Existing law prescribes periods for commencement of various actions. Among others, an action upon book account must be commenced within 4 years of the date of the last item on the account, as specified. Existing law defines “book account” for these purposes as a detailed statement constituting the principal record of transactions between a debtor and a creditor.
This bill would exclude consumer credit accounts debt from the definition of “book account.” The bill would define consumer debt to mean any
obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services that are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes and that is initially payable on the face of a note or contract.
Existing law permits actions to recover money damages. Under existing case law, courts recognize that common counts may be used to do so as a simplified form of pleading to assert the existence of various forms of monetary indebtedness.
This bill would prohibit the use of common counts, as defined, to recover consumer debt. debt, as defined.