Kentucky Credit Card Debt Statute of Limitations

Federal regulations specified within the Fair Credit Reporting Act along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act stipulate the appropriate reporting methods and collection procedures pertaining to consumer credit card debt. Kentucky, and other states, stipulate the statute of limitations relating to consumer credit card debt collection. Consumers should understand their legal rights with regards to the restrictions of credit card account collections.

Statute of Limitations Definition
Statute of limitations is a legal phrase which pertains to the actual window of time provided by legislation to commence felony or civil actions. In Kentucky, and many other states, regulations concerning credit cards are categorized under civil statutes that are relevant to open contracts. The Kentucky consumer credit card statute of limitations pertains to the precise time-frame in which third-party debt collectors and original lenders have to initiate a lawsuit against the account holder listed on a delinquent credit card account. The statute of limitations for consumer credit card collections may be reset in certain situations.

Window of Opportunity
In Kentucky, original lenders, unsecured debt collectors and debt buyers currently have five years from the day of the last credit card account payment to initiate a court action against the consumer. The five-year statute of limitations may be reset if the consumer makes any kind of payment on the credit card account. For instance, if you reside in Kentucky and made a payment on your credit card account on August 15, 2009, after which you made no more payments until February 25, 2010, the statute of limitations will expire on February 25, 2015 unless you make another interim payment. The statute of limitations first started on August 15, 2009 and would have run out on August 15, 2014. However, because you made one more payment on February 25, 2010, the statute time clock restarted and therefore the creditors/collectors have until February 25, 2015 to initiate a lawsuit against you for any outstanding balance.

Consumer Credit Card Debt Reporting Time-Frame
Original lenders and third-party collection organizations can legally report consumer credit card collection accounts to all three consumer credit reporting agencies for up to seven years,regardless of the state's statute of limitations. In Kentucky, consumer credit card debts are out-of-statute after five years, but the damaging record can stay on the consumer's credit record for two additional years. In the event that the creditor/collectors sued the Kentucky credit card account holder for the unpaid balance and won a judgment, the judgment may stay on the consumer credit record for at least 15 years. Kentucky credit card judgments expire after 15 years, however the creditor/collector may renew the judgment.

Consumer Credit Card Collection Time-Frame
Original lenders and third-party collectors have the right to persist with their efforts towards collecting credit card debts, whether or not the credit accounts are within the statute of limitations. Knowledgeable consumers may stop collection contact by sending a written request to the collection agency. The Kentucky consumer credit card statute of limitations does not eliminate the unpaid balance on the credit card account. The statute merely restricts the time during which a collector may litigate for repayment.