Creditors and collection agencies have a set amount of time to sue people who are behind on their credit card bills. This is called a statute of limitations; in most states, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the window is between three and 10 years. In New Jersey, the statute of limitations by which a company can sue for failure to pay credit debt (2A:14-1) is six years.
Once debt is six years old in NJ, the debt is considered in legal terms to be “time-barred debt.” If a collection agency tries to collect the debt after this time, you can go to court and tell the judge the debt is time-barred.
It’s important to know, however, that the statute of limitations doesn’t prevent companies or the debt collection agencies or lawyers they hire to try to collect debt, they just cannot sue to collect the debt.
If they do due you for uncollected debt, you need an experienced bankruptcy lawyer on your site to protect your rights. Contact Joel R. Spivack Esq. right away. He will assess the “time barred” debt defense in court on your behalf.
