this post does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion. i am not your attorney. for information regarding your legal rights/obligations please consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.
expired SOL does not extinguish a debt in 48 of 50 states.
what you can do on SOL accounts is currently in flux. the FTC/CFPB are pressing hard to change the law on the subject, making attempting to non-judicially collect on "time-barred debt" tantamount to debt collection activity which mischaracterizes the amount, nature, or status of a debt.
we first really saw this in the FTC's consent decree with asset acceptance capital corp .. they used section 5 of the FTC act as a means to gain standing to prosecute FDCPA claims (the statute confers standing on the AG and private individuals. (
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/2...ual_report.pdf)
Quote:
2. TIME-BARRED DEBT
The FTC’s case against Asset also addressed the challenging issue of what debt collectors
should communicate to consumers in connection with collecting on debts that are
beyond the relevant statute of limitations, also known as time-barred debts. The FTC
alleged that in connection with collecting on debts that it knew or should have known
were time-barred; Asset violated Section 5 of the FCT Act. The FTC’s complaint alleged
that Asset’s demands that consumers pay these debts created the misleading impression
that Asset could legally sue them if they did not pay, and that Asset’s failure to disclose to
consumers that in fact they could not legally be sued if they did not pay allegedly was a
deceptive practice in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.
To remedy these alleged violations, the settlement agreement requires Asset to provide a
disclosure when collecting on debt that it knows or should know is barred by the statute
of limitations. In its initial communication with consumers regarding such debts, Asset
must disclose to the consumer that because of the age of the debt, Asset will not sue to
collect on it. The order provides that Asset must repeat this disclosure if consumers are
likely to have forgotten the disclosure and its import, which generally will be considered
to have occurred six months after the prior disclosure. For any debt where Asset has
disclosed that it will not sue to collect, it is prohibited from commencing any arbitration
or legal action to collect on that debt, including initiating an action where the consumer
has made a partial payment that otherwise would revive the debt. Additionally, the
settlement provides that if Asset sells the right to collect on debts, Asset must withhold
from the sale any rights it may have to initiate any arbitration or legal action to recover
the debts.