Can I Be Sued in Pennsylvania for Personal Debt?

Companies and individuals can sue Pennsylvanians to collect any sort of debt as long as their lawsuits meet federal and state regulations for debt collections. However, consumers who are sued over delinquent debts do have rights that are intended to protect debtors from abusive or deceptive debt-collection practices.

Fair Debt Collection

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, debt-collection companies are prohibited from making false threats of legal action against Pennsylvanians. Therefore, a debt collector can't threaten to sue a debtor unless the collector actually intends to or has the right to file a lawsuit. Protection from such false claims comes under the U.S. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which supports the fair treatment of consumers by prohibiting companies from using deceptive or abusive methods to collect debts.

Statute of Limitations

Any debt collector who threatens to sue a Pennsylvanian over a debt for which the statute of limitations has expired is violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The statute restricts the amount of time that a creditor or lender has to sue a consumer to collect a debt. For example, Pennsylvania's statute of limitations on credit-card debt is six years, so a credit-card company or debt collector can't legally sue for payment of a credit-card debt that is more than six years old. The statute of limitations on debts outlined in promissory notes is four years. Promissory notes are often used by individuals for their protection to document a debt owed to them, and the notes can be used as evidence in a lawsuit to collect a delinquent debt.

Collection Methods

Debt-collection companies may still attempt to sue debtors even though the statute of limitations on a debt has expired. Consumers shouldn't ignore such lawsuits if they want to prevent the collection company from unlawfully winning a court judgment against them, warns MSN Money in a 2010 article titled "Is There a Statute of Limitations on Debt?" The article recommends that debtors show up in court to point out that the statute of limitations on the debt has expired to thwart the collector's legal action.

Considerations

In 2010, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett announced a consumer-protection lawsuit that demonstrates how consumers can have their rights violated in debt-collection cases. Corbett's office sued Unicredit America Inc., which is accused of using deceptive tactics to force consumers to pay debts. According to the lawsuit, the company used fake court proceedings to push debtors into providing access to their bank accounts or surrendering their vehicle titles and other assets to pay off debts. Unicredit is accused of using subpoenas to summon debtors to an office, which included an area referred to as "the courtroom."