Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Is credit card debt considered an open account or a written contract?

credit card
Stephen S asked:


I live in the State of Georgia and am being sued over an old credit card that I defaulted on. It has been more than 4 years but less than 6 years since the date of default, so depending on whether credit card debt is considered an open account or a written contract in the State of Georgia, the Statute of Limitations may or may not apply. The Staute of Limitations is 4 years for open accounts and 6 years for written contracts. Does anyone know for certain which type applies for credit card debt in Georgia? The account is with Citibank MasterCard and was opened in the late 80’s or early 90’s. Thanks.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Credit Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Is credit card debt considered an open account or a written contract?”

Angelic Julie Says:
December 21st, 2009 at 4:05 am

it’s a written contract, that’s why you sign a rather lengthy terms & conditions declaration when you take out the credit card - read the small print

spifiman1 Says:
December 24th, 2009 at 2:44 am

Sorry man, but it’s a written contract.

Remember that long piece of paper you signed that said terms and conditions?

Studly Says:
December 25th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Spiff! Man you are starting to disappoint me something terrible!

The definition of a “written” contact is one where all of the payment issues are completely spelled out. The monthly payments, the timeframe, everything.

An “open” or “revolving” credit line does not fall into this catagory because the terms of the agreement change every month. One month you owe $200, and the next you owe $400…..and each month you have a varying amount of payment. You can pay it off, and then run it right back up again….that’s why they call it a ‘revolving” line of credit.

This is also clearly spelled out in the US UCC codes, and many states specifically label credit card debts as open accounts.

Georgia is one state that specifically labels credit cards as NOT being a written contract. Please refer to the link below.

Once again….poor answers with no source of information cause a lot of damage here on Yahoo. If they don’t provide you with a source for further examination it’s best not to believe it.

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