Credit Card Question

[Planogirl]

Experian will not report a debt that is older than 7 years from the date of delinquency that led to whatever negative condition the debt is in now. It doesn't matter how many companies purchase the debt, the original delinquency date should not change. An exception could be if they file a judgment but that is handled differently.

If they try to add the debt to her report, urge her to file disputes with the credit bureaus. If she has any paperwork that relates to the original debt, tell her that she might want to dig that up too.

None of this has anything to do with statute of limitations. That will vary depending on location and possibly type of debt.

 

[Leajess99]

Odds are, they don't have the proof to send. But, if they do send her something she can send a letter to them citing the statute of limitations has been exceeded and that they are legally unable to collect on the debt.

I had a similar situation happen to my mother a few months ago. Debt collector called about a debt that my mother does not remember. Based on the little information they gave her (including the date of the debt from the original creditor) I was able to find out that it was outside of the statute of limitations for collection. I went to www.creditboards.com for advice on how to handle it. They suggested that I send a "FOAD" letter (a very colorful acronym that I can't repeat here, google it to find a sample) to the collection agent via certified mail. So, that's what we did.

It is unlawful for them to report on a debt that is not legally collectible.

Oh, and mom's credit report was clean too.

It is and some bottom feeders will try but once you dispute it on your credit report it usually gets removed. I have one company that tried this and tried to say the last payment was made on a date with 2 months of when they posted it so all I did was tell the credit bureau they are fraudulantly adding this with a falsified date and it was removed within a week.

 

[disneymom2003]

No. She DOES NOT have to pay . In most states the statute of limitations is 7 years. This was just on Clark Howards show, today. He said sometimes collections agencies pay 1 cent on the dollar and then try to make the person pay. Tell her NOT to pay them 1 penny or respond to their calls. Very important! If she pays them anything that reopens that bill and then they can make her pay it all. Here is a link:http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2007/08/02/12491/

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

No. She DOES NOT have to pay . In most states the statute of limitations is 7 years. This was just on Clark Howards show, today. He said sometimes collections agencies pay 1 cent on the dollar and then try to make the person pay. Tell her NOT to pay them 1 penny or respond to their calls. Very important! If she pays them anything that reopens that bill and then they can make her pay it all. Here is a link:http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2007/08/02/12491/

She did not pay and did not agree to pay. They urged her to and she said they have to send something in the mail she told them she will not say anything over the phone...she said she has never received anything from them (true ...never from this company) even though they state they have sent her something every month for months. They finally agreed to mail something. I am confused on the statute of limitations. Does the clock for the satute of limitations start when she goes into default (9 years ago) or when she stopped paying anything (8+ years ago) or when the original company turned it over to colections? I am so confused on when the clock actually starts ticking.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Although I do not have an update I do have something to add to this. The same company called my SIL back today. She did not answer and let it go to voicemail. They called to offer her a fabulous settlement offer. They are unable to issue the settlement in the verification she requested so she is urged to call them back ASAP so she can take advantage of the offer. She called me confused (but at least her mood was a bit lifted) and asked what I thought about the call (no she was not tempted to pay thanks to the advice here). I told her they sound like they are kind of deperate to get ahold of any money. Which to me sounds better than them coming after her both guns blazing.

 

[seashoreCM]

Do not send any money no matter how small an amount.

If you did that you would start the clock and make the debt collectible again.

If that long (7 years, 8 years in some states) passed and the statute of limitations applied, the debt could still exist but the creditor may not use courts or sheriffs or arbitrators or other law enforcement to collect it. The creditor can be a collection agency, who also may not use courts or sheriffs etc. to collect. And at no time, statute of limitations or not, may a creditor use self help to collect any debt.

 

[surfergirl602]

And also have her check the Statute of Limitations for debt collection in her state. If the last activity on the card was longer ago from the Statute they doi not have a legal leg to stand on.

Check this site http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/SOL-by-State.html

It sound as if they are a "bottom feeder" that will pay (very few) pennies on the dollar for old debt and attempt to profit by scaring people.

Do not sign anything. If you write to them, specifically state "This is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of the purported debt" and you can type your name but do not, under any circumstance, sign your name.

Just curious... why should you not sign your name?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Just curious... why should you not sign your name?

It is very easy, using current technology, for a signature to show up on a document that was not actually signed by an individual.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Do not send any money no matter how small an amount.

If you did that you would start the clock and make the debt collectible again.

If that long (7 years, 8 years in some states) passed and the statute of limitations applied, the debt could still exist but the creditor may not use courts or sheriffs or arbitrators or other law enforcement to collect it. The creditor can be a collection agency, who also may not use courts or sheriffs etc. to collect. And at no time, statute of limitations or not, may a creditor use self help to collect any debt.

I looked up my state and it was very confusing as to what SOL was. It ststes some debt is 5 years and some is 8 years...either way for my SIL it was 8 years that the debt was charged off by the original CC and 8 years since the last activity. BTW what did you mean by saying the creditor may not use self help?

 

[surfergirl602]

It is very easy, using current technology, for a signature to show up on a document that was not actually signed by an individual.

Wow, you learn something new every day!!