10 Year Old Debt

[cashnocredit]

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@pizzadude wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

YES, aggie is correct,  If you make one single payment on an old debt the 7 years starts over.  For example if you owe $1000 10 years latter you make a payment of $1 you will now have $999 back in collections and it can stay on your report for 7 more years.  

This begs the retorical question,  "Then why should I pay off an old debt?"  because you could effectively hurt your credit score by paying off an old debt, because it will then show up as a paid off collections account.  

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That's not how it works.   The credit reporting time period for collections is 7.5 years from the date of first deliquency  ( DOFD ) of the original account.   This doesn't change regardless of whether you pay or do not pay.     If a collection agency alters the DOFD to be newer based on a payment they are in violation of the FDCPA.

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+1

This sometimes causes confusion because paying part of a time barred debt often does reset the state SOL but it never resets the FCRA reporting window. They are completely different animals.

As for paying such an old debt. If you now have the ability and feel morally obligated there is absolutely nothing wrong with paying the debt.  There just is no legal obligation to do so.

[pjnsydsmoma]

Wow! Crazy that I just recieved 2 offers from Asset Acceptance last week. I am also working on repairing my credit. I started to think that $89 to pay off a utility bill thats was over $1100 was a great offer. However, I started to think about how old the bill was. This is from a utility company in the state of Michigan. I have not lived in Michigan since the fall of 2000. So about 12 years now. I get a free copy of my credit reports each year but I am not signed up with any service where I can have access to my reports at any given time. I do use Credit Inform credit monitoring (free membership with my secured card thru Capital One). They have started to give us quarterly updates to our experian credit report. So I looked there and there is a section labeled REMOVED and one of the accounts ($500 debt) was listed there. The $1100 debt is no where on the report. Also, as I got to looking at the fine print on the Asset Acceptance letter at the bottom it clearly states "The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it, and we will not report it to any reporting acengy."  Wow.. so glad I saw this forum before I just sent them money on these in hopes of it helping my credit.

[cashnocredit]

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@pjnsydsmoma wrote:

Wow! Crazy that I just recieved 2 offers from Asset Acceptance last week. I am also working on repairing my credit. I started to think that $89 to pay off a utility bill thats was over $1100 was a great offer. However, I started to think about how old the bill was. This is from a utility company in the state of Michigan. I have not lived in Michigan since the fall of 2000. So about 12 years now. I get a free copy of my credit reports each year but I am not signed up with any service where I can have access to my reports at any given time. I do use Credit Inform credit monitoring (free membership with my secured card thru Capital One). They have started to give us quarterly updates to our experian credit report. So I looked there and there is a section labeled REMOVED and one of the accounts ($500 debt) was listed there. The $1100 debt is no where on the report. Also, as I got to looking at the fine print on the Asset Acceptance letter at the bottom it clearly states "The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it, and we will not report it to any reporting acengy."  Wow.. so glad I saw this forum before I just sent them money on these in hopes of it helping my credit.

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Amazing!  I've not seen that before. I wonder it they are disclosing this because of a class action settlement? Whatever the reason, it's refreshing.

[Kakki007]

I recently heard Suzi Orman say something about that if you acknowledge the debt or agree to send a partial payment at some date when a debtor calls or writes, it starts the statute of limitations all over again.  Check out Suzi Orman's website.  It might be on there somewhere.

[pizzadude]

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@Kakki007 wrote:

I recently heard Suzi Orman say something about that if you acknowledge the debt or agree to send a partial payment at some date when a debtor calls or writes, it starts the statute of limitations all over again.  Check out Suzi Orman's website.  It might be on there somewhere.

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Right, the renewing of the SOL will vary from state to state and is not the same in all cases, unlike the CRTP.    SOL is the period of time that a creditor has to bring legal action against you, but it is unrelated to the credit reporting time period ( CRTP ).

[climbinghigher]

Hi, I wanted to give you my experience on this. I live in Texas, and the sol is 4 years. I divorced and was left with debt problems. Midland Credit Collection mailed and called me forever. The negatives fell from my CR 7 years after they went late. Midland persisted, until I told them to stop calling because the sol was up and they were wasting time on me. They sold the account to bottom feeders that were even lower than them, one or two calls and they quit. And for people with IRS problems, they have 10 years to collect. Despite what you read, the IRS has 10 years to collect. This can be stalled by an OIC or an IS filing. Some people have posted that this is on your CR for 7 years if paid, 15 years if unpaid, and some CRA'S forever. This is not true, 10 years and you are clear.

[Anonymous]

Is there à difference with traffic tickets? I am receiving letters from an attorney in another state I lived in 11 years ago (ticket was from 12 years ago). I know I paid it but 11+ years and several moves later, I of course do not have the receipt anymore.

Thoughts? Thanks!

[Lasardo]

I was always advised not to ignore any dunning notices, to avoid any surprises, you may want to send a letter advising their SOL has ran out and to cease communication with you...But our mutual friend "Robert"has advised to disregard he generally knows what he is talking about even though his English usually requires a dictionary.LOL

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do do not ignore this thing.  Start with responding to the letter you received.  If you really owe the money perhaps the best thing to do is to try and settle it.  If you don't recognize the bill tell them that and ask for proof of some kind.  Also get the details on how to settle this with the original owner of the debt.  They can and will post the undisputed claim as a new debt.  It can be a real nightmare. 

[pizzadude]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is there à difference with traffic tickets? I am receiving letters from an attorney in another state I lived in 11 years ago (ticket was from 12 years ago). I know I paid it but 11+ years and several moves later, I of course do not have the receipt anymore.

Thoughts? Thanks!

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Unpaid traffic/parking tickets will usually result in a judgement against you, and could also lead to a warrant for your arrest.      It's best not to ignore those, even if there isn't a judgement reporting.    The courts may also use CAs to collect on their behalf which could result in a collection also appearing on your CRs.

ETA:    I'd recommend to follow up with the court to ensure that they have record of your payment