What is a statute of limitations and does it relate to consumer protection defense?

A statute of limitations is the deadline that a creditor has to sue you, it's very important as a defense, it's one of the typical tools that we like to use, we often will have a client sued by a creditor after the statute is run. Sometimes our clients don't know what a statute of limitations is for their case. In the state of Florida, for instance, they have to sue on a credit debt within four years, on a written promissory note within five years. However, the state that you live in doesn't always govern it, you might have signed a contract, unknowingly, that provided for another form state law to apply. And that state law could be less, could be four years, could be up to 15 years, and so it's important to know what that law is, maybe consult with an attorney if you don't know, because that could be a very valuable defense to your case. If the creditor hasn't filed the lawsuit by the time that deadline runs they can't ever enforce that debt against you.