Hey I just got one of these calls yesterday. The supposed debt is from '90 or '91, the collection guy “wasn’t sure”. That’s 12 or 13 years old! M.W’s has been our of business since '95 or so. I’m gonna send one of these nice form letters to the guy to tell him to bug off.
There’s good advice and there’s couldn’t-be-more-wrong advice. This little tidbit from Ego qualifies as the latter. It doesn’t matter that the original creditor has gone out of business. What matters is if the account has been assigned to a particular outfit for settlement or collection. Of course, the age of the account also matters. If the account is still in the legally-collectable age, then the collection agency to which it has been assigned by the original or subsequent creditor has every legal right to collect.
Monty (or anyone who can help), what is the best/most reliable way to find out when the account originally became collectible? The OP’s situation is quite similar to mine (and I did start a thread about it, but have to leave for work in a minute and don’t have time to find it, sorry). I no longer have the associated paperwork, but am fairly sure the account went delinquent in 1996. However, “fairly sure” is not good enough - I need to find out exactly when the debt became collectible, and will be glad to do any legwork required, if pointed in the right direction.
I have also requested that the collection agency validate the debt, if that helps.
Philster is technically right. In theory, you paying off a 6 yo debt should not make your debt continue on your Credit report for another 7 years. However, in practice it often does. Credit reports are notoriously inaccurate, and there is no reason to give them an arguement for making them even more inaccurate.
Monty is also correct- even tho Monky Wards may be out of business, somebody “owes” it’s assets, which includes old debts. However, as has been pointed out, this debt is outside the SOL, and is thus uncollectable. But what have they got to lose by sending out a dunning letter? Many naifs will pay up. Few will sue.
Three rules for dealing with old debts- “dispute, dispute, dispute”. Dispute with the Credit Reporting agency (Experian), with the Collection agency, and with the original debtor (not in this case, of course).
Also- do not pay off debts that are outside the SOL.
Remember that these guys will lie to you. My sister had trouble from collectors over a credit card she had supposedly set up. It turns out that someone else had set up an account using her social security number. No other info matched my sister - not the person’s name, nor the address (which was in another state), or even the person’s gender. They tried to tell us that my sister was responsible for this (clearly fraudulent) debt. Of course she wasn’t, and they were just hoping to strong-arm her into coughing up some cash. After talking to a lawyer, we sent than a cease-and-decist letter and threatened legal action if they tried to damage her credit rating. We never heard from them again.
Wrong. Don’t give legal advice if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Especially, don’t make broad statements like this (that someone might rely on) unless you are sure that your assertion is always true, in every state. Even the board’s lawyers don’t do this. I’m not licensed in all 50 states, so there’s no way I’d ever make a claim like Philster’s. What if the OP or someone else made a payment in reliance on your incorrect advice? Sorry if I sound irritated, but this has been said on this forum at least 50 times before.
At least in my state (and I’m fairly sure Illinois is not unique on this point), an old debt can be reinstated if a new payment is made. Cite: 735 ILCS 5/13-206.
I am not claiming that this inevitably happens in every state, and I’m not even claiming that this rule applies to every debt in Illinois. (It doesn’t.) But the statute I cite applies to most Illinois contract claims evidenced by some sort of writing.
(Although IAAL, I’m not your lawyer. This is general information and not meant to be legal advice to be relied upon by anyone. For that, see a lawyer licensed in your state.)
What do you mean by, “this debt has already been charged off”? Does “charged off” mean that you have repaid the debt?
If you have not repaid the debt, why haven’t you? I’m not talking about legal obligation, but the moral obligation.
The philosophical origin of the estate tax is the belief that earned income should be taxed at a lower rate than non-earned income (e.g., inherited money). Earned income contributes production to society; non-earned income does not.
Woops, ignore my last post, I meant that for a different thread. Mods, can you erase that?
Philster was only talking about Credit Reports, AFAIK. Not State law.
“Charged off” means they have decided that they are not going to collect your debt, and have written it off on their books/taxes. Does not mean that they won’t “sell” your old debt to a collection agency.
Umm, what happened to “happy heathen”?
In my short experience at working at a collection agency ({1} clerical position; {2} fascinating field; {3} severely regulated industry.) the management canned collectors who lied to the debtors. Also, the debts weren’t sold to the agency where I worked. The agency was hired to effect collection within the laws & operated on a commission basis.
IIRC, charging off a bad debt is merely an accounting practice and does not have any effect whatsoever on the existence of that debt on the debtor’s credit report.
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There is no s in the name “Montgomery Ward”.
The addition of superfluous S’s to the end of store names has always been a pet peeve of mine.
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I did consider that. Maybe credit reports are what he had in mind, but that’s not the way it came out. He (She?) said that making a payment on an old debt “doesn’t start anything over.” That is not accurate. Also, he was responding to a post that discussed statutes of limitation as well as credit report issues.
Slight hijack here (sorry OP).
What happens if after 4 years a debt collectors sues you and the enxt thing you know you are getting a court order to pay, as well as to reveal some personal information? (such as salary, total worth of posesions, etc).
In other words, let’s say you are receiving bills form the a debt collector, then the mail stops, next thing you know you receive a court order to pay the debt saying that the court found against you?
Does this now get counted as a new debt for credit rating purposes? Do you now have to pay no matter how long a time passes?
If you receive a court order, the next thing to do is to obey the court. IIRC, the collector has to show to the court that said collector has made a good faith effort at collection (correspondence to you at your last known abode, etc.). The collector, though, is not responsible for you failure to respond to the collector’s mail.
If I’m wrong, those in the know may correct me.
Sounds like you have received a default judgment. Sometimes, you will get a copy of a judgment which has not yet been submitted to a court just to scare you. Something in the correspondence should indicate that it’s not an actual judgment.
If, however, the judgment is duly recorded, and you were never served with a summons and complaint, then you can attempt to have the judgment voided. Having the judgment voided does not clear the debt or your liability. The company just has to start over from scratch, serving you with a summons and complaint, etc.