Questions regarding Massachusetts debt collector licensing.

[Jeff532003]

Hi Guys,

First some backstory. so I have managed to bring my score from a 530 last year up to a 700 currently pulled by BOA the other day.  My report still has a few baddies.  Some student loan late payments from 4 years ago that are stuck on there and also two collections from when I left my girlfriend in Texas that are apartment related.  One is for a 160 dollar collection of the failure of the return of the cable box.  Guess she kept it and the other was something about a bankruptcy from the apartment complex i lived at but I never owed them any money after I left.  I have been fighting that one for years and its closed on EX and EQ but still shows as a closed collection and active on TU.  They report every month as well and I continue to dispute it.

Now for my questions,  when I left texas I moved to Massachusetts and became a resident of this state.  Both collections where filed after I had changed residency.  The debts where incurred while I was a legal resident of Texas.  So Massachusetts law is pretty strict as far as the regulation and licensing of debt collectors.  Neither of these agencies show up in the online database when I search for them.  Are they leagally allowed to attempt to collect this debt from a Massachusetts resident?  I am unsure if Mass is like Lousiana where you must be licensed to collect no matter what or if its more like Florida where a license is only required for collectiong debt that occued while in the state.  If anyone has this information and can share I'd appreciate it.  

If I do find out they are illegally attempting to collect I would love to send that cease and desist and delete all pertenent information from the CRA letters to these two.  Its only 2.5 more years until they age off but still it would feel great to be rid of them now and feel my report is as clean as is possible.

Thanks,

Jeff