Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in North Carolina

debt collection and summons

My husband is being sued civilly by a debt collection lawyer for a credit card nonpayment. The last payment sent was march of 2003 and the civil summons is dated May 2006. I am pretty sure the sol has run out and want to verify this. We do not know the actual due date of the account. How do we answer the complaint?


Asked on 6/13/06, 8:18 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

John Kirby Law Offices of John M. Kirby

Re: debt collection and summons

The statute of limitations for a particular payment would be three years from the date of the breach (i.e. non-payment). Hence, from the question, it is not clear that the sol has expired. If your records do not show these dates (in particular the date on which the next payment was due), then you would have to obtain that information from the other side through "discovery." (Whether recovery for all of the payments may depend on whether there is an "acceleration" clause in the debt documents.) You need to file an answer to the complaint, which asserts this defense (unless the action is in small claims court). You probably want to consult a lawyer in person and discuss this with her, because you may have a valid defense, but you will need to get through some legal hurdles first.

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Answered on 6/13/06, 9:56 am


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