- A collection agency may file a lawsuit for an unpaid telephone bill. In Alabama, the judgment from the lawsuit allows a creditor to seize a portion of your wages and bank accounts to cover the overdue debt. It may also place liens against personal property such as your car.
- The statute of limitations for lawsuits on a bad phone bill debt in Alabama is two years. Thus, after two years pass, a collection agency can continue using alternate debt collection methods, such as telephone calls, but cannot legally file a lawsuit to recover the overdue telephone bill.
- Sometimes collection agencies ignore the statute of limitations and file lawsuits anyway. If the debtor does not inform the court of the expired statute, the collection agency can obtain a judgment by default. In cases like these, the consumers may sue the collection agency for violating federal collection laws upholding each state's statute of limitations.