How Long Does a Credit Card Company Have to Sue Me?

A recent article by Bankruptcy Law Network member Jay Fleischman talks about statutes of limitations that apply to credit card debt.

The case, Capital One Bank USA, NA v Gregorich, dealt with whether Capital One’s lawsuit against Ms. Gregorich was filed on time, or was barred by the statute of limitations. Ms. Gregorich lived in Florida, whose statute of limitaitons was five years on written contracts. The credit card agreement, however, provided that Virginia law applied, and its’ statute of limitaitons was only three years. Who won?

Ms. Gregorich did. The Court found that since the parties had agreed that Virginia law would apply, the Florida statute of limitations didn’t apply. And it found that since the Cardholder Agreement did not contain information about interest rate or numerous contract terms, it was not, “A complete and concluded agreement between the parties.” This meant that the longer Virginia statute of limitations for written contracts did not apply.

The result? Capital One’s suit was thrown out, and Ms. Gregorich didn’t owe the money.