As long as the debt remains unpaid, the debt collector can continue efforts to collect, regardless of CR exclusion or expiration of SOL for bringing legal action.
As long as they have collection authority, they have permissible puroose to make inquiry for a consumer credit report, exce[t om tjhe rare cases where the consumer's state statute stipulates that expiration of SOL also terminates the debt itself. There are a few states that have such a stipulatiion in their statute.
Permissible purpose expires only upon termination of their collection authorrity.
There is no cear basis for disputing the legitimacy of their inquiry if the debt remains.
If one were inclined to be creative, it could be argued that, while they have permissible purpose, and thus may obtain the consumer's credit report, the CRA is barred from including the record of any such inqury in credit reports they issue under the credit report exclusion provision of section 605(a)(4).
That section stipulates that the CRA may not include the adverse item of collection on a debt in any consumer report they issue after 7 years plus 180 days from the DOFD on the OC account. It could be argued that showing of an inqiry by a debt collector after the credit report exclusion period is the showing of collection on a debt, and is thus barred by section 605(a)(4).
That wont prevent continued inquires, but would require the CRA to code them as "soft" so as to prevent showing in the conumer's credit report.
