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Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian

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Anonymous
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Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian

Hello everyone,

 

Well things were really looking up on my Exp bureau until I received an alert that said my score was dinged by a whopping 55 points. I have an old Cap 1 Collection on my CR that is due to drop off Oct. 2020. It's always shown on my CR however because of the age lenders have been extending me credit. However on July 29th The Bureaus Inc "alerted" Experian and flagged the account as a collections account. It was always flagged as a collections account so I don't understand why my CR took such a hit. It's certainly too old to pay it so is there anything else I can do?

8 REPLIES 8
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

Well things were really looking up on my Exp bureau until I received an alert that said my score was dinged by a whopping 55 points. I have an old Cap 1 Collection on my CR that is due to drop off Oct. 2020. It's always shown on my CR however because of the age lenders have been extending me credit. However on July 29th The Bureaus Inc "alerted" Experian and flagged the account as a collections account. It was always flagged as a collections account so I don't understand why my CR took such a hit. It's certainly too old to pay it so is there anything else I can do?


It's not too old to pay, you still owe on this debt.

That's the whole point of reporting/updating collection accounts, to get your attention and alert other lenders that debt remains unpaid 

Other than attempting PFD/paying/settling, you can wait till it's scheduled drop off date. 

Message 2 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

Well things were really looking up on my Exp bureau until I received an alert that said my score was dinged by a whopping 55 points. I have an old Cap 1 Collection on my CR that is due to drop off Oct. 2020. It's always shown on my CR however because of the age lenders have been extending me credit. However on July 29th The Bureaus Inc "alerted" Experian and flagged the account as a collections account. It was always flagged as a collections account so I don't understand why my CR took such a hit. It's certainly too old to pay it so is there anything else I can do?


You say the debt is too old to pay, and the 7 year FCRA reporting time ends next year. That makes me believe that the Collection Statute in your State is 6 years and either has expired or may be expiring soon.

 

What can you do? When I had a lot of Out of Statute debts still on my credit reports I just contacted the collection agencies with these debts and dared them to sue me, so I would have grounds to sue them. They now had a choice - back down and leave me alone and in 1 year the TL went off by itself (actually 6-9 months with EE), or they could try to collect and I would countersue them because a Debt Collector suing on an OOS debt is a FCRA violation. Either way, I win. When the baddies fell off my score shot up 100 points on all 3 bureaus.

Message 3 of 9
simplegirl
Valued Contributor

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian

Yeah that is a pretty risky thing to do but since it is still within the reporting period and you still owe they can keep docking your score until it falls off next year. So if you don’t plan on paying you will just have to take the hit until it falls off.








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Message 4 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

Well things were really looking up on my Exp bureau until I received an alert that said my score was dinged by a whopping 55 points. I have an old Cap 1 Collection on my CR that is due to drop off Oct. 2020. It's always shown on my CR however because of the age lenders have been extending me credit. However on July 29th The Bureaus Inc "alerted" Experian and flagged the account as a collections account. It was always flagged as a collections account so I don't understand why my CR took such a hit. It's certainly too old to pay it so is there anything else I can do?


You say the debt is too old to pay, and the 7 year FCRA reporting time ends next year. That makes me believe that the Collection Statute in your State is 6 years and either has expired or may be expiring soon.

 

What can you do? When I had a lot of Out of Statute debts still on my credit reports I just contacted the collection agencies with these debts and dared them to sue me, so I would have grounds to sue them. They now had a choice - back down and leave me alone and in 1 year the TL went off by itself (actually 6-9 months with EE), or they could try to collect and I would countersue them because a Debt Collector suing on an OOS debt is a FCRA violation. Either way, I win. When the baddies fell off my score shot up 100 points on all 3 bureaus.


That’s actually not the only options they had. It worked out for you but that was coincidence, not a sound strategy that anyone should ever intentionally employ.

 

Also the OP used the phrase “certainly too old to pay” shouldn’t be assumed as the debt being outside of the SOL because  there is no such thing as “too old to pay”. Debts become too old to sue or report not pay. For example American Express and other banks will keep your debts in their records well past the SOL and will gradly take full payment if you want to get back with them. Banks can still attempt to be paid past the ability to sue timeframe.

Message 5 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

Well things were really looking up on my Exp bureau until I received an alert that said my score was dinged by a whopping 55 points. I have an old Cap 1 Collection on my CR that is due to drop off Oct. 2020. It's always shown on my CR however because of the age lenders have been extending me credit. However on July 29th The Bureaus Inc "alerted" Experian and flagged the account as a collections account. It was always flagged as a collections account so I don't understand why my CR took such a hit. It's certainly too old to pay it so is there anything else I can do?


You say the debt is too old to pay, and the 7 year FCRA reporting time ends next year. That makes me believe that the Collection Statute in your State is 6 years and either has expired or may be expiring soon.

 

Regarding the too old to pay this is where things get tricky. The cc was a department store account that was opened while I was a resident of California. However the account became delinquent while I was a resident of New York City. In California sol is 6 years whereas in NYC for a store cc it's 4 years. I don't know which state they would abide by. Now I live in France but I file taxes as a resident of NYC. 

Message 6 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

Well things were really looking up on my Exp bureau until I received an alert that said my score was dinged by a whopping 55 points. I have an old Cap 1 Collection on my CR that is due to drop off Oct. 2020. It's always shown on my CR however because of the age lenders have been extending me credit. However on July 29th The Bureaus Inc "alerted" Experian and flagged the account as a collections account. It was always flagged as a collections account so I don't understand why my CR took such a hit. It's certainly too old to pay it so is there anything else I can do?


You say the debt is too old to pay, and the 7 year FCRA reporting time ends next year. That makes me believe that the Collection Statute in your State is 6 years and either has expired or may be expiring soon.

 

Regarding the too old to pay this is where things get tricky. The cc was a department store account that was opened while I was a resident of California. However the account became delinquent while I was a resident of New York City. In California sol is 6 years whereas in NYC for a store cc it's 4 years. I don't know which state they would abide by. Now I live in France but I file taxes as a resident of NYC. 


That changes things a lot (the living in France part). Where in France may I ask? I will be in Paris from Sept 18 to 24.  I, too, was an expat so I have some experience behind my answer here. Here are the ways in which the laws differ (mostly in your favor):

 

1: Credit Reporting - The FCRA 7 year statute applies anyway because the CRA is still in the USA and subject to USA laws.

 

2: Statute of Limitations - Which SOL applies is determined by the last State you resided in, in your case NY. NY's laws in this matter are similar to most other States - the SOL is tolled (stopped) while you are outside the State (CPLR Section 207). While the SOL will probably still apply to this debt when you return to the USA, practical matters will most likely prevent anything from happening that would adversely affect you. Because the FCRA 7 year reporting Statute is NOT tolled, the debt will still be off your credit file. The debt itself will most likely have long been forgotten about by the creditor and its CA's or JDBs because of the long period of uncollectability.

 

3: Suit when you return - Since the SOL is tolled, when you do return the clock starts again where it left off (no, it does not start over). But, in order to sue the creditor would need to know (a) that you are back, (b) where you reside now that you are back and (c) where you are employed for garnishment purposes. Customs does not tell creditors about your return, neither does Immigration. If the creditor does not know you were out of the country, they do not know the SOL has been tolled. Even if they do know, their collection effort can be a joke. One of my creditors found a Collection Agency in Shanghai to send me a collection letter when I lived in Nanjing. The letter itself was laughable. I didn't respond and I never heard from the Shanghai CA or the OC again. Let them think what they want, just be sure to not tell them what the true facts are. If you continue to forget about them, they will continue to forget about you. This is what happened to $150,000 in debt I had when I came back from China.

 

4: Suit while you are overseas - here is the fun part. Because of the complete lack of confidence the Courts of most other countries have in US Civil courts, in order to get a Judgment against you that France would honor, the creditor will first have to convince the US State Department that your debt will endanger the US economy if not paid. That is because International Treaties between the US andf France only apply to taxes, not civil debts, and under the Hague Convention, it will only hear cases of "one sovereign suing another" - meaning that in these cases, your Government has to agree to be your attorney in order for the USA to sue France. A civil creditor in the USA must convince the US State Department to act as the attorney for that creditor in a civil action filed in the International Court in the Hague, Belgium. If that court issues a finding for the Plaintiff then the creditor will have a Judgment that will be honored in most countries other than the USA. The minimum amount to be claimed must be $50,000 USD for the International Tribunal to even hear the case. Keep in mind that the costs of all this litigation must be borne by each party paying their own expenses - the USA practice of "Loser pays all Lawyers" is why most other countries to not accept US Judgments. It is your call as to how likely you think any of your creditors will sue you in France, but I think it is highly unlikely.

Message 7 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian

I live in Paris. Been here 6 years now! Wow you have a ton of information. Yea I seriously doubt they'd sue me here plus they cannot since the debt is 8k. Do you think my new cc's will be affected due to this old new collection fiasco? 

Message 8 of 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Old Collection Account "Alert" On Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

I live in Paris. Been here 6 years now! Wow you have a ton of information. Yea I seriously doubt they'd sue me here plus they cannot since the debt is 8k. Do you think my new cc's will be affected due to this old new collection fiasco? 


I doubt the new CC's will care. They issued your card and approved your account knowing of this, why should they change their mind as long as you are paying?

Message 9 of 9
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