I had my car repossessed about 7 yrs ago, I had a co-signer also, is 7 yrs past the point that its closed?

Question

I had a Jeep repo'd about 7yrs ago, I had a co-signer on it as well who lied to me & told me he paid it off when they auctioned it & sold it & then he went into the Army, well I have found out that he lied & he didnt pay it off. Ive had bill collectors try to call & send bills in the mail over the past 7 yrs & Ive never contacted them nor do I plan on it. My co-signer drove the Jeep anyways so I feel he's responsible, not me. I heard that 7 years is the point where they cannot get you for the debt anymore, they have even sent a few letters trying to make a deal w/ me on drastically lowering the debt. Im unemployed so paying it isnt a option. Does anyone know if 7 yrs is the point where the debt is gone & void? Thanks

Answer 1

If you co-signed, you are held liable no matter who actually drove the vehicle.

Derogatory items age off your credit report 7-1/2 years from the date of first deficiency.  This is per the FCRA and nothing restarts this clock.

The Statute of Limitations (SOL), the timeframe to bring lawsuit, varies from state to state.  Generally the date of last activity or last payment is the starting point.  Check here for your state:  http://www.bcsalliance.com/statute_of_li...  

A car loan would be a written contract or promisary note which tend to have much longer SOL than open contracts.  You could still be within the SOL and they could sue you.

Answer 2

It is well past the statute of limitation if the car was repoed 7 years ago.  I do not know your state but the statute for this kind of debt is anywhere between 4-6 years.  So they cannot collect a dime off you.  You need to send them a letter stating it is well past the statute and you do not owe the debt.  Also if they are reporting it to the credit agencies you need to write the credit agencies and tell them it is past the 7 year reporting period and they must remove the debt from your credit report.  Go to creditboards.com. They have some good sample letters you can send to both the collections and the credit reporting agencies.

http://creditcardwarehouseonline.com

Answer 3

Drat, looks like I will just have to answer this way,

Ditto on what bdancer2 has said, she nailed it on the head.

Answer 4

Actually, the statute of limitations on repos is covered under the UCC, which has a 4 year S.O.L starting from the date the vehicle was sold creating the deficency. The reason for this is that the repo voids the original contract, so they cannot use the timeframe for written agreements.

Going by your answer, it's far too late for them to sue you on this, even though they may try. What you need to do is send this collection agency a cease and desist letter telling them the SOL has expired and to not contact you again. That way if they attempt to sue you, you not only have an affirmative defense against their claim, you have proof that they are filing suit on a debt they knew was time barred and they can be held liable.