Previous posts in this blog have discussed what may happen if you fail to pay your credit card debt. If you simply ignore the debt, it will not go away anytime soon, and is likely to be taken to collections. Your credit, in turn, will suffer. You might have heard advice from well-meaning family and friends that if you can manage to put off the debt on a credit card long enough, the debt will pass the statute of limitations and you will no longer owe the creditor. This is technically true, but you will need to understand how the statute of limitations applies to debtors in Oregon, as well as the potential consequences of putting off debt for so long.
According to OregonLive, the statute of limitations for credit card debt in Oregon is six years. If you make it past the six-year mark without being taken to court for outstanding credit card bills, you should be free and clear. However, passing the statute of limitations will not clear your credit report. The debt will show up as unpaid for several years after the statute of limitations has passed.
Also, according to a 2012 ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals, it may not work to try to take advantage of a shorter debt statute of limitations from another state. This period is only three years in some states. A few Oregon residents who said they should not owe to banks from these states after the three years had passed were found to be responsible for their credit card debt, since they were still within the six-year limit in Oregon.
If you have credit card bills that you are unable to pay, it would be more reasonable to attempt to reach a payment solution with your creditors, instead of trying to pass the statute of limitations. Ignoring your debt may seem to work for a while, but creditors and collection agencies may be using the time to prepare a lawsuit against you. The information in this blog should not replace the advice of a bankruptcy lawyer.
