You hear a great deal about Statute of Limitations but what exactly is it and how does it apply to you? In essence, the Statute of Limitations (as far as debt is concerned) is the amount of time a creditor has to sue you. Each state has its own time frame for a Statute of Limitation. (See references below.)
The Law.com dictionary offers of very clear and accurate definition and description of Statue of Limitations (SOL) A segment of that description follows:
"a law which sets the maximum period which one can wait before filing a lawsuit, depending on the type of case or claim. The periods vary by state. Federal statutes set the limitations for suits filed in federal courts. If the lawsuit or claim is not filed before the statutory deadline, the right to sue or make a claim is forever dead (barred).
"The limitations (depending on the state) generally range from 1 to 6 years except for in Rhode Island, which uses 10 years for several causes of action. Louisiana has the strictest limitations, cutting off lawsuit rights at one year for almost all types of cases except contracts. California also has short periods, usually one year, with two years for most property damage and oral contracts and four years for written contracts.
"There are also statutes of limitations to enforce a judgment, ranging from five to 25 years, depending on the state. Some states have special requirements before a lawsuit can be filed, such as a written warning to a physician in a claim of malpractice, making a demand upon a state agency and then waiting for the claim to be denied or ignored for a particular period, first demanding a retraction before filing a libel suit, and other variations. Vermont protects its ski resorts by allowing only one year for filing a lawsuit for injuries suffered in a skiing accident as an exception to that state's three-year statute of limitations for other personal injuries." Law.com Dictionary
Debt SOL- To determine the debt Statute of Limitation (SOL) for your particular state, I recommend visiting one of the following.
Fair Debt Collection.com Nolo Press
When Does The Clock Starts? - according to Nolo Press:
"In most situations the time starts to run on the ?date of harm.? However, a huge exception to this general rule exists. The exception protects plaintiffs in situations where they may not be aware for months or even years that they have been harmed. In such situations, statutes of limitations may begin the clock ticking either on the ?date of discovery? of the harm, or on the date on which the plaintiff ?should have discovered? the harm."
With reference to Statute of Limitations in general with regards to military personnel, Military.com states: "A member's time in service cannot be used to compute the time limits for bringing any action or proceeding by or against a member, whether in court or elsewhere."
Warning from Fair Debt Collection
A WARNING! Page from Fair Debt Collection offers this critically important caveat within its pages.
"While the statute of limitations is running or even after it's expired, making ANY payment or signing a promissory note can reset or restart (depends on your state law) the statute of limitations. Always check if the SOL has expired BEFORE making a payment, signing an agreement to make payments or even acknowledging the debt is valid."
I would add this second caveat to avoid confusion. If a Statute of Limitations is 4 years, this does not mean a report cannot be filed on your credit report which lasts 7.5 years. SOL and credit reports have two different time schedules and should not be confused.
When there is a catastrophic accident leading to hundreds of injuries and many deaths, such as the recent Southern Pacific and Metrolink accident of Chatsworth, California, the families left behind are much too busy arranging for medical treatment, burials, funerals and grieving. They are caught in one of the worst situations where they are not only vulnerable, but have to deal with events that have been forced upon them. To add insult to injury for the families of the deceased there is shortened statute of limitations for bringing a claim against Metrolink.
Metrolink is operated by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority which is a government agency. The Southern California Regional Rail Authority operates Metrolink as a regional rail system that offers transportation for commuters and other passengers and serves about 50 cities in the greater Los Angeles area on several regional lines, including Antelope Valley, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, and also Ventura County.
It is significant that the Southern California Regional Rail Authority operates Metrolink, because a government agency requires special procedures be followed before a lawsuit can be filed for compensation. This is true for a personal injury claim as well as a wrongful death. Unlike a civil lawsuit for personal injuries against a private party a government agency requires specific personal injury claims be made directly with the agency before filing a lawsuit. Once the claim is made and denied, then the private party has the right to file a lawsuit.
Every right to sue has a limited time period. This period is described under the statute of limitations and is modified depending on the circumstances leading to the claim. Generally there is a specified period which is the cut off period. If a lawsuit is not brought within the specified period the personal injury claimant or the families of the deceased cannot bring a lawsuit. When the defendant happens to be a government agency the time period is reduced to a matter of months. This period is not only shortened by the statute of limitations, but is also shorted because of specific procedures that must be followed before a lawsuit can be filed. The claim procedures can reduce the time period by another month and sometimes several months, because it requires specific information be gathered and submitted and it also requires specific forms or language be used when filing the claim.
In the instant matter all kind of things could have gone wrong and it not yet known why the accident occurred, which also tends to shorten the time period for the victims and families of the deceased to take action. If the investigation takes sixty days and the time required to file claim requires another thirty days, the victims and families of the deceased may have very little if any time to file a lawsuit. If it is determined that the culpable party is a private party, then there is plenty of opportunity and a higher degree of fairness for the injured and the families of the deceased, but if turns out to be a government agency then such will not be the case.
The obvious effect and intent of the shortened statute of limitations in actions against government agencies was to keep the number of claims down. obviously shortened to keep the number of claims down.
Needless to say injury victim and the families of the deceased should speak with an attorney as soon as practicable.
Both Michael Killian & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Michael Killian has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Personal Finance and Self Improvement and Motivation. Mike has been an Internet Guide/Writer in the field of Credit/Debt Management for over 10 years. His site was awarded Best Of Net by Forbes Publication from 2000 to 2005 with site visitation doubling to over 500,000 average views per month in the last ye. Michael Killian's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.
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