Had I known about the Statute of Limitations in New York I could have used that for my recent tragedy. Just when things feel like they are going in the right direction, things start spiraling out of control.
Back in 2009, I had purchased a cell phone (unfortunately with a line of credit) from U.S. Cellular. I had paid my bill faithfully, but after my friend's house underwent a foreclosure down in West Virginia I had to come back to New York. My cell phone was also stolen at this point. Needless to say, that was the end of me paying for the cell phone when I reported it stolen to U.S. Cellular and then they tried to charge me $500.00 for a new phone meanwhile the flip-phone I had at the time only cost me $30.00. I couldn't justify spending $500.00 on a brand new phone at the time.
Years went by and I had no idea they were pursuing me for legal action. I have just graduated college back in May of 2016 and even struggled finding a job at first. My first job after graduating college was a retail job that I still work in for at least one to two days a week. (After months of bureaucratic bull shit, I finally got the Eastern Suffolk Boces job as a substitute teacher but that's a story for another time.) Needless to say, I haven't been able to pay my student loans back yet and instead of the original $45,000.00 in debt I am currently in through federal loans, it has gone up to $47,491.79 and counting. But tell me again, how Millenials have it easy?
Still, in regards to U.S. Cellular, they apparently had a hard time contacting me so they reached one of my brothers who currently lives in Texas. He gave me the number to Walker and Sons law firm with the case number.
Calling this number, I couldn't understand what a civil case was going against me for. Secretly I was hoping it was something to do with Dowling College. Sadly, it was not. I found out that U.S. Cellular put me on a collections agency even after I had spoken with them back in 09. They were trying to sue me for $500.79. I talked to them and worked out a payment plan in the amount of $300 and something split into 3 months of 117.00 per month for the next 3 months starting on December 30.
After I had agreed to this transaction, I was yelled at by my family for doing something so stupid. I didn't realize there was a statute of limitations in New York.
What is a Statute of Limitations?
According to a web site I found called criminal.findlaw.com this is what the term means:
"A statute of limitation is a law which forbids prosecutors from charging someone with a crime that was committed more than a specified number of years ago. The general purpose of statutes of limitation is to make sure convictions occur only upon evidence (physical or eyewitness) that has not deteriorated with time. After the period of the statute has run, the criminal is essentially free."
Happy holidays and happy New Year!
