A prospective bankruptcy client often arrives in my office they’ve been sued for debt and they are panicked about the consequences. Almost invariably, the client has leapt to two incorrect assumptions: the world as they know it is coming to an end; and they don’t have to do anything until the date set for the case […]
Debt Buyers Barred From California Courts
Zombie debt may have met its match. California law now bars the door to the courthouse to a debt buyer holding a claim that is beyond the statute of limitations. Civil Code § 1788.56. If the party holding the debt bought it from someone else, after the original creditor had charged the debt off of […]
California Pulls The Plug On Debt Buyers
Up until now, old debts lived on, until the person who owed the debt pulled the plug. That’s right: it is the person who is liable for the debt who can kill the debt off, not the person to whom the money is owed. Because, at law, there’s a limit on the age of a […]
Mix Old Debts & Good Faith Payments For Bad Results
Old debts don’t live forever. The shell of the debt may hang around, like this mummy, but inside the shell, the debt is dead. But just like a bad mummy movie, old, dead debt can be brought back to life. All it takes is an attempt on your part to be honorable , or an attempt by […]
The Collection Call That Terrifies
Nothing strikes terror in someone behind on their bills like a debt collector call to their family. Sheer terror. It works, too. That fear is second only to a wage garnishment for bringing people to see a bankruptcy lawyer. The only flaw in the collector’s strategy in contacting your family about your debts is that […]
