If a creditor is contacting you about payments on a debt, then at first, you need to check whether or not the Statute of Limitations (SOL) on that debt has expired. The Statute of Limitations or SOL is the time period when a creditor or a collection agency (third party debt collector) can file a lawsuit and seek a judgment against you to recover the unpaid debt balance. For example, in New York, the SOL for filing a lawsuit on a credit card debt is 6 years starting from the date of default, which is the date of inactivity. However, the SOL on a store card in New York is only 4 years.
Even if the SOL on a debt expires, you're legally obligated to repay the debt. However, after the expiration of SOL, the creditor cannot file a lawsuit against you.
What is meant by the SOL on a judgment?
The SOL on judgment is the time period when a creditor can collect the judgment that has been granted by the court against the debtor. As a debtor, you are not obligated to pay the judgment once the SOL on the judgment expires. The SOL varies from one state to another. For example, the New York SOL on a judgment is 10 years, whereas the SOL in Alabama is 20 years. In New York, the creditor can even charge an 8% interest rate on the judgment.
How can a judgment be enforced?
A judgment is enforced by using the debtor's property to pay the unpaid balance amount. First, the creditor has to obtain a Writ of Execution. A Writ of Execution is a court order that directs the local sheriff or other official to seize your property. Seizure of property may comprise any personal property or vehicle owned by you, real property that is not secured by a mortgage, or the money in your bank account.
A judgment is usually enforced by the public sale of your property. However, in order for the property to be seized and sold, a court order is necessary. Some states exempt the debtor's home from being seized and sold.
When a creditor or a debt collector wins a judgment against you, they might be allowed to garnish your wages until the outstanding balance is paid off. Once a creditor gets an Order for Wage Garnishment, the creditor will present the order to your employer so that a certain amount of your wages every month is paid to the creditor.
The limitations on wage garnishment vary in each state. In New York, the maximum recoverable amount is 10% of the debtor's gross income or the federal maximum, whichever is less. The federal maximum amount that may be garnished from a debtor's paycheck is 25% or 100 times the federal minimum wage. The Statute of Limitations on enforcement in a credit card debt collection case is 6 years. You can avoid wage garnishment by liquidating your assets and paying back the amount you owe to your creditors.
Moreover, a judgment obtained in one state can be enforced in other states. Under Federal law, the creditor must seek a judgment against you in the state you currently live in with the intent to remain. However, even if the credit card company sues you in one state, the state court can apply the law of the state specified in the credit card agreement. Which state's SOL will be applied to the case depends on the law of the state where the case is being heard. If you want to know more about this issue, then you should consult a consumer rights attorney in your state.
Can a judgment be renewed?
After receiving a judgment, the creditor may renew it for one or more times, thus increasing the time limit to collect the judgment. However, the renewal period may differ from one state to another, depending on the law of the state where the judgment has been issued. To renew a NY SOL on a judgment, the creditor has to apply for the renewal within 1 year prior to the expiration of the judgment.
SOL JUDGEMENT
NEXTWEEK EILL BE 20 YEAES SINCE A JUDGEMENT WAS OBTAINED AGAINST NE I LIVE IN NYS ---- DO I JUDT QUIT PAYING ON THE ANNIVERSITY OF THE 20 YEARS OR DO I NEED TO BRING A MOTION TI=O DISMISS
Judgment lien to regular Judgment
Hello - It is my understanding that in NYS a Judgment lien on a house is good for 10 years and renewable for 10 more. A creditor Judgment is good for 20 years. If a Judgment lien is not renewed by the creditor before the 10 years are up, the lien is no longer on the house. In this case, does the Judgment lien revert to a regular judgment which is enforceable for 20 years? If so, then is it true the creditor can garnish bank accounts and paychecks until the full 20 years have passed? Thanks for any help you can give me.
How do I file a judgment
To whom it may concern how would I file a judgment on my own with out hiring a lawyer. I took the defendant to court and got him evicted from my home. He skipped out on paying me 1200 dollars how do i file a judgement against him to retrieve my money?
Should you pay off old judgments if has fallen off the credi
Should I pay off an judgment if its scheduled to fall of my credit report in June 2012? I am in the process of cleaning up my credit so I can find an apartment. I am worried that landords will not rent to me if the judgment is unpaid. Please advise.
Property lien
Creditor put a lien my property. is that affected by SOL?
auto loan
What is the sol on a automobile loan (judgement) in new york state? It was filed on me by ford motor Credit,and was filed by there acting lawyers!
thanks you
judgments
how can i findout howmany judgments i have
garnishment
my salary just got garnished, from a judgment from 1995. The company has been out of business since 1997. question:
How can you find out if the judgment has been renewed.
where does the garnished money go if the company is out of business
Leins
A judgement was filed against my Ex husband before we were married in 2002. Since we have divorced, and I have a Quit Claim on the home. It is mine. I am trying to get a home equity loan, and apparently I can't because there is a lein on MY home for his debt. What can I do about this? Can I demand they take the lein off since the home is in my name?
SOL
How long can a collection agency freeze a checking account in New York? Are funds from a retirement account immune to this freeze?
Can the court place a judgement on a debitor if the creditor hasent had any contact with the debitor and the debitor hasent be subpoenaed
NYS credit card judgement
My bank account has a levy on it. Saying that the original credit card company has filed a judgement in district court on Dec 2006. I have no memory of this or paperwork on this. The money I have is from child support. Can they take that money? Is this valid? Thanks
judgement.
what is the value of a car that can be taken if you have a judgement against you in n.y.
Judgement never knew, never on credit report
Hi,
my husband just received paperwork for notification of garnishment of his wages. He had an old debt from 1999 that apparently was served in 2004 at his old address. We purchased our home in 2007 and refinanced this year. The judgement NEVER showed up on any of his credit reports. All of a sudden we get this notice. We are not told that the statue of limitations for appealing the judgement is 5 years so there is nothing that can be done. My questions are:
1. How can you appeal something you never knew about?
2. The address (apt) where he was served was incorrect
3. My husband was not even living at that address in 2004
4. He was never notified in 8 years about the judgement
5. Judgement never showed on credit reports
6. The interest in 8 years is more than the original debt.
How can we get this heard by a judge, thrown out or settled for a lower amount.
Thanks,
Alicia
My fiance received court summons for a debt that was back in 1999 (we live in Indiana). The SOL is well past, but we still managed to get the summons.
Where do we go from here? What do we need to bring to court or do beforehand?
JUDGEMENTS
Does it cost the creditor any money to file paperwork, so the judge allows the creditor to contact banks to freeze your bank accounts?
Does the creditor contact every bank in your city,etc, to get a freeze on the account? Can you explain how creditors know what bak to contact, or it like I said, all banks are notified.
STATUE OF LIMITATIONS
CAN AN ATTORNEY TAKE A HOUSE THAT BELONGS TO A DECEASED ESTATE (HUSBAND LATE) MYSELF ALIVE, FROM ANOTHER ATTORNEY WHO I APPOINTED AS EXECUTORS? CAN THE EXECUTORS WHO I APPOINTED SELL MY ONLY SHELTER IN ORDER TO PAY THE CLAIMS AGAINST THIS ESTATE WHICH IS ATTORNEYS DEBTS? ALTHOUGHT IT WAS MY LATE HUSBAND WAS TO SETTLE, INTEREST AND VAT IS CHARGED NOW AMOUNTING TO 303 000. ARE THE COURTS ALLOWED THIS SYSTEM LEAVING 2 MINORS HOMELESS? FOR ATTORNEYS DEBTS?
NYS Judgement
Hi Carol,
I'm sorry, but my question will require some background info...
A default judgment was granted against me over 10 years ago (NYS SOL=10 years). I never even knew about it until my divorce half way into it - then it showed up on my title search.
It has never been on my credit report, but it's right there searchable on the county clerks site. It is for a very large amount of money from loan - my business failed.
I am not sure I was served properly as at the time I had two lawyers on retainer and I answered every single other letter/claim. There is a pretty good chance that if I was served I passed it on to my lawyer and he did nothing. But, it was over 12 years ago (I actually think this is the case)!!
I want to refinance and maybe sell and move on....this judgement plus any interest is more than my equity. Which makes even mowing the lawn not worthwhile!!
The original lender is gone bought or bankrupt - I don't know. Their lawyer is still around...
Finally my questions...
Can you recommend a course of action for me?
Can it be washed by a bankruptcy?
What sort of lawyer is knowledgeable in these matters?
How do I lose this thing???!!!???
HELP!
Thank you so much,
Tim
judgement renewal in NYS
My husband has a judgement against him in NYS from 1994. At that time he owned no real property. If I transfer real property to him in (in connection with divorce) is that property from from being attached? I don't think the creditor renewed the judgement in 2004 because in 2004 my husband still didn't own any real property, but how would I know for sure?
10 years default judgement
10 years was up two months ago, the judgement was never revived. the collector levy my account and got some money after statue of limitation. Today, I received a notice to show in court why judgement should not be revived. shouldn't they have done the revival first before levy my account? This happened in Missouri.
Judgements docketed
State of Wisconsin: Once a judgement is entered against you because you didn't answer the court but instead the company for info and the company received the judgement, now that company is asking for a court date for me to bring proof of assets. I do not work and am retired the collector is a third party maybe fourth party junk collector , can you still file bankruptcy on these companies?
judgement debt
My daughter signed a purchase document to buy a wedding dress and subsequently cancelled the order. She never received the dress or any part of the order. A debt collector bought the debt and sued her for judgment in ny state where she lives. They received the judgement. What can she do?
Judgment
I have a judgement from August 2006 in NY that I have been paying on every month. It is being settled this month...what is the SOL on a settled judgment?
Judgment
I have a judgement from August 2006 in NY that I have been paying on every month. It is being settled this month...what is the SOL on a settled judgment?
NYS Judgment Renewal
Can a New York State judgment be renewed. If so, how amny times for how long?
sol
how do i stop garnishment if sol is reached on a judgement
Judgment expiration
My husband had a judgment placed against him in Sept. 2002 in New York. It was a long time before we were together. It stayed on his credit report until Sept. 2012. I checked his credit report again in January and it was gone so I figured they did not renew it. All of a sudden it has popped back up again now in August. Are they allowed to renew it after it was already off of his credit report for so long?
Judgement SOL Lien
So I had a judgement filed against me in October 2008 for a debt from 2003. After the judgement was placed against me they went through the proper channels of trying to seize my bank account which I closed, garnish my wages but I became an independent contractor. That same month they placed a lien on my house that I had only bought 8 months prior to this. I have now lived in the house for almost 6 years and the SOL in the state of Oklahoma for the judgement has expired. How do I get the lien on my house removed with out having to pay back the amount of the judgement plus legal and accrued interest so I can refinance or sell.
enforcement of judgement
I live in floridi just had a judgement from 2006 put on my bank account and they now want to add 9% a year from 2006 until now plus the judgement can they do this
Judgment
My fiancée and I own property jointly in Wisconsin and I have a judgment from va from my ex, the statute of limitations expired about 6 weeks ago, can they still sue me here? My ex told me it was paid. What can happen? The company just sent me a notice that they were going to file another judgment here in Wisconsin, but it was initially entered in va which is 10 years and has expired.
money judgement for NY state
I just received a income execution from the sheriffs dept,,my name is not right but my ss number is..it says a judgement was granted on 6/4/2003..i don't no who the original dept collector is but it says i owe $2000.00..Was wondering what i can do if anything..Don't no the sol laws if any apply to me..Thank you
Judgement
A money judgement was filed on me in 2004 in NewYork for unpaid medical bills($800) The judgement was done in Feb of 2004. I moved from New York to Virginia in 2003 and was unaware it. I was never served any papers
In August of this year (2014) my bank account here in Virginia was frozen for $2000 stemming from this judgement.
Is the statue of limitations over for this judgement? Were they allow to freeze my account?
Applicabability of New York SOL on enforcement of federal ju
If a renewed federal judgment from state A is registered in state B, and that State B judgment is registered in New York, when does the limitations period of the New York SOL commence?
SOL Question - Please Help
Hi Carol, on March 16 I received a notice of garnishment letter. The original creditor was Chase bank in Jan 2001. Palisades collection apparently bought the debt and a judgement was on March 1st 2010. Something seems fishy to me because when I called palisades they did not want to tell me what the garnishment was for (I had to call a second time for a Representative to give me the info about the debt). My question is can I dispute or stop the garnishment since the original creditor and debt was in 2001? and How would I go about disputing the garnishment?
thank you in advance,
Lorrie Odom
Judgment in Supreme Court - NY County
I along with 6 other parties received a Judgment in our favor in 4/2014. We were hoping our attorney would collect on the Judgment and that has not happened. We are now considering collection from a judgment collection agency since the Respondent is in jail and done whatever he could to Evade the Judgment. Is it worth our pursuing this (Judgment over $2,000,000) and what is the SOL on this?
Unaware of judgment on credit card
Credit card went into default 2005, a judgment was issued in 2007
I recently started rebuilding my credit this year got a car loan and several credit cards I never saw this on my report . My x husband mom signed for a certified letter today from our sheriff depth claiming wage garnishment of 10%. But the index number for the court was not valid, I have never been served anything. No communication with creditor, What should I do, it's to talking over 30,000 with interest , I'm in NY.
car loan
i recently received a wage garnishment letter from the Sheriffs i live in NY and wanted to know the statute of limitation for something like this.
Credit card judgment
Is the 8 percent interest allowed on a credit card judgment, a one time thing or is it for every year that the job dement is outstanding
SOL
i live in new york i had a judgment from april 15-2008 and today is april 30 2018 am i obligated to pay a debt. collector at this time? it seems past the SOL.
SOL
i live in new york i had a judgment from april 15-2008 and today is april 30 2018 am i obligated to pay a debt. collector at this time? it seems past the SOL.
SOL
If a PDL is trying to sue me about a matter that was defaulted on in November 2014. Can they sue me I live in Florida