Different than debts, a judgment can most often get renewed, and until a judgment debtor
discharges their judgment by filing for bankruptcy protection, or succeeds in vacates, satisfies,
or appeals the judgment; nothing else the judgment debtor may do would alter how long a judgment
remains valid for. Debts behave differently, as how long they last starts with a state's Statute
Of Limitation (SOL). The SOL most often begins if a debt is 6 months late or when the debtor gets
receive a demand letter requesting payment in full.
This article is my opinion and is not, legal advice. I'm a judgment referral expert, and not a
lawyer. If you ever want a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact an attorney.
SOL time periods average around 4-5 years, however SOLs usually vary per state. A web search will
show the SOL in your state. The Statute Of Limitation clock may be reset by some action that a
debtor takes, as an example signing some new agreement to pay; and in certain states, if the
debtor makes just a single payment. While a Statute Of Limitation on the debt remains active, the
creditor can bring the debt to court, and win their judgment. Of course, a successful bankruptcy
can wipe out almost every debt.
SOLs are intended for debts that are dormant. Inside some states, sending one payment may make
the SOL dormant, as it makes the account "active". Within such states, just making a payment can
reset the starting date of a SOL.
The SOL laws in some states say that sending a partial payment doesn't reset the SOL clock,
unless there's a new promise in writing to send payments. Inside the following states, just
mailing a payment does not restart a Statute Of Limitation: Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia,
Texas, New York, Nevada, Missouri, Mississippi, Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine,
Kansas, Iowa, Florida, California, and Arizona. In the majority of other states, sending your
payment on even the last day of an original SOL time period, restarts the SOL date.
Within certain states, merely promising to send in your payment, might even reset a Statute Of
Limitation date. Although in that situation, the debt collector would have to sue you, and show
proof of that promise to some court; either bringing proof of your recorded phone conversation
and/or some documentation.
After a debt's SOL has expired, discussions by themselves cannot reactivate the SOL. When a debt
collector calls you about a debt that is past the Statute Of Limitation, that by itself does not
restart the Statute Of Limitation. Neither will admitting to a collector that you know about an
old (Statute Of Limitation-expired) debt, or can't pay back the debt.
Note that Statute Of Limitations are totally separate from credit reports. With a credit report,
the newly updated dates are not related to the state SOLs. If you have any kind of contact with a
creditor or a collection agency, which counts as activity for your account. This type of update on
your account is routine and is done every day.
If any collection agency contacts you concerning a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy
discharge, or where the SOL has expired, explain to them this; and then mail the creditor your
"cease and desist" letter by certified mail, with return receipt requested. Every year or so, get
one of the free credit reports, to check that there is not any SOL-barred debts listed there.
Creditors sometimes try to convince you to pay anything, so they can keep the Statute Of
Limitation going. One example is if some creditor tells their debtor they may pay just ten
dollars a month. Even when that company won't accept such a low payment, the company may make
their payment offer to attempt to restart the SOL, so a debtor can be sued to obtain a judgment.
Occasionally, if you don't pay the debt collector, they may get a judgment, which lasts a lot
longer than a debt. Certain collection companies sell debts they can't make any progress with
(and sometimes when where the Statute Of Limitation has passed), to some other collection
company. This is annoying, and it means that you may need to mail "cease and desist" letters on
the same obsolete debt more than once.
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Mark Shapiro of http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - The easiest and fastest free way to find the right
expert to buy or recover your judgment.
Posted by J.Randall Frier
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