Re: Debt from 11 years ago

Posted by CardReport.Com on February 15, 2001 at 01:14:49:

In Reply to: Debt from 11 years ago posted by Chrischem on January 21, 2001 at 10:16:12:

The statute of limitations is the time limit for
filing a lawsuit against a debtor. A creditor or
a third-party collection agency can theoretically
attempt to collect a debt via letters and phone
calls, forever.

However, a third-party collection agency is *not*
legally allowed to engage in excessive harassment
or threats. The main limits for their behaviour are
set by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The FDCPA also gives the debtor the right to order
a collection agency to stop calling and writing
with regular demands (e.g. "Pay this money now.")
After that, the only permissible communication
would be notification of specific actions.

At this point, they cannot legitimately report
this item to be placed on your credit reports,
since the time limits for negative items on credit
reports are based on the date of the oringinal
delinquency. But be aware that they might try it
anyway, with a deceptive date (e.g. when they
bought the account), which might possibly necessitate
a dispute with the credit bureaus.

Check out our *Credit Problems* section (the link
is at left, and read our Collection Agency FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions), and our article on
bad credit time limits. You can also get information
on how to obtain copies of your credit reports in
our *Credit Overview* and *Credit Tools* sections.

Good Luck.

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