Before worrying about civil action, and thus SOL, do you acknowledge the debt, and if so, are you planning to negotiate payment, such as a settlement or pay for not reporting?
Your current decision is whether to send a request for debt validation, or to contact them and negotiate for payment.
If you send a DV request within 30 days of their dunning notice, it will impose a cease collection bar on the debt collector, which will preclude them from any collection activities, including negotiation of a settlement or pay for not reporting. They will be under no period for or requirement to send any validation, so a DV may put you in a state of limbo until they choose to send validation. Are you OK with that, and want validation before paying, or do you acknowledge the debt, and want to move directly to getting it discharged?
The SOL will be determined by the state where they bring civil action. Debt collectors have the option under the FDCPA to bring civil action in either the state of current residency of the consumer or in the state where you signed the contract that created the debt. For several legal and administrative reasons, they will normally bring any civil action in your state of current residency. The SOL may vary depending upon whether you signed a written contract. What is your state of residency?
