How do I approach this?

JohnJRambo · ‎05-21-2017

A couple days ago I got a letter in the mail from a law firm somewhere in Georgia. I am being asked to pay $486 approx for a Citi CC from probably 10 years ago, roughly. Now, I did default on a couple Citi cards years ago. I know a judgement was filed against me, and after years of letting it sit, and realizing it would never go away, I paid it in full in 2014. I do not know what account is which, and it doesn't show on the receipt from where the judgement was paid either. So, assuming this is from the other CC, do I need to pay this? It has been long gone from my credit reports. Can this show back up on my credit report? Is there a chance that judgement had both CC's lump sum added together and I did indeed pay both in full? I appreciate your time and advice. I finally have excellent credit, and I'd like to keep it!

Anonymous · ‎05-21-2017

@JohnJRambo wrote:
A couple days ago I got a letter in the mail from a law firm somewhere in Georgia. I am being asked to pay $486 approx for a Citi CC from probably 10 years ago, roughly. Now, I did default on a couple Citi cards years ago. I know a judgement was filed against me, and after years of letting it sit, and realizing it would never go away, I paid it in full in 2014. I do not know what account is which, and it doesn't show on the receipt from where the judgement was paid either. So, assuming this is from the other CC, do I need to pay this? It has been long gone from my credit reports. Can this show back up on my credit report? Is there a chance that judgement had both CC's lump sum added together and I did indeed pay both in full? I appreciate your time and advice. I finally have excellent credit, and I'd like to keep it!

Primary lenders will often sell unpaid accounts for pennies on the dollar to collection agencies, which then try to get as much as possible. Such agencies will use whatever means they can thjnk of to get money, and since one agency can sell to another agency, their records are often very poor regarding if accounts have been paid. The law firm in your case was very likely hired by a collection agency. If you already paid off your Citi balance, you can respond to the letter saying that. You can also choose to do nothing, or you could pay them. If you decide to pay them, make sure you get a receipt and keep it, since there's a decent chance some other collection agency will try to charge you for it again later.

RobertEG · ‎05-21-2017

I would contact the court and obtain a copy of the files on the cases that were granted a judgment.

That will provide the info needed to assess the amount and whether they were updated to show they were satisfied.

An unpaid judgment has an exclusion date under FCRA 605(a)(2) that is the LATER of EITHER 7 years from the date of entry of the judgment OR until the period of enforceability of the judgment has expired.

The period of enforceability of a judgment is normally 10 years, and can normally be extended.

Thus, to address the question as to whether an unpaid judgment can reappear in your credit report, the answer is yes if the judgment remains enforceable.

However, the CRAs will often not monitor whether a judgment remains enforceable or paid, and simply choose to exclude at approx 7 years from date of entry.

If an unpaid judgment was excluded without any regard to whether it was still enforceable, then it most likely will not be reinserted. However, under the provisions of FCRA 605(a)(2), it could.

If you ever, in the future, apply for new credit in which the creditor will do a public records search, if the public record still shows an unpaid judgment, regardless of whether it has been excluded from your credit report, it could still be an issue for the prospective creditor, particularly if you are applying for a mortgage where the creditor would be concerned with a potential lien against the property.

You could send the debt collector a DV request, making sure to include request for the name of the original creditor and an itemization of the asserted debt.

That may, when compared with the court records of the judgment, provide sufficient info to identify the debt.

Anonymous · ‎05-21-2017

Sounds like a Fred Hannah letter. (google the name) The letter should say who the oc was. If not, possible FDCA violation. If its out of statue and they try to collect without stating its out of statue possible FDCA violation depends on what state you live in.

DaveInAZ · ‎05-22-2017

@JohnJRambo wrote:
A couple days ago I got a letter in the mail from a law firm somewhere in Georgia. I am being asked to pay $486 approx for a Citi CC from probably 10 years ago, roughly. Now, I did default on a couple Citi cards years ago. I know a judgement was filed against me, and after years of letting it sit, and realizing it would never go away, I paid it in full in 2014. I do not know what account is which, and it doesn't show on the receipt from where the judgement was paid either. So, assuming this is from the other CC, do I need to pay this? It has been long gone from my credit reports. Can this show back up on my credit report? Is there a chance that judgement had both CC's lump sum added together and I did indeed pay both in full? I appreciate your time and advice. I finally have excellent credit, and I'd like to keep it!

1- It's unlikely to show up on your credit report. A debt from 10 years was likely purchased by the collection company for pennies on the dollar, and all they got was your name - very unlikely they got your Social Security # & date of birth, which is needed to place a collection on a credit report.

2- I would write them and ask for copies of documentation that made you personally responsible for the debt. gain, from 10 years ago it is unlikely they have the original CC application or court judgement.

I got a collection later around 2004 for an unpaid CC. I had rented my house out for a year while I worked overseas and had recently moved back in, so my fear was that the renters had received a CC offer in the mail for me and forged my signature, so I called. They said it was a CC opened in 1980 from a bank in San Diego, had been paid through 2000 and then went into default. I guessed what it was - I lived in San Diego then and was married, we divorced in 1983 and I moved away. It was probably a CC we opened jointly and the wife kept. But I correctly guessed they would have no documentation from a CC opened 20+ years ago, so I told them if they sent me copies of documents with my signature obligating me to this debt I would pay in full. I got a few more calls as they know had my phone #, I just repeated my offer. Finally I got a rep who was decent, a rarity in collections, who admitted they didn't have my SS# or DOB or any documentation, just my name & amount of the debt, so he was deleting the file.