Hi I made last payment on open end credit card 11/18/2008 and got summons 11/10/2014, I put answer to court 11/20/2014 that it's been over 6...

Question

Hi I made last payment on open end credit card 11/18/2008 and got summons 11/10/2014, I put answer to court 11/20/2014 that it's been over 6 years and pretrail is 04/27/2015. Is this real time barred if summons was delivered to me week before 6 years? Also got letter from attorney office sueing me if I like to settle before pretrail date help!

Answer

There are a number of defenses to a credit card debt lawsuit other than what you mention. So I would first look at the entire picture here and see who is suing and if they were assigned the debt whether the assignment was proper under Michigan. If the assignment was not proper then they would not be entitled to sue without correcting the assignment. However if that happens then they have sued you wrongfully so you would have a counter-claim as leverage. The claim they have against you likely begins to run the day after the last payment due was not made so I would need to know a bit more of your payment history. If you were current and that was you last payment, that statute would start to run likely the day after the next payment was due. It depends upon the contract but default is defined by contract and usually you are in default if you are just one day late. If you were in default and that was your last payment amount it would run from the date of that last payment. MCL 600.5856 states the following:

600.5856 Tolling of statute of limitations or repose.

Sec. 5856.

The statutes of limitations or repose are tolled in any of the following circumstances:

(a) At the time the complaint is filed, if a copy of the summons and complaint are served on the defendant within the time set forth in the supreme court rules.

So it appears as if they are within the time frame as long as they served the summons within 90 days of filing or if they got an extension and were timely. There are a number of other issues you will want to check prior to making any major decisions. Also I look to see if there have been any violations in the collection process. I look at the credit report to see if there have been any violations, I ask questions about calls to cell phones and I check for third-parties contacts (calling family, friends or relatives) and I check to make sure other rules were followed.