out of the blue collection letter..

[Anonymous]

 Out of the blue, my husband got a collection letter in the mail today for $7000 on some credit card. He can not remember ever having this card . About 12 years ago he had an old charge off on a credit card but this has long been gone from his credit report and he cant remember if this is the same card .  I am worried that  whatever this collection is it will be  newly reported on his credit report.  Is it possible for an old debt to show up again after it  has already dropped off the report years ago? We are going to be applying for a mortgage in the next few months and he has good credit so we are very nervous about this.  By the way, he opted out about 3 weeks ago and suddenly this shows up so not sure what is going on there..  Also FICO trackers for both TU and Eqifax do not show any new collection so far.. Can agencies attempt to collect on really old debts without having to report to the credit bureaus or does a collection attempt mean that this collection has to and will show up on  his credit report?  Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

[guiness56]

If the debt is 12 years old it can never be put back on his CR.

The CAs can attempt to collect forever. And no, it does not have to be on your CR.   Once the SOL in your state has expired, they can't sue you and win if you use expired SOL as a defense.  A debt does not go away until it is paid.

Since he is unsure of the debt but is relatively certain it is the old CC CO, he can send a DV letter.  If they validate the debt you can send them a cease and desist letter.

On the other hand, if this is not the old debt but something else, it could still be within SOL. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you. He is pretty sure that the only thing it could be is that really old debt. It is the only card he ever had other then the ones he has now. Unless it's a fake collection it has to be that card. It is actually closer to 15 years old so the fact that it showed up all of a sudden really freaked me out. Sounds like they can attemp to collect but this can not affect his credit at this point so that's good. I would just hate for this to be the thing negatively affects our mortgage application, as everything looks pretty good for us otherwise .

[DI]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you. He is pretty sure that the only thing it could be is that really old debt. It is the only card he ever had other then the ones he has now. Unless it's a fake collection it has to be that card. It is actually closer to 15 years old so the fact that it showed up all of a sudden really freaked me out. Sounds like they can attemp to collect but this can not affect his credit at this point so that's good. I would just hate for this to be the thing negatively affects our mortgage application, as everything looks pretty good for us otherwise .

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They must have did a skip trace to get you all address.  The collection letter should say who the original creditor is.  It is important to know for sure whether or not this is the same old debt from 15 years ago.

[notw1031]

I got a letter similar to what you're explaining. It was for a car loan my wife had in 1995 that she gave back due to her being 19 and could no longer afford it. When they sent the letter it freaked me out as we just moved into our new house and been there maybe 2 months in 2009 and here we are getting a $6000. bill and this was the first one mind you that was ever sent. When she called to find out about it the rep said "I need your social security number to pull it up" and she said no I won't give you that but will give you the account number listed on the paper sent. The rep started yelling and stated "he can't help her without her social" and she said well then I guess you can't help me and the rep hung up on her..lol. Come to find out they do soft inquiry's on her every so often and get her address. This was all part of an "opt-out" notice too. It's a scam they are trying to pull. Just ignore it, keep what they sent you but never, ever give them any info as it is nothing you are any longer responsible for. We got another letter January of this year and the funny thing is, it says you have 10 days to accept this offer of settlement of debt owed, yet they sent it about 25 days after the bill date notice and past the window of settlement....ie they said respond by Jan 10th, they sent the letter Jan 22, I received it Jan 25th and the date on the bill was Jan 1st.  Such a scam! I hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone. We did some research and we are sure this was for the debt that is more than 15 years old.  I am feeling more reassured that this will not show up on the credit report as it so old.  Do you think opting out recently had anything to do with this or is it just a coincidence that the letter showed up this week? 

[guiness56]

It cannot return to your report so you are good.

It is probably outside SOL for suing so you can send them a nice cease and desist letter.  Tell them to never contact you in anyway about this debt again.

Not sure if opting out had anything to do with it.  When was the last time you applied for credit?

[notw1031]

Opting-out probably does have something to do with it as they sent that notice as a paper insert with the bill. I'm not sure how that works but it has been 16 years for her. If they want to waste their time and paper sending the letter with no response I say feel free..lol. We won't contact them again due to the last conversation but they will try to get all info out of you that they can and we aren't willing to oblige.

[DI]

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@notw1031 wrote:

I got a letter similar to what you're explaining. It was for a car loan my wife had in 1995 that she gave back due to her being 19 and could no longer afford it. When they sent the letter it freaked me out as we just moved into our new house and been there maybe 2 months in 2009 and here we are getting a $6000. bill and this was the first one mind you that was ever sent. When she called to find out about it the rep said "I need your social security number to pull it up" and she said no I won't give you that but will give you the account number listed on the paper sent. The rep started yelling and stated "he can't help her without her social" and she said well then I guess you can't help me and the rep hung up on her..lol. Come to find out they do soft inquiry's on her every so often and get her address. This was all part of an "opt-out" notice too. It's a scam they are trying to pull. Just ignore it, keep what they sent you but never, ever give them any info as it is nothing you are any longer responsible for. We got another letter January of this year and the funny thing is, it says you have 10 days to accept this offer of settlement of debt owed, yet they sent it about 25 days after the bill date notice and past the window of settlement....ie they said respond by Jan 10th, they sent the letter Jan 22, I received it Jan 25th and the date on the bill was Jan 1st.  Such a scam! I hope this helps!

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That is a violation of the FDCPA.