Nebraska Statutes on Credit Card Debt
In Nebraska, credit card accounts are considered open contract accounts. State statutes regarding debt collection and reporting follow federal guidelines, but the state of Nebraska stipulates statutes regarding the time frame for collection of credit card accounts. Creditors have a specific window of opportunity to collect credit card debt before and after winning a judgment.
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Debt Collection
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Nebraska follows the federal guidelines for debt collection established in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Licensed debt collectors attempting to collect credit card debt may not discuss the account with anyone other than the debtor, his spouse or his legal representative. Debt collectors may contact the account holder over the phone between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. If the credit card account holder makes a written request for the collector to cease communication, the collector must comply. Debt collectors may not harass, misrepresent facts or threaten the credit card account holder.
Statute of Limitations
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The statute of limitations open to creditors and debt collectors to legally collect a credit card debt in Nebraska is four years. The time begins on the date of the last account activity and may be restarted whenever the credit card account holder makes a payment on the account. For example, if the time is set to expire on January 15, 2012 — four years from the date that the last payment was posted — and the account holder makes a new payment in December 2011, the statute restarts. In this example, the collector has four years from the date the payment posts in December 2011 to attempt collection.
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Judgment Statutes
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Original creditors and debt collectors may file a lawsuit against a credit card account holder if the account holder defaults on the credit agreement. To win a judgment against the account holder, the creditor must bring the lawsuit before the four-year statute of limitations expires. If the credit card debt is out of statute, the account holder must prove that fact in court to avoid a judgment. If the creditor wins a judgment, it may become an automatic lien against real property owned by the credit card account holder in the county where the judgment was issued. Judgments that are not executed in Nebraska within five years become dormant. Judgment creditors have the right to revive the judgment within 10 years of its becoming dormant.
Credit Reporting
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Nebraska complies with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act which allows creditors to report negative entries relating to credit card debt for seven years. Judgments are also reported on a consumer’s credit report for seven years, even if it becomes dormant according to Nebraska statutes. If the judgment creditor revives the judgment, the credit reporting agency can report it for the length of the revival.
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