Walk It Through: The Old Card
No calls from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., no call to the employer, and five years on a written contract.
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. Debtors with a lawyer, the federal collection law, and what restarts a limitations period 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.
- Consumer debtA debt arising from a transaction primarily for personal, family or household purposes. The consumer collection practices law says what no person may do in collecting one.
- Statute of limitationsThe period for bringing an action: five years on a written contract, four on one not founded on a written instrument including store accounts, and two for an action founded on negligence.