     Tom White (Tdw) | Saturday, July 22, 2000 - 03:26 pm 
I was divorced in October of 1996. My ex-wife agree to take on certain debts. It turns out she quit paying in 1997. One of the cards had her listed as the primary and me as the secondary. Needless to say it showed up on my credit report. I had notified this account that this was not my aacount and I took no responsibity for it. (This was done in 1996 at the time of my divorce.) The account was purchased by a collecetion company, which also showed up on my credit report, and my ex just recently settled with this company. I feel that the seven year sol should have started at the time of my divorce and that all negative info should be removed no later than October of 2003. I know that this probably won't happen and that i am going to have to pursue other options but I just wonder if I am correct or does it start over because my ex settled? |
| John Shimmer (Jshimmer) | Tuesday, July 25, 2000 - 05:29 am
The SOL has nothing to do with the length of time something can be reported to the CRA. The SOL dictates how long they can pursue a judgement in order to be able to try to collect the debt. The time it's reported to the CRA is pretty standard for bad stuff - 7 years from the original delinqency date (the date on which it first went delinquent and never again became current) or charge-off date, except for bankruptcy (10 years from discharge date, unless it's a chapter 13, which is 7 years from filing)
If she settled it in full, or if they accepted a lump sum partial payment AS full settlement, then nothing should have changed. If she got herself into a payment plan of sort (payments over time to settle the old debt), then she very well could have re-aged the account (brought it back up to date, so to speak, and restarted the reporting clock).
Regardless of whether or not you were divorced or whether something about the debt was in your divorce decree, that does nothing to the liability of the debt. If you were a joint cardholder, you were liable, no matter what any divorce court judge declared. If you were only an 'authorized user', then you were never liable. |
| Tom White (Tdw) | Wednesday, July 26, 2000 - 07:52 pm
The Statute of Limitations is a legal term meaning the length of time or period in which a specific legal action may be taken. This applies to all areas of the law and not just credit. I stand corrected for I may have used this term in an inappropriate manner. However, I must point out two areas that may have been addressed wrong. First, chapter 13s can remain on your report for 7 years after it has been satisfied or ten years which ever is least. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe I just recently read this somewhere. Second, It was stated that the length of time negative information can stay on a report is seven years from when it first went delinquent or when it was charged off. I don't believe that is correct. If it is changed to when it is charged off then that is re-aging the debt and I don't believe that is legal. Before closing I just want to ask my question again. Can I claim the date that I notified the bank as the starting date for the seven years? I just wanted to know if anyone else was succesful in doing this. Thanks |
