received today.

[Fantasia]

Hi,
I received a letter from a coolection company today (nothing new there lol). The letter was typical trying to settle a debt, this one on behalf of Discover. In the body of the letter it stated that "Due to the age of the debt, Discover is unable to sue.''...and mentioning that if i make a payment it will reset the debt.. So, does this mean the SOL has kicked in?? and why warn me of re aging thed ebt if they are trying to collect and want me to pay them??? It has been roughly four yrs since i have paid any of my cc debt. I live in FL and havent been able to figure out if SOL here is four years, or five years. Guess it four??

[Nursemikki]

If I understand correctly, Discover may not be able to sue, but a collection agency can pursue for payment if they bought the old debt.

[df04527]

Some (very few) are actually cool about that and will honestly tell you, up front, they know where they stand. They are not all under handed so to speak. 99.999% wouldn't do that but these guys seem pretty cool.

So now, yes they could still sue you, although doubtful and yes it is very true that any payment resets the clock.

hth

[df04527]

and yes they could sell the debt. Debt collectors aren't usually frightened off by silly laws. *sarcasm*

[keepmine]

They may not be frightened by laws but, the FTC getting in their pocket book gets there attention.
A lot of collection agencies are spooked by this FTC action against Asset Acceptance. Part of the settlement is, they must inform debtors if the debt is beyond the SOL for a lawsut.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/business/ftc-fines-a-collector-of-debt-2-5-million.html?_r=0

[bcohen]

What the letter is saying is that as things stand right now, Discover cannot sue because the statute of limitations has expired. However, if you choose to pay anything toward the debt, that could (depending on the laws of your state) reset the SOL, thus allowing Discover to sue. Thus, the smart course of action is to tuck the letter away in a safe place, and do not contact these people nor pay anything toward the debt.

[GoingDown]

What the letter is saying is that as things stand right now, Discover cannot sue because the statute of limitations has expired. However, if you choose to pay anything toward the debt, that could (depending on the laws of your state) reset the SOL, thus allowing Discover to sue. Thus, the smart course of action is to tuck the letter away in a safe place, and do not contact these people nor pay anything toward the debt.

Yes, this is good advice.

Keep that letter forever. And I would go a step further. Scan it into a computer and upload it to a gmail account or google drive and that way you will always be able to find a copy of it if you need it.

It also means that they know the debt is beyond the SOL and will not sue you if you do not make a payment. But if they are still calling you on the phone and you want to get them to stop it, just send them a simple cease and desist letter. Be careful how you word it...

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

And that is all I would say in the letter. If it is a third party debt collector, it will almost always get them to stop calling you. If it is an original creditor, many of them will voluntarily honor it, eventhough they are not bound by the FDCPA.