Getting phone calls on a debt that is 6 years old

Tischer712 · ‎05-25-2012

Hey guys, I received a phone call from a collection company trying to collect on a debt that is from 6 years ago. I know the SoL in Florida is 5 years. They are calling me repeatedly through the day. They are trying to tell me I offered to make payments on the account and they are willing to accept them now, for 20 dollars a month. This is a 7k debt. That would take YEARS to pay off, and only extend how long it is on my credit. I told them no, and that I never offered to make payments, and I never even acknowledged that this debt was mine. I only called the actual OC to ask to have it GW removed. She got annoyed and hung up. What are my rights on this situation. Aren't they supposed to cease collection attempts if the SoL is out of limit?

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proudnavymom · ‎05-25-2012

@Tischer712 wrote:
Hey guys, I received a phone call from a collection company trying to collect on a debt that is from 6 years ago. I know the SoL in Florida is 5 years. They are calling me repeatedly through the day. They are trying to tell me I offered to make payments on the account and they are willing to accept them now, for 20 dollars a month. This is a 7k debt. That would take YEARS to pay off, and only extend how long it is on my credit. I told them no, and that I never offered to make payments, and I never even acknowledged that this debt was mine. I only called the actual OC to ask to have it GW removed. She got annoyed and hung up. What are my rights on this situation. Aren't they supposed to cease collection attempts if the SoL is out of limit?

Just because the SOL has expired does not mean that they can't try to collect on the debt. They can try to collect on it forever. If you are sued over the debt, though and the SOL has expired, you can use that as a defense.

Starting Scores TU 7/30/09 FICO 493 EQ 9/5/10 FICO 477 EX 11/14/2011 (lender pull) 575
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llecs · ‎05-25-2012

I don't know LF's laws specifically, but in some states, a payment can reset SOL. All it takes is one annoyed debtor to make a small payment to get them off his/her back to have the SOL clock restart at 0, in some states. That's why they call and bug you. And yes, they can do it for years. I still have one hounding DW for a debt whose SOL expired over 9 years ago.