I have an item that went into collections in the amount o...

[Boswd]

OK  deep breaths.   It will all work out.   What I would do if I was you.    Do not take the settlement.   Say you want to pay it off in full.   TRUST ME,  ask your bank or car dealership of what they think of settled.  Plus you could have to pay taxes on it.

OK  take the money of what you have and offer them it as a down payment and get into a payment plan with them.   Since you have   around half the debt on hand  your payment plan should be very easy and affordable to pay off  plus you can always pay more if you can.

So call them back and get into a payment plan.   There are some people on here are giving you horrible advice.   Your debt is prime candidate for a sue for judgment ,  don't mess around with it.  Especially since the new Bankruptcy laws,  Debt collectors aren't even thinking twice about suing.

Again DO NOT TAKE THE SETTLEMENT   and get into a payment plan to have it PAID IN FULL.

Please don't listen to some of these people who are telling you to go tell the CA's to stick it.  OMG   PLEAE DON'T   

[Anonymous]

Josie - It must be so frustrating to get conflicting advice.  I can't tell you what to do, but if you did decide to settle (and I'm not necessarily saying that you should), keep a few things in mind:

1.  If they offered to settle for 50% of the debt, it means they will accept a lot less.  It's a negotiation, so counteroffer with perhaps half of what they offered.

2.  Don't be pressured by the "offer good today only" line. Despite what I said about getting a judgment, creditors don't want to go to court if they don't have to.  It costs them time and  money.  It's cheaper and easier for them to call and try to intimidate you into paying.  Up to a point, that is.

3.  If you do settle and more than $600 of your debt is wiped off, then the creditor/CA is required to report that to the IRS.  Why?  Because it's considered taxable income to YOU.  So if you owe $1200 and you negotiate with them to accept $400, you may owe tax on $800.

Hope you decide what's best for you.  I don't envy you being in a position to make an important decision and having so many people weighing in with different advice.

[Anonymous]

In 2004 i got sued for an account in the amount $149.00, I totally ignored it lost by default. Didn't give it another thought until i tried to get a home loan and now here it is JUDGEMENT amount $520.00. Been sitting at a collection agency for a couple of years accruing interest well lender wants it taken care of, so i go to CA final payment $730.85. So if you have the means to pay it would honestly be in your best interest. I have also been sued and lost and my wages were garnished and original debt was around $1100.00 i ended up paying almost $3000.00.

[josie]

My main question would be now that it has been from 09/2002 can they still file a judgement against me, do anyone really know what the SOL is for this. Cause i am the one that contacted this company when i saw it on my CR.

[Anonymous]

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/statuteLimitations.shtml Try this site on finding SOL for your state.

[Boswd]

yes that is a good site.   Also take in mind they can still TRY  and sue even if it's past the Statute of Limitations.   

Now if your debt is past your states SOL  and you don't want to pay  call them and tell them that it's out of SOL and please cease and desist.   Follow that up with a C & D letter.   They may still try to sue.   What they hope for is that you ingore the summons and they get a default judgment.

If this happens they can go ahead and proceed to collect on the debt through the methods we spoke of earlier.

So if the debt is past your statute of limitations and they still try to sue.   You should answer the summons with SOL as your defense and most importantly  plan to show up for court.   You defense of SOL will be good enough  but don't ingoroe the summons and the court date,   If you do they win with default judgment.

Also if you are going to listen to anyone on this board have be from people who have been down your road as well as people who are familiar with the system,  DON'T  let some of these post who are living on Conspirecy theories about  Corportate America or  'THE MAN".    They would lead you down the road of financial ruin.

[josie]

Which means the SOL ends next year so they still have a year to file a judgement against me because the last time i paid the rent was in aug 2002. Just making sure i am reading right.

[Anonymous]

Josie - Please don't try to figure out the SOL yourself; get a lawyer's view. It all depends what state you live in or possibly where the property is located.  It depends on that state's definition of what type of contract a lease is.  It depends on when the clock starts ticking in that state -- it may be Sept. 2002 because that's the first time you were delinquent on paying the rent.  Or it may be later.

When you figure out the exact date that the SOL has expired, that's the date beyond which you have a defense in case you are sued.  As Boswd said, it doesn't mean they can't sue you.  It just means you may have a winning defense, assuming you file the right paperwork, show up in court, have the necessary proof that the date they filed their lawsuit was after that date, etc.

[Boswd]

Also this is a really good board for people with problems like yourself 

http://forum.freeadvice.com/forumdisplay.php?f=50

I want to say that a lease is a written contract and your state's SOL would apply to this,  

I also have another question.    The place where you owe the rent to, did this occur in the same state as you live now?   Because there may be tolling involed if this happened in a different state  meaning the statute of limitations is frozen if the person ( meaning you) has left the state and will only restart once you take back residency in that state again

In laymans terms   Let's say you owed the rent in Vermont, and after 3 years of the last time you paid rent, you moved to  New York.     Now if the Statute of LImitation for Vermont is 6 years for a written contract and you moved after 3 years.    That SOL has been frozen at year 3.

But yes if you do think it's past the SOL and do want to use it as your defense, as the prev. poster advised, seek legal help.   They will know up and down.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Boswd]

I've googled it up and down and pretty much everywhere  a lease falls under "written contract"

The Lease
A lease is a written contract, which defines the terms by which a particular apartment is rented. It is written by the landlord and presented to the tenant for signature. Since a lease is a binding legal document you should carefully review it before you sign. After the lease has been signed, it is too late to make changes.

I hopes this helps in determining your states SOL