need help with a dispute i recieved in the mail

[Anonymous]

I've been working on fixing my credit now for 2 and half years now. I've cleaned up and paid off all the bad debt that was on my credit report before I purchased my house 2 years ago. About two weeks ago I get this letter in the mail stating that I have an  outstanding debt for a credit card that was on my credit report before that came off after seven years. This credit card was opened in my name when I was just 16 and still in high school one of my parents opened this card in my name and charged up on it without me ever knowing. I found this out after I was of legal age and never paid it because it was never my bill to start with. After seven years of being on my credit report it came off the credit report.Which would have been in 2005 or 2006. I would like to write them a letter disputting this debt because of how old the debt is. I need to know how to dispute this without agreeing this is my debt.

I believe other collection agencys are buying these old debt and trying to collect on items past their collection period. The other reason is they seen I paid off other debt that was in my name

So my questions are

I'm I financially obligated to repay this debt off after the 7 years collection period has passed?

Will they always try to collect on a debt that has not been paid?

Can this reappear on my credit report now as bad debt if I dont pay this off?

Can they reopen an old account that was taken off the credit report after 7 years?

Need help fast because I need to write to them and dispute this debt!

[mauve]

It sounds like something you can dispute with a copy of your ID.  It cannot go back on your credit report, other than to show up as a closed account in good standing for about 10 years after closing.  They can try to collect forever, but you can send them a FoAD (google it, I cannot spell out that acronym for you here because of ToS) aka a Cease & Desist.  Statute of limitations on this debt is dependent on the state you live in, but even if it's within SoL, you still cannot have legally established this debt as a 16 year old.

Also, I hope your parents have grown up since then.

[llecs]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So my questions are

I'm I financially obligated to repay this debt off after the 7 years collection period has passed?

Will they always try to collect on a debt that has not been paid?

Can this reappear on my credit report now as bad debt if I dont pay this off?

Can they reopen an old account that was taken off the credit report after 7 years?

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Obligated to pay? It depends. More than likely, your state's SOL expired. SOL is the time frame a creditor has to sue you for an unpaid debt and this time frame has nothing to do with the 7-7.5 credit reporting time period. Most SOLs expired inside of 7 yrs, though some like Ohio can last up to 15 yrs. You may want to look up your SOL to make sure that expired.

Even if SOL and CRTP expired, a creditor can collect forever. There's no time limit for that. IMO, if SOL expired already I would just ignore it. I wouldn't write or respond and eventually they'll go away. It legally cannot reappear on your CRs, so don't worry about that.

[Anonymous]

I live in Minnesota.

The letter state "Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid."

This is the part that scares me. I do not some debt reopened that pasted the 7 year mark.

Thanks I am trying to look up the SOL for my state now.

Which letter do you guys recommend I send to them?

[llecs]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The letter state "Unless you notify this office within 30 days after receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of the debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt is valid."

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It's part of a dunning notice. I believe the FDCPA requires a CA to place that statement in their initial collection notice to you.  It's not a big deal.

[mauve]

llecs, do you see anything wrong with sending back the DV saying "As I was under the age of 18 when this account was opened, I dispute the validity of this debt"?

[llecs]

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@mauve wrote:

llecs, do you see anything wrong with sending back the DV saying "As I was under the age of 18 when this account was opened, I dispute the validity of this debt"?

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Nothing wrong with that. I believe OP is past SOL and sending anything wouldn't make things worse. A DV could end all collection efforts or it might increase it. Either way, OP is safe. OP......don't pay anything (unless you wanted to PIF) and don't make any promises to pay, lest your SOL could restart.