Q: I have a collection on my credit. I set up payment arrangements and sent them some money, but now reading one of your posts I see that I should have validated the debt first. Did I just restart the statute of limitations?
A: Possibly. By most states rules, yes. Just to be clear; federal statute of limitations that governs reporting or how long it remains on your credit report – NO you did not restart the clock.
By state statute of limitations it depends on what state you live in. You didn't provide your state but I can tell you that in In Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin you need to have some form of a written agreement where you agreed to new payment terms. In the aforementioned states if it's not in writing with your signature the clock did not restart. So, if you signed anything when or before or after you sent that payment you've restarted the clock. If you're not in these states and you made a payment; you have re-started the clock :(.
Hope this helps; and if you have a question for Q & A Fridays shoot me a message on the contact form!
