SOL & DV Questions

[Anonymous]

I have a Debt Collector calling me stating I have debt that needs to be paid. The debt they are referring to is an old account that I have long forgotten (even the OriginalCreditor has ignored it). It was a Capital One account I had back in 2000 and went delinquent on Oct 2002. The debt/account has been stating that they just bought thisaccount and has threatened lawsuits.

My question is what can they do exactly? I know I am past the SOL on the debt both on reporting on my credit (has long fallen off) and I thought the right for them to come after me. I lived in Florida at the time and their SOL is 5 years for Credit I believe. Would requesting DV restart my SOL? How can I get them off my back in regards to this debt? The Debt Collector is a notorious one for buying old debts (I searched them on this forum, the name escapes me now).

Any help would be appreciated.

[pizzadude]

You won't reset either the CRTP or SOL by sending them a DV. They can continue to try and collect on the debt forever though, even after SOL expires.

If you want them to go away, just send them a cease communications letter.

[FrugalRican]

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@pizzadude wrote:
You won't reset either the CRTP or SOL by sending them a DV. They can continue to try and collect on the debt forever though, even after SOL expires.

If you want them to go away, just send them a cease communications letter.

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+1

[Anonymous]

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@pizzadude wrote:
You won't reset either the CRTP or SOL by sending them a DV. They can continue to try and collect on the debt forever though, even after SOL expires.

If you want them to go away, just send them a cease communications letter.

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Also, do you have any documented evidence of them threatening a lawsuit?  If so, you could potentially sue them for violating the FDCPA.

If you don't and/or don't want to bother, just take this advice and send the C&D.  You could also consider offering them a very low settlement, maybe like 10% and see if they bite.  They most likely bought this debt for less than 1% of the amount owed.  I might do this just to prevent them from doing INQs in the future.  I have a similar situation and a CA that bought my very old CC debt recently did a hard INQ on EX.  This caused a denial on a CC for me.  I am thinking about contacting them to settle very cheap, just to get rid of their permissible purpose for checking my credit in the future.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@pizzadude wrote:
You won't reset either the CRTP or SOL by sending them a DV. They can continue to try and collect on the debt forever though, even after SOL expires.

If you want them to go away, just send them a cease communications letter.

---

Also, do you have any documented evidence of them threatening a lawsuit?  If so, you could potentially sue them for violating the FDCPA.

If you don't and/or don't want to bother, just take this advice and send the C&D.  You could also consider offering them a very low settlement, maybe like 10% and see if they bite.  They most likely bought this debt for less than 1% of the amount owed.  I might do this just to prevent them from doing INQs in the future.  I have a similar situation and a CA that bought my very old CC debt recently did a hard INQ on EX.  This caused a denial on a CC for me.  I am thinking about contacting them to settle very cheap, just to get rid of their permissible purpose for checking my credit in the future.

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They sent me a collection letter stating that not paying the debt in full could lead to lawsuit and/or garnish my wages. I didn't think that any of that is allowed.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@pizzadude wrote:
You won't reset either the CRTP or SOL by sending them a DV. They can continue to try and collect on the debt forever though, even after SOL expires.

If you want them to go away, just send them a cease communications letter.

---

Also, do you have any documented evidence of them threatening a lawsuit?  If so, you could potentially sue them for violating the FDCPA.

If you don't and/or don't want to bother, just take this advice and send the C&D.  You could also consider offering them a very low settlement, maybe like 10% and see if they bite.  They most likely bought this debt for less than 1% of the amount owed.  I might do this just to prevent them from doing INQs in the future.  I have a similar situation and a CA that bought my very old CC debt recently did a hard INQ on EX.  This caused a denial on a CC for me.  I am thinking about contacting them to settle very cheap, just to get rid of their permissible purpose for checking my credit in the future.

---

They sent me a collection letter stating that not paying the debt in full could lead to lawsuit and/or garnish my wages. I didn't think that any of that is allowed.

---

First off, I am not a lawyer, so please don't take this as any real legal advice.  If I were you, I would search for a local attorney that specifically handles collections and FDCPA cases.  If you have a good case, they will usually take your case for free and make the CA pay their fees.  I think you may have a case if you saved that letter.  Threatening to sue on a debt that is outside of SOL is a violation, and violations entitle you to $1000 each.  They may have skirted the legality by saying that it "could lead to a lawsuit" instead of saying they were going to sue you, but I don't know that line.  An attorney would.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@pizzadude wrote:
You won't reset either the CRTP or SOL by sending them a DV. They can continue to try and collect on the debt forever though, even after SOL expires.

If you want them to go away, just send them a cease communications letter.

---

Also, do you have any documented evidence of them threatening a lawsuit?  If so, you could potentially sue them for violating the FDCPA.

If you don't and/or don't want to bother, just take this advice and send the C&D.  You could also consider offering them a very low settlement, maybe like 10% and see if they bite.  They most likely bought this debt for less than 1% of the amount owed.  I might do this just to prevent them from doing INQs in the future.  I have a similar situation and a CA that bought my very old CC debt recently did a hard INQ on EX.  This caused a denial on a CC for me.  I am thinking about contacting them to settle very cheap, just to get rid of their permissible purpose for checking my credit in the future.

---

They sent me a collection letter stating that not paying the debt in full could lead to lawsuit and/or garnish my wages. I didn't think that any of that is allowed.

---

First off, I am not a lawyer, so please don't take this as any real legal advice.  If I were you, I would search for a local attorney that specifically handles collections and FDCPA cases.  If you have a good case, they will usually take your case for free and make the CA pay their fees.  I think you may have a case if you saved that letter.  Threatening to sue on a debt that is outside of SOL is a violation, and violations entitle you to $1000 each.  They may have skirted the legality by saying that it "could lead to a lawsuit" instead of saying they were going to sue you, but I don't know that line.  An attorney would.

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Thanks for the advice, Im gonna wait a bit. With the last call I demanded they send me a DV (which she called a courtesy letter so I doubt it will be a valid DV).

[Anonymous]

So I have started receiving calls from them again and this time I want to act to have this stopped. I have requested multiple times for them to provide validation of the debt and have even had them hang up on me when I told them that by law they are required to provide proof of the debt. 

I just got a call today and they basically ignored what I had to say the whole time. I did some research and found out that they are not licensed to collect in Minnesota according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce website. My next step is to write to the AG of MN to see what they can do. 

What would be the best way to send them a DV and C&D so that they can't claim they never received it?

[RobertEG]

My recommendations....

First, their is a body of case law holding that bringing legal action on a knowingly time-barred (SOL has expired) debt, or even threatening to do so, is a violation of the FDCPA by bringing or threatening to bring legal action with knowledge that it cannot prevail.  The key to FDCPA violation is "knowingly."

I would recommend sending them a letter stating, to the degree you can support, that the SOL has expired, and that you will consider any further threats of legal action to be a violation of the FDCPA.  Good, solid support for asserting their actual knowledge that would bolster any later counter-suit on your part, and would probably shut them up.

Second, IF you can still send a timely DV, do so.  It is better than a cease communication letter under FDCPA 805(c), in that it extends to all collection activity, and not just communications with you.  Did they send dunning notice? If so, when?  Absent a DV, or if they would amazingly provide debt verification after a DV, you can always send a cease communication letter.  Violation of a cease collection bar is an additional FDCPA violation.