Georgia State Law on Credit Card Debt Collection
- Creditors generally can't garnish a Georgia resident's wages to collect delinquent credit card debts without a court order. Wage garnishments require an employer to withhold part of a person's salary, which goes to a creditor or lender to pay off credit card accounts or loans. A creditor also can seek a court order to seize money in a bank account. However, creditors usually can't seize federal benefits that a person receives, such as retirement funds from the Social Security Administration.
- The statute of limitations on credit card debt in Georgia is four years. The law restricts the amount of time a creditor has to sue a resident to collect delinquent credit card debts. However, some credit card issuers may gain additional time to sue a consumer by claiming their credit card debt is a written contract due to the written cardholder agreement that comes with the account. Georgia's statute of limitations on debts tied to written contracts is six years. In such cases, a creditor could have an additional two years to sue a consumer to collect a delinquent credit card debt.
- Georgia residents have some protection afforded to them under the U.S. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Among other things, the federal law requires every debt collector to verify a debt by telling consumers which creditor they owe and how much they owe. Furthermore, Georgia residents who think they don't owe a debt can send a written notice to the collector explaining that they already paid off the debt, or that the debt isn't theirs. That notice should reach the collector within 30 days of receiving the first collection notice. A collection agency is restricted from continuing contact with consumers if it can't provide information that proves consumers owe a debt they have denied owing.
- The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also places restrictions on when and how collectors contact consumers. Collectors generally can't contact consumers by phone before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree to an earlier or later contact time. People also can send a written notice to tell a collector to stop contacting them by phone, or they can tell a collection agency to stop contacting them altogether. However, consumers who don't deal with a collector at all may face a lawsuit, because a collector has no other way to settle the debt.