Re: Old Debt

Posted by Linda on July 26, 2001 at 01:14:35:

In Reply to: Old Debt posted by Barbara Mateen on July 25, 2001 at 20:56:25:

Barbara,

Depending on the state where you reside now,this debt is probably past the statute of limitations. That doesn't mean the collection agency can't keep trying to collect. Look here to see http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html

What has probably happened, is the college wrote off the amount you owed. Then with all the databases being sold and shuffled around, your written off debt got sold to a collection agency. The College isn't trying to collect it after all these years. There is more and more of this happening all the time, with debts going back to the beginning of computer database time.

The first thing to do is send a letter to the collection agency requesting that they prove that his is your debt. It is your right under the law, and many times it makes them stop right then and leave you alone. There are sample letters here: http://mix6.com/credit

You might want to check your credit reports and see if this "Debt" is on there.

Then, since you have a graduate degree , go read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - it's on the FTC website. There is a good overview of the process of getting rid of these guys and making sure no one else comes after you on the site I gave you above.

Then, if there is crud all over your credit report, you can tackle that, LOL. It's covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, also on the FTC website.

It isn't so difficult when you know your rights. Most people don't.

Hope this helps

Linda

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