debt collection? (updated post #10)

[HGD24]

I received a letter from a debt collector stating that a town I moved out of in 1997 is trying to collect money related to a car I had back then. The "debt" due date is 1999, 1.5 years after I moved out of the town. We can't figure out what I could owe that was due 1.5 years after I left, unless the town thinks I still lived there in 1998 and charged me a registration fee for that year.

We've always had amazing credit and never had any problems making payments on anything (if we can't afford it, we don't buy it) so we've never been contacted by any collection agency. I don't know what to do or what's going to happen next. The letter states that I have 30 days to contact the collection agency to dispute the debt and ask for information about the debt. If I dispute it, will they begin making nasty calls and sending nasty letters or will they really just send me the information about this "debt" and let me prove that I don't owe the debt?

 

[MickeySP]

Call the town direct. They have to produce proof of the debt. I would call the collection agency and tell them you are dealing directly with the town.

If no debt exist get it in writing from the town. Do yo have proof of when you moved?

 

[Ilike2Lurk]

You will get TONS of help if you post this on creditboards.com

 

[HGD24]

Will the Town talk to us or will they turn us away since they sent this to a collection agency?

Yes, we keep paperwork for years and years and should have paperwork proving our residency. We have things like leases, utilities bills and we can probably get DMV records showing that we got new licenses, since we moved to a new state.

 

[MickeySP]

Yes they will unless the collection is with a sheriff dept. Proof of the debt has to be produced on request.

 

[barkley]

i'de call the assessors office for the town. they can tell you if they even use a collection agency and what kind of arrearages or unpaid bills they would refer for. seeing as the debt is pushing 10 years old i'de be leary about it.

as for car registration is'nt that administered in most states through the dmv-in which case the town would'nt be the interested party it would be the state (and i know in california they don't do collections-they just let those fees and penalties keep piling up until the next time you try to register a car or you get pulled over and the police impound). you could check with the dmv for your prior state to see if it was an issue with them.

property taxes (city portion) is usualy administered by counties-but that goes along with the physical property and it gets paid before property transfers so unless you still own property there-not likely that's the debt (you'de get a tax lien notice before they likely went to the expense of referring to collections).


only thing we ever paid directly to a 'town' or 'city' was our water/sewer bill. in that case it could go to collections but doubt it would be 10 years after the fact-at least in the town we lived in, they would keep both services going despite how much you owned (health and safety law), then file a lien on your home (or if it was a rental on the actual homeowner's home).

 

[HGD24]

Car registration & excise tax are paid in the same bill at city hall in our current state. The city takes their portion for the taxes and sends the remainder along to the state. I'm not sure how our former state handled the process. Maybe it's the excise tax they're after, but we left the state 6 months after I purchased the car in question and I paid the excise tax when I bought it so maybe they think we lived there in 1998 (which we didn't) and are trying to collect on the excise tax from that year.

I'll call the town office on Monday to see what they will tell me.

Barkley - I agree with you. The reason I'm so leery is because it's been over 10 years since this "debt" supposedly was due and we had our mail forwarded for a year after we moved and the town could have easily found us before now.

Thanks for your responses so far! This information is extremely helpful!

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

There is a statute of limitations on debt collection check the link below:

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html#1

also if this was a car, they can not collect because you did not register the car there most cities send you a bill to register then you have to go to the court house and register if you do not then it means you have either sold the car, wrecked and totalled out the car or moved, never heard of having to informed a city that you will not be registering. Sounds like a scam to me.

 

[bumbershoot]

You could call the town, but you also should send a letter to the collection agency, AFTER reading through all of the "how to word my letter to teh collection agency" threads on creditboards. There's a specific way to ask/tell them to make sure the debit is valid and it's actually YOU.

 

[HGD24]

Update:
I called the town office and they confirmed that it is a bill for tax for the year after I moved out of the state. I have to provide them with proof that I registered the car in another state before October of 1998. So...we're off to try to find paperwork from 11.5 years ago to prove that we don't owe this debt, which of course, comes complete with $400 worth of interest. Wish us luck in finding that paperwork.

 

[snykymom]

Update:
I called the town office and they confirmed that it is a bill for tax for the year after I moved out of the state. I have to provide them with proof that I registered the car in another state before October of 1998. So...we're off to try to find paperwork from 11.5 years ago to prove that we don't owe this debt, which of course, comes complete with $400 worth of interest. Wish us luck in finding that paperwork.

You may be able to contact your new state's DMV to get proof of registration. Or your insurance company should definitely have that proof.

 

[HGD24]

We called the DMV and they are going to send us a copy of the registration. The woman I spoke with said the state we used to live in does this all of the time. In fact, before I even mentioned the state, she said, "Let me guess. You used to live in XX?"

 

[littleteapot]

Yay for new state!

 

[HsvTeacher]

We called the DMV and they are going to send us a copy of the registration. The woman I spoke with said the state we used to live in does this all of the time. In fact, before I even mentioned the state, she said, "Let me guess. You used to live in XX?"

Not that you have to tell, of course, but I'd be willing to guess that it was Connecticut?