Sued on an old credit card in New York
In New York, a lawsuit on a consumer credit debt, such as a personal credit card, must be filed within three years under CPLR 214-i, and once that time has run, a later payment or promise to pay does not revive the debt. The Consumer Credit Fairness Act that created the rule also changed what a collector's complaint must say and what it must prove to win by default.
The summons usually arrives years after the card went quiet. The plaintiff is a name you have never heard of, a company that bought the account. The amount includes interest you do not remember agreeing to. And the question most people ask first is: can they still do this?
In New York, since April 2022, the answer depends on a short statute with two sentences. This post goes through both, and through the other rules that came with them.
If you have been sued, do not ignore the papers
The time to answer is short, and the time-bar defense is yours to raise. You raise it by answering. Read sued by a debt collector today, not next week.
The two sentences
The Consumer Credit Fairness Act, Senate Bill S153, was signed on November 8, 2021 as Chapter 593 of the Laws of 2021. Its central piece is a new section of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, § 214-i. The first sentence is the deadline:
An action arising out of a consumer credit transaction, where the purchaser, borrower or debtor is the defendant, must be commenced within three years. (The statute carves out a few kinds of transactions covered by other provisions.)
The second sentence is the one that changes the most:
When the limitations period expires, any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of, or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period.
That second sentence closes off an argument a collector could otherwise make: that a small payment, or a promise to pay, brought an old debt back to life. Under 214-i, in New York, once the three years have run, it cannot.
What counts as consumer credit
The rule covers a "consumer credit transaction," which CPLR 105(f) defines as a transaction in which credit is extended to an individual and the money, property or service is primarily for personal, family or household purposes. A personal credit card, a store card or a personal loan will usually fit. A business line of credit will not, and a merchant cash advance is a business transaction.
When the three years start is a separate question. The clock runs from when the creditor's claim accrued, and on a given account that depends on the payment and statement history. Get your statements, or ask the collector for them in writing, before you assume either way.
What the complaint now has to say
The same law added CPLR 3016(j). In a suit on a consumer credit transaction, the complaint must state, among other things:
- The original creditor and the last four digits of the original account number.
- The date and amount of the last payment.
- An itemization of the amount claimed, and the balance on the charge-off statement.
- Whether the plaintiff is the original creditor, and if not, when the debt was assigned and what was owed at the time.
- The contract or the charge-off statement, attached.
The date of the last payment is on that list for a reason. It is one of the first things to compare against the three-year rule.
The Act also added CPLR 3215(j). A debt buyer asking for a default judgment must file an affidavit from the original creditor about the debt, an affidavit establishing the chain of title from the original creditor to the plaintiff, and a statement that, after reasonable inquiry, it believes the limitations period has not expired. And CPLR 306-d requires the court clerk to mail you an additional notice, in English and Spanish, explaining the suit and warning that a judgment can be used against you for twenty years, including against wages and bank accounts.
These rules exist because of what came before them. The Sykes story describes a single debt buyer and its law firm that filed more than 124,000 cases in New York City in four years, most of which ended in default.
When an old-debt suit is itself a violation
A debt collector may not sue or threaten to sue a consumer on a time-barred debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b)). A collection lawsuit filed after the three years have run is a defense in the collection case, and it can also be the basis for a claim against the collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The same goes for a letter or call threatening a suit that could not lawfully be filed (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(5)).
In New York, a deceptive practice in collection can also support a claim under General Business Law § 349(h): actual damages or $50, whichever is greater, which the court may increase to three times actual damages up to $1,000 if the violation was willful or knowing. Both the FDCPA and GBL 349 require a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
Two clocks apply to you, too. An FDCPA claim must be filed within one year of the violation. See the deadlines page for the others.
What to do this week
- Find the service date. The answer deadline runs from service. Write down when and how you got the papers.
- Find your last payment. Bank statements, old card statements, the complaint itself. Compare that date to today.
- Do not make a payment to "show good faith" until you know where you stand. Under 214-i it will not revive an expired debt, but it will not help your defense either.
- Answer the complaint, and raise the statute of limitations. Read sued by a debt collector and zombie debt.
The New York page collects the state and New York City rules on collectors. New Jersey and Florida set longer periods for most debts; see New Jersey and Florida.
Sources: N.Y. CPLR 214-i (text); CPLR 105(f) (text); Senate Bill S153 of 2021, Consumer Credit Fairness Act, ch. 593 (bill), adding CPLR 3016(j), 3215(j) and 306-d; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b); 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e(5), 1692k; N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349(h).
Common questions
Does the three-year rule apply to my debt?
It applies to an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction where you are the defendant. CPLR 105(f) defines that as a transaction in which credit is extended to an individual primarily for personal, family or household purposes. A personal credit card usually fits. A business credit line usually does not, and some kinds of transactions are carved out by the statute.
I made a small payment last year on a very old card. Did that restart the clock?
Not in New York, if the three years had already run when you paid. CPLR 214-i says that once the limitations period expires, any later payment, written or oral affirmation or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend it.
If the debt is time-barred, can the collector still call me?
A collector may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt (12 C.F.R. 1006.26(b)). Whether and how it may otherwise ask for payment is governed by other rules, including New York's own. A threat of suit on a debt that is too old is itself a violation.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.