In Washington State, is there a Statute of Limitations for credit card
companies to sue the debtor?  I have read 3 years is the limit. Even
though it will show up on credit report for 7 years. I have not had
any activity on the account since Dec 2001.

Hi mbhdude,

I found a number of web pages that confirmed that there is a statute
of limitations for debt lawsuits in Washington state, and that the
period for a credit card account is three years.

The time allowed for a creditor to file a lawsuit depends on the kind
of debt.  Credit cards are considered to be in the "open account"
category, for which the time limit is three years.

As these pages will tell you, the expiration of the time does not mean
that a creditor cannot sue you, but it does mean you have a defense if
that happens.  The expiration of the time also does not prevent a
creditor from trying to persuade you to pay in ways other than suing
you.

I'll list some pages.  They all tell similar stories.

"Statute Of Limitations For Debts" on the CardReport website
http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html

"Statute of Limitations on Debts" on the Credit Infocenter website
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml

"All about the Statute of Limitations for Debts, Judgments & Taxes"
from Carreon and Associates
http://www.carreonandassociates.com/articles/sol.htm

"State statutes of limitations for old debts" on Bankrate.com
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b1.asp


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--efn

Thanks for the answer.  that is what I was looking for.