I keep getting a collection letter that is not reported on any credit report.

[Anonymous]

My husband has an old account .. could be seven years old?? not exactly sure. The letter says the debt was sent to them for collections, yet it does not come up on a report. Does anyone know what's going on here??

[gNaRKiLL]

Alot of times these are scams to get you to pay. If his SS is not on any of it, and you call them and they ask you for your whole number its a scam. At most they should atleast list the last 4 of your social and should only ever ask for the last 4 numbers. Now if you made the mistake of giving them your social they may put something on your report until you pay. I heard columbia house dvd club does this. They'll send people random collection letters and then the first thing they'll ask for when you call is your full social, and then your screwed. So just be careful. If its not on his CR then dont worry about it until it shows up, especially if neither you or he know exactly what its for, its probably nothing at all.

[SanDiegoEngineer]

The limit on reporting debt to a credit report is 7 years, so any account which went delinquent that far back is prohibeted by law from being reported to a credit agency.   However, that doesn't prohibit a debt collector from attempting to get you to pay.  In a very few states with particularly long statutes of limitations, they can even sue and win a judgement in court on a debt older than that (which will go on the credit report as a judgement, with a whole new 7 year reporting term) - however, the vast majority of states have SOL's lower than the 7 year reporting period, so chances are the most they can do is call you and bug you about it until you send a cease and desist letter to them.  I still get occasional letters about zombie debt that goes all the way back to my irresponsible college days almost 20 years ago.

As a side note, in some states, I believe they can still attempt to sue you after the SOL has run out - though all you have to do to protect yourself is file an answer with the court after being served that the SOL has run out and the case will be dismissed - other states (like California) this type of thing is illegal.

[Anonymous]

How can I find out what the law is for that in Missouri? I would want to know if there was a chance we could be sued over that. Thank you so much for your info.

[sh9730]

Just do a google search on "debt statute of limitations by state".  There are a million sites with this and lots of other info about your rights regarding old debt.

[SanDiegoEngineer]

Unfortunately, you are in one of the high SOL states.  It depends on what kind of account it was whether it's still inside Missouri's SOL.  If it's a credit card, it's out of SOL (5 years for open account in MO).  If it's another type of written contract (car loan, student loan, medical), it could still be inside the SOL (10 years).  Though unless the balance is high (>5-10K), they're still unlikely to sue over.

Message Edited by fused on 01-31-2008 02:43 PM

[Anonymous]

I looked up the site, that is great information. One last question on this.. I'm in the process of looking over any Baddies on my husband's and my credit report. After everything is resolved (it isn't too bad) how long does it take for a lender to consider you, like if I were wanting to purchase investment property? We have great credit with our local bank but I've been told investment morgages are much more strict.

[Anonymous]

mic, it matters what TYPE of account it is...an open account (type...doesn't mean that the account is open)  A CC would fall under this typ of account and the SOL is  5 years.

SOL is set by the states and is the time period in which any creditor has to file a lawsuit.

CRTP is federal law and only deals with the time period that something is reported on your CR.

CRTP is 7 - 7.5 years from DOFD

SOL is (open account)  5 years from DOLA  BUT it has nothing to do with your CR.

CAs sell debts over & over. At times they get really brave & try to report it to CRAs even thought they know it is illegal. Most people have no idea whats going on & they take advantage of that.

In your case  I would guess that this is the case.

ASK DH  what it was...CC  personal loan what???

Without knowing it is hard to give you advice.  I would hate to tell you to DV them & then find out the SOL is 10 years and you can be sued.

Message Edited by HappyDays on 01-31-2008 05:01 PM