Larry
West Sacramento,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, June 01, 2007
This is a lesson I learned the hard way about installment loans: The statute of limitations does not begin to run until the date of the final payment. If you enter into a five-year installment contract with monthly payments and then default, say, one year later, the statute of limitations will not even begin to run for four more years. If your state has a 6-year limit on bringing a claim, the lender could wait as long as ten years from the date of default in this example before claiming that you still owed him money. The sooner the borrower defaults the longer the lender has to make his claim. My understanding is that when a creditor repossesses a vehicle that he is required to send you a notice after he sells it stating any amounts still due. One catch is that they are usually required to send it to your last known address, so that if you move and fail to inform them you may not receive the notice.