Suit-readiness
Suit-readiness — Suit-readiness is the pre-filing determination that an account carries the documentation, ownership proof, balance support, and limitations-period clearance needed to sustain a collection lawsuit.
The term is firm and client vocabulary, not a defined regulatory concept, but the CFPB has specified its content. The Portfolio Recovery consent order of September 9, 2015 prohibits initiating a debt collection lawsuit without four things: Original Account-Level Documentation showing the consumer's name, the last four digits of the account number at charge-off, and the claimed amount (with a documented explanation and legal basis for any amount exceeding the charge-off balance); a chronological list of all prior owners with transfer dates; certified bills of sale referencing the specific debt; and either a document signed by the consumer opening the account or documentation reflecting a purchase, payment, or other actual use of the account. Bank clients typically encode these as a pre-suit checklist in placement instructions, and the firm's ability to evidence the check — not merely to have performed it — is what an oversight sample tests.
Primary sources
See also
- Account mediaAccount media is the underlying account-level documentation for a debt — the signed agreement, periodic statements, transaction history, and payment records — as distinct from the summary data fields that travel in a placement or sale file.
- Chain of titleChain of title is the documented, unbroken sequence of ownership transfers of a debt from the creditor at charge-off through each successive owner to the party now attempting to collect or sue.
- Affidavit of debtAn affidavit of debt is a sworn statement — often the only evidence supporting a default or summary judgment — attesting to the existence, ownership, and amount of a consumer debt based on the affiant's review of business records.
- Time-barred debtA time-barred debt is a debt for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired, and Regulation F flatly prohibits a debt collector from bringing or threatening to bring legal action to collect it.
- SamplingSampling is the selection of a subset of accounts, calls, letters, or files for transaction testing, sized and structured to support a conclusion about the compliance of the whole population.
Where this appears
Last reviewed 2026-07-29
This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.