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Ancient charge off, resurfaces like a monster after a decade.
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Posted by 'Marla (12.252.217.61) on October 20, 2002 at 19:31:10:
O.K. now maybe some good soul can advise me on this situation. Please. Aproximatly 10 years ago, I left an abusive spouse and to screw me over, while I styed in a womens shelter for several months he found my credit card and charged around $900.00 on it. When I returned to our residence at the time I retrieved my card and cut it up never to use it again before fleeing to a foreign county to seek safetly through the help of a US military official, and to secure my divorce. When I was over seas I attempted to pay of the account, but was told by a bank bearing the name of my then credit card that I couldn't make a payment for a US bill there. Lets just say that at the time my life was very complicated and I had no money, was living from shelther to shelter and on top of it going though a divorce and I was flat broke and had NO IDEA how to force him to pay for abusing my credit card without him fining out where I had escaped to. When I fineally returned to the United States, there was a big ugly #9? charge off on my credit record and for seven long misreble years I had seriously marred credit. I didn't get any letters from the company to pay the bill, only ruined credit. I paid off one other credit charge off similar, but I was low down poor and I figured the damage was done. So now, here is where it gets weird. The other day, (over 10 years later) I get a letter from some other company who supposeldy bought the other one and they sent a letter using the last name I haen't used in 10 years demading to collect the debt and it was now over $2000.00! It's not even on my credit report anymore but four years ago it was only $900.00. And they said in this note that if I didn't respond that it would be assumed that I actually owed it and so on. Needles to say I was disgusted. I figure after over seven years of pure credit hell, they can go there! So where does this extra $1,000 charge come from? How can they leagally pursue it if the statue of limitations has long run out? So I made a copy of the letter and then I stuffed it back in the envelope and sent it back saying, "return to sender wrong address". It was like an ugly nightmare from the past! At the time I was running for my life literally for about seven of those years just trying to stay alive, mostly scared to give my name out for fear my ex would hunt me down again and make good on threats. When I recieved this notice I was actually pretty traumetized by it. I didn't think leagally "they" could still pursue it after 10 years has passed. I'm now remarried, have decent credit again and a home and an old but running car, and I live far from where I used to. Should I be worried about this latest notice? Should I hire a lawyer to send this company a nasty note? Should I respond to it? Should I ignore it? What is the very best course of action? I'm actually very mad about this. I feel I have suffered enough. When I was on the run, I had a great deal of poverty to deal with and I know what it's like to go hungry. I know it's not the creditors problem, but I want then to take this bill and stick it where the sun does not shien. I've already had to pay for something I didn't deserve. Please kindly advise me of my rights. Thank you.
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