Walk It Through: The Old Card
No oppressive means, no letters dressed as legal process, and six years on a credit card.
A collector calls a school bus driver late at night about an old credit card balance and says not paying could mean arrest and criminal charges.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One card and one collector. The federal collection law, a claim governed by another state's law, and license complaints are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Statute of limitationsThe time to bring a claim: six years on a written contract executed in Arizona or a credit card, three years on a debt without a written contract or an open account, two years for personal injury.
- Collection agencyAnyone soliciting or collecting claims owed to another, and a business collecting its own debts under a name suggesting a third party is collecting. Running one in Arizona without a license is unlawful.