creditors sometimes attempt to convince you to repay anything, so they can keep a Statute Of Limitation going. One example is when some creditor tells their debtor they may make a payment of only ten dollars per month. Even when that company won't allow such a small payment, the company might make an payment offer to attempt to reset a Statute Of Limitation, so a debtor may get sued to obtain their judgment.
Occasionally, when you don't repay the creditor, they might win their judgment, that lasts much longer than debts. Certain collection companies resell debts they can't make any progress with (and sometimes when when a Statute Of Limitation has passed), to some other collection company. That is a pain, and it means that you might need to mail "cease and desist" letters on the same obsolete debt more than once.
