North Carolina statute of limitation over-what happens now?

[GoingDown]

That is the way to do it! Actually, I forgot, it was Citi that sued me, but I have heard Capital One was most aggressive. Wow-before you were even charged off, that is nasty. I can remember back when I was actually TRYING to work with creditors. What a waste of time and money used to pay minimums. I suppose they sued because I have my name on a house. In NC they can't do much with that. I think we all just need a do over sometimes. Judgement proof is the best way to go.

I was stunned when they sued me. I have to admit I was behaving very juvenile with them on the phone, but then I was doing the same thing with all my creditors, and they were the only one to sue me.

I immediately went into shutdown mode and judgment proofed myself and then braced for impact. They huffed and puffed and bluffed with lots of phone calls about what they were going to do with their judgment, but in the end they never did a thing with it.

[treehugger1]

Out of approximately 14 cards that were defaulted on between 2006 and 2007, I had two citi suits, 1 crap1 suit, and 1 USBancorp suit (this is recent.) I had several local creditors sue me but I encouraged the local creditors to sue and get in line for wage garnishment. They did and were paid off promptly.

I have been on a permanent student loan garnishment and this shows clearly on all three of my credit reports. With the exception of one of the citi judgments, all other judgments were satisfied by wage garnishment. When Citi put a hold on there collections of judgments a year or two ago, they stopped trying to enforce judgments against me. It would have cost them a great deal to pay an attorney to reapply for a garnishment order every 90 days (Oregon law.)

By the end of this year 2013, the vast majority of my unsecured debt will be beyond SOL of six years here. I have not heard from these OC's/CA's/JDB's in many years, so I think the SOL will run its course. In the future it will be my responsibility to raise the SOL defense, if sued.

Crap1 sent me 1099 forgiveness of debt tax forms for my largest credit card, and wrote off the other two remaining credit cards as losses. They did send these accounts to many CA's, but never sold them. Eventually, they brought them all in house and took the loss. They cannot be collected upon at this point.

I've heard that many states have enacted laws that allow for larger amounts of counter-claim awards against folks who sue after the SOL has expired. This is probably adding to a bit of creditor, JDB, and CA nervousness.

Even with the paid and unpaid judgments, all the charge-offs, and all the late-pay reports, my credit score has now climbed to the mid-700's.

Bottom line for me is that I have now paid off over a third of my student loans, and there is approximately $65K in old CC and other unsecured debt that will never be collected on.

This is the last SOL year for 95% of my unsecured debt. I do suspect some last minute push to collect, but I seriously doubt I will see that many suits. The debts are five years old and even default judgments here require affidavits from the original creditors reported to the court prior to an award of judgment. I don't know if this is a local court rule or statewide, but it requires additional work for plaintiff's attorney to present a verifiable affidavit related to the original debt. Given the length of time since my debts defaulted, I believe informration related to the original debts may not even exist.

It has been a long ride, but my student loans have gone down, and I kept dumping monies into my optional exempt retirement accounts. I feel very, very fortunate.

[GoingDown]

Hey! Treehugger is back!

I know how that last year felt, waiting for the SOL to expire.

I kept expecting a knock on the door from a process server, that never came.

Then that last month, I literally counted down the days until most of them went beyond the SOL. The last few stragglers followed shortly thereafter, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I even threw a little party for some of my friends and neighbors, but I didn't tell them what is was about. At last it was over.

I had one junk debt buyer who sold one of my debts a little bit after the SOL expired, and the new junk debt buyer did a little bit of bluffing, but after they got a letter from me telling them to cease and desist communications, and telling them that I knew the SOL had expired and I would win in court, and telling them I was recording all phone calls from them, and would use them as evidence against them if they violated the FDCPA, they fell silent, and now I hear nothing from any of them.

It is finished.

[merime]

I feel fortunate that I live in a state where wage garnishing is prohibited. Also , in NC the SOL is only 3 years. So, I suppose to a debt collector , I wasn't worth it. I am truly grateful for all the advice and stories on these forums. Many days I went from panic mode to its ok , just by reading about other peoples experiences. It is so scary when you default on anything for the first time. Then you learn the real danger vs the one in your head and plan as best as you can. So many bumps along the way. I hope anyone reading this forum gains strength, if only to know your not the only one going through this. Also every single person has their own unique set of circumstances. There are no set answers. I seriously thought bankruptcy was the solution in MY case , for a long time. Thankfully , the advice I got here , made me realize what a huge mistake that would have been. By doing nothing, I am actually in the best financial situation in my life. I am so grateful to everyone here!!!

[merime]

If you have something to lose bankruptcy is always a great option. CC, unsecured debit is not scary as being late on car payments or a mortgage. If you don't and your states laws are "friendly", you can be better off waiting it out. In NC the SOL is 3 years. That went fast. I knew I did not need a car because mine was brand new. I also did not plan on moving. Now that the 3 years are over , I just traded my car in for a brand new model , no problem. Had I filed for bankruptcy, I do not think that would have been possible. In my case waiting it out worked well. Every situation is different though.

[GoingDown]

If you have something to lose bankruptcy is always a great option. CC, unsecured debit is not scary as being late on car payments or a mortgage. If you don't and your states laws are "friendly", you can be better off waiting it out. In NC the SOL is 3 years. That went fast. I knew I did not need a car because mine was brand new. I also did not plan on moving. Now that the 3 years are over , I just traded my car in for a brand new model , no problem. Had I filed for bankruptcy, I do not think that would have been possible. In my case waiting it out worked well. Every situation is different though.

Well, that's what I am saying. For a lot of people, just waiting it out and playing chicken with creditors works fine.

We have to remember that these people are desperate to get paid, and if they encounter any resistance from a debtor, most of the time they move on to lower hanging fruit.

Arizona used to have a 3 year SOL for credit cards, but they recently changed it.

My cc debts fell under the 3 year SOL because they were defaulted before the law changed, but now they are all beyond the longer 6 year SOL anyways.