Credit Repair Questions & Answers

Statutes of Limitation

Can a derogatory account continue to show up on my credit report after the statute of limitation expires?

The statute of limitation has no bearing on the length of time an account can show up on your credit report. Nevertheless, the statute of limitation is a critical piece of the credit repair puzzle. Read More »

Hi, I am getting harassed by a collector for a debt that I swear is 10 years old. How do I stop it?

Collectors can be tenacious. And yes, they are just doing their job, but, to put it plainly, the way some collectors are trained to behave is bad, borderline illegal, and reprehensible by absolutely any moral standard. There are a variety of credit repair tools available that you can use to gain control and stop the bother. Read More »

How do I calculate the statute of limitation for a collection?

Knowledge of applicable statutes of limitation (SOL) is almost always a key component of credit repair success. With the knowledge of your SOL you can know when your settlement offer is most likely to be accepted, when you can comfortably tell an aggressive collector to get lost, and even when you might be better off hiding. Read More »

Credit Repair and Statutes of Limitation

An understanding of statutes of limitation is an absolutely critical component of credit repair. Conversely a misunderstanding or lack of information regarding the statute of limitation on a debt can put you at a great disadvantage when dealing with collectors and potentially cost you a significant amount of money.

The statute of limitation on a debt is the time limit a debt can be collected through the court system, in other words it is the length of time a collector or creditor can sue you. For technical accuracy, a collector can initiate a lawsuit for a debt that is past its statute of limitation, and they often do! But if you show up and assert your statute of limitation defense the case will be dismissed.

Statutes of limitation vary from state to state and debt type, so each debt must be researched individually. This is something we do as part of our credit repair service prior to starting the dispute process on any collections that we deem to be sensitive either because of size or any other factor that we feel adds to the risk of an unwanted outcome.

One of the questions raised quite often among our credit repair clients relates to the starting point for the calculation of the statute of limitation. This is an important point and one that is often misunderstood. The statute of limitation clock starts with the original default date on the original debt and cannot be reset by the sale of debt from one collector to another. The original default date is not the date of charge off, it is the first time that you missed a scheduled payment in the flow of events that led in sequence to the charge off or collection status.

The one action that you can take that will restart the statute of limitation is entering into a payment plan with a collector. This renews your contractual obligation and starts the clock again. We often advise our credit repair client to avoid payment plans and instead advice them to try to save enough money to negotiate a single payment of the debt. But every situation is different and must be examined on its own before taking action.