Debt collection from charged off in 1999

[etechjc]

Appearantly my wife has a debt some comapany is threatining to sue her over. It is for a overdue by a $133 joint bank account her and her X had very long time ago. They are threatening to sue for $1026 now. We called them up and asked what is this for and when was it charged off, He told us what it was and that is was charged off in Aug, 1999. I asked why are you still bothering us if its past statute in Missouri. He said you still owe it and if you don't pay up NOW we will take you to court by the end of the month. My wife still doesn't remeber this. If it indeed was hers we can't find any records to the fact in our records. When we asked for verification, They said the "Threat to sue letter" was the verification.

How would you handle this? Does this company have any teeth so to speak?

[WhatMoney]

Your question belongs in Collections, not General Talk.

[junker]

i get those all the time from old debts, tell them what they can do with their claim and hang up....they are trying to intimidate you.....if you havent paid on this since 99 and it is well beyond the statute...you have a valid defense IF they did try and sue...i have a drawer full of old threatening letters...thats as far as they go....threaten......ask them WHERE they are going to file and WHEN....are they liscensed to practice in your state....tell them to send the summons so you can get it to legal aid.....etc....mess with them......

[etechjc]

WhatMoney: My bad. Im new to this forum and didn't see the Debt collections area. Ill get it right next time.

Junker: Thank you, Thats what we were unsure about. Like I said, My wife wasn't even sure where this debt came from.

[frogger]

He said you still owe it and if you don't pay up NOW we will take you to court by the end of the month.

And you just say......... "I'll see you there!"

[catleg]

The solution here is "Cease and Desist" letter.

[AngelinaCatHub]

The solution here is "Cease and Desist" letter.

Yes and no. Here is the scoop. This is a scam for one thing. They KNOW they are out of S.O.L. and are probably not the original creditor. Say very, very little as with your words you could resurrect the S.O.L. by any kind of admission or action. Do not acknowledge in any way a debt ever existed. If you are intent on writing a C & D letter always refer to the "alleged" debt. Don't say thing like "what do I owe". That is an admission.

It is my opinion that you should just ignore them. If you receive anything in a legal way such as a billing statement, and you have previously been discharged in a bk, or will soon be, send the bill back with a copy of discharge and scratch down at the bottom "Do not bother me again". Leave it as is. 'Hub

[GoingDown]

Definitely be careful what you say in your letter with old zombie debts.

This is what I would say in my letter to them...


"I demand that you cease and desist from any communication with me."

AND THAT'S ALL!

Chances are after they get that letter, you will never hear from them again. But if they do sue, then file a written answer based on statute of limitations and attend the court hearing, and you will win.

[catleg]

Yes I always put alleged debt in such letters. Just like Capt Willard in Apocalypse Now.

" I am not aware of any such operations, nor would I be inclined to discuss them, if they, did, in fact, exist".

Kind of like Goldman Sacks.

[jwmc1]

I would say that you have no knowledge of this debt and that they are to cease all contact with you. And yes, say nothing else...if you even hint at this or agree to pay anything or ask to pay anything they could trigger a re-aging and the SOL would start over. Just stick with not knowing anything about it and never ever speak with them again.

[WhatMoney]

There are no State Statutes that will reset the SOL based on an oral admission of the debt over the telephone. You would need to agree to restart a payment plan to reset the SOL, and that is only in States that do not require a written signed agreement before any SOL is reset. (see quote) The people here telling you to never admit the debt or you will reset the SOL are just be cautious and repeating what they have heard on the Intertubes. If YOU can prove the debt is out-of-statute, there is no way they can win a lawsuit against you - and they all know that.

The statute of limitations is only extended by a new written promise to pay in these states:
Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Texas, Virginia, West Virgina, Wisconsin.

So what happens if they "re age" your debt anyway? They do this all the time when reporting the debt to a CRA. That does not give them any more rights in court, since the re aging was illegal - and they will not be able to prove the debt was restarted without documentation which includes a repayment agreement.

I agree when you write them a C&D letter to call the debt alleged however, since they should have to prove the debt is yours in any case, in-statute or not. Same as with a DV letter - don't admit what you are asking them to prove.

Now any zombie debt collector that admits the debt was from 1999 and still claims they can sue you and get a judgment is just a liar that hopes you don't know any better. The longest SOL for open-ended accounts (all CC cards) is 8 years in WY and MT.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebu...itations.shtml

And before anyone speaks up, yes if you have an SOL debt, and the collector sues you anyway which would require that they lie in court about the age of the debt, and you do not defend yourself in court using the SOL defense, they could get a judgment on SOL debt. However the judgment would be invalid and easily reversed if that happened. The very existence of these zombie debt collector slimeballs is based on the chance that all of this will happen to some naive debtor who does nothing to defend himself.

[etechjc]

Thanks, you guys are awesome. We will send them a C&D letter and we will be careful.