The limitation period for a credit card is important in a dispute between a bank and a debtor with a problem loan. A single application for his pass is enough to win a lawsuit. How is this term calculated, what can you rely on?
Trial
A bank customer who does not pay arrears for a long time runs the risk of becoming a party to the lawsuit. For a credit institution, this is the only way to repay the debt. There is a difference in payments in a simple agreement and in a credit card agreement. If the court can justify the passage of the statute of limitations on a credit card, which is not so simple, using the knowledge of the law, the plaintiff will lose.
Limit value
The law prescribes a general statute of limitations - 3 years. Its calculation is made according to a number of rules. The value of the term is to limit the right to claim debt for a certain time.
The Civil Code noted that the court has no right to refuse to open a case or a lawsuit only on the basis of going beyond the time limit. If the defendant declares this, and his arguments prove convincing to the judge (it is a question of the correctness of the calculations), then the denial of the claim will be assessed as legal.
Suspension
The Civil Code contains a number of situations in which the countdown of the limitation period for a Tinkoff credit card or other financial institution is suspended:
- natural disasters and armed conflict;
- finding a client of a credit organization as part of official military formations during the period of martial law;
- government moratorium on performance of obligations;
- suspension of the law on the basis of which the obligation arose;
- conducting a conciliation (mediation) procedure;
- sending an application to the court (delivery of documents directly to the post office or to the court registry).
These factors are relevant if they occurred in the last 6 months of the statute of limitations. If less than half a year is left before the time for submission to the court, it increases to 6 months.
Debt sold to collectors
In the Civil Code, attention is paid to the change of persons in the obligation. According to the law, the limitation period for a credit card of Sberbank or another credit institution is not suspended. It cannot be counted anew. The law does not provide for any agreement to change the statute of limitations, and there is even a ban on such transactions - they are automatically considered illegal.
Reference points
The law provides for two options for calculating the limitation period for a credit card. Both are based on an agreement between a client and a bank:
- the beginning of the term - the day the loan agreement expires;
- the transaction may contain a condition on the right of the bank at any time to request the closure of a loan debt.
The extension of the contract is also allowed in cases stipulated by law or contract with the client.
When does the countdown start again?
Clauses of the law presuppose cases in which the statutes of limitations are re-counted:
- the client sent a request to the bank with a request to amend the terms of the agreement (extension of the contract, debt restructuring, etc.);
- the bank granted a deferment or vacation, or other benefits;
- the debtor confirmed receipt of a notice from the bank about the need to pay the debt;
- money is transferred to the card account to pay the debt;
- information confirming the communication of the client and bank employees.
How do banks solve the problem?
I must say that Tinkoff is distinguished by its unwillingness to wait and quickly takes measures to collect debts. In principle, Sberbank has the same approach. A rare institution is waiting for the deadlines to pass.
The nuances of applying standards
In judicial practice, there is no established opinion on the limitation period for a credit card regarding the issue under discussion. There are several approaches identified in the study of specific cases:
- the countdown is tied to the day of the last payment, after which the money was not paid to the card, and there is a violation of obligations on the part of the client (the first missed payment is enough);
- the countdown is made from the date on which the final fulfillment of obligations was assigned (meaning the termination of the contract between the bank and the client);
- some judges believe that the starting date for the expiration of the statute of limitations on a credit card is the day the bank sends the debtor a letter.
There are approaches that are contrary to the above positions. For example, it is assumed that a credit card is not limited to a specific period of time.
The Supreme Court expressed the view that the deadlines for each payment are calculated separately.
The effect of the lawsuit on the passage of time
As long as the proceedings on the case continue, the term for the claim is suspended, including in the following cases:
- the judge applied the norms of other laws;
- the plaintiff began to refer to other circumstances;
- other requests, for example, an increase in the size of monetary claims.
The statute of limitations on a Trust credit card is no exception. If new requirements are declared for other periods of time, then the statute of limitations for them ceases from the moment they are officially declared.
The fact of sending documents to the court does not have legal significance, if it was decided to return the application, to refuse to open the proceedings. It will become important if these decisions were canceled by a higher authority from the date of filing the initial claim.
Leaving the materials of the claim without movement and correcting the defects of the claim does not affect the course of time.
Features of the judicial procedure
In a number of cases, the statement of claim is not accepted until an attempt is made to obtain a court order. Transaction in simple writing is one of them.
An order is a type of court decision issued in a simplified manner only on the basis of documents. During the trial, none of the participants is summoned to a judge. The debtor has the right to write a statement in the allotted time with a request to cancel the order. It alone is enough for the court to overturn its earlier decision.
Until the termination of the order deadlines do not flow. As soon as a decision is made, their countdown resumes. An exception cases of return of documents due to violations by the applicant.
How to behave in a lawsuit?
What to do when missing a deadline? As it was written above, court proceedings are opened at the request of the party and the statute of limitations does not matter for the court at that moment.
The clarification notes that the court will accept the comment if it is stated in the first instance before the judge leaves the deliberation room. The court keeps a protocol in which the secretary records the main actions, including an oral statement. For various, not always clear reasons, the court may not enter data on the statement of the defendant, and the case will be lost. It is unrealistic to prove anything in a court of second instance, let alone a cassation.
The only way to submit an application in advance to the court registry. On your copy, ask to put a stamp on the adoption of the document. In such a situation, the judge has no choice but to take into account the opinion of the defendant.
The court must take into account the opinion of the applicant, who is the proper defendant. The opinion of a third party does not matter. An exception is the risk of the defendant's claims arising from such a third party.
As part of the appeal proceedings, the application is accepted if, during the trial in the first instance, the court illegally ignored it. The court of appeal will consider the application if it reverses the previous decision and reopened the dispute instead of the first instance.
Finally
What is the limitation period for a credit card? The same 3 years, according to the provisions of the Civil Code. Judicial practice has not yet developed a unified approach to solving this issue, despite the presence of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces. Moreover, this authority itself often ignores its own instructions.
If the bank was really late in bringing a lawsuit, it is necessary to tell the defendant during the trial as early as possible, before the judge leaves the deliberation room.
The timing should be subject to a number of rules. Even a description of the statute of limitations on a credit card is not such a simple task, especially the practical application of recommendations.
