Debt Collection call this morning on a Nissan auto loan from over 10 years ago

[Anonymous]

So when I was younger and dumber I bought a car and financed it through Nissan. Shortly thereafter I ended up going through a nasty divorce and losing almost everything and had to stop paying the note on the car. The car was never repossessed and Nissan never sued me.

Fast forward to today when I get a call first thing in the morning from a debt collector informing me they were going to take action if I didn't pay this 14k debt I owed on this car.

This was well over 12 years ago. I am at a point now where I've been turning my life around and actually paying all my bills, I've bought a home and trying to get the rest of my $15k in credit card debt paid off.

What can this collection agency legally do? They got very upset when I told them I wasn't doing anything until I spoke with an attorney or someone to give me advice on this matter.

[calyx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So when I was younger and dumber I bought a car and financed it through Nissan. Shortly thereafter I ended up going through a nasty divorce and losing almost everything and had to stop paying the note on the car. The car was never repossessed and Nissan never sued me.

Fast forward to today when I get a call first thing in the morning from a debt collector informing me they were going to take action if I didn't pay this 14k debt I owed on this car.

This was well over 12 years ago. I am at a point now where I've been turning my life around and actually paying all my bills, I've bought a home and trying to get the rest of my $15k in credit card debt paid off.

What can this collection agency legally do? They got very upset when I told them I wasn't doing anything until I spoke with an attorney or someone to give me advice on this matter.

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At 12 years, this could be past the SOL (statute of limitations).   You should look into your state's SOL first.   Use terms like "time barred debts" or "statute of limitations" and make sure to see if it applies to unsecure (sometimes called 'open') or secure (sometimes called 'written') debts 

[Anonymous]

Did you admit that it was your debt? Hopefully saying you wouldn’t do anything without talking to an attorney won’t somehow work against you.

Was it 12 years ago that you bought the car or 12 years ago that you last paid on the car? What is the DoFD? That will really matter. If you bought it 12 years ago, and had a long repayment term, and you paid on it for several years prior to defaulting, it is possible you are still within the SOL. Maybe on the very edge of it, but finding out when you last paid is important.

[Rebuild2019]

Good luck

[Anonymous]

So I looked at the Court in Houston Texas where it was purchased and back in 2009 there was a lawsuit from Nissan but the plantiff dismissed the lawsuit without predjudice and the case was closed and dismissed by the original creditor

[Anonymous]

I am in Texas and this is well beyond the SOL.

[pgtackle2003]

First this depends on the state you live in. States vary on their Statue of Limitations. This ranges between 3-6 years depending on the state. If it's been 12 years, so as long as you've made no payment whatsoever in the past 12 years, than it's likely they don't have the legal right to collect on the debt. You will likely need to send them a letter in regards to the SOL being past. I would make a copy of this letter as well as certified so you have record they received it.

[Anonymous]

It is great that you know they tried suing you 10 years ago, since it means you defaulted prior and it’s outside of the SOL. I’d just be concerned that telling the CA that you wouldn’t do anything until you talked to an attorney would count as acknowledging the debt and reset the time they can force collections on you. I hope that isn’t the case!

[calyx]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am in Texas and this is well beyond the SOL.

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It seems that while you technically still owe the debt, and the debt collectors can contact you to collect, they can't take you to court or do anything beyond ask you to pay.

[gdale6]

It sounds like it is past SOL in most all states. ALs can also be governed by a states UCCs over their standard SOLs. A collector can attempt to collect as long as it remains unpaid but making threats are another thing. They could sue but they wont get a judgment if you use the SOL as your defense. I would just send them a cease and desist all collection efforts and be done with this collector.