This sounds like the best solution for your situation. Send them a C&D letter telling them basically to prove it or shut up. Once they realize they can’t harrass you into paying a 16 year old debt they will probably write it off and move on to the next guy. Trying to sue for this wouldn’t be worth the time and money.
BTW keep copies of everything until the day you die.
The lazy solution with these guys, assuming they have no right to sue, is just to inform them when they call, “I am not permitted to receive personal calls at work. I have to hang up now. Please have a good day.”
I’ve had 100% compliance with that request.
You’ll still get mail from them; decide for yourself if it’s worth mailing a C&D letter.
You are probably thinking of the reporting period for bad debts under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which does run from the date the debt is written off.
So, if I (living in Pennsylvania at the time) hypothetically have a credit card debt of $5000 in, say, 1992, and I’ve been studiously ignoring all phone calls and letters with the original bank’s and the collection agency’s return address on them, and I haven’t made a payment since 1994, does that mean that if they haven’t sued yet they cannot sue for remuneration at all now?
In some states (dunno about SC), paying an old debt will restart the clock on the SOL. Once there is action on the account, you can again be sued, have it put on your credit report, etc.
They call these agencies scavenger debt collectors. They buy old debt which has no hope of being collected and give it a try. If they don’t have any luck, they may sell it to someone else. According to this page, recent debts are sold for 7 to 12 percent of the value of the debt. Old debt such as the OPs can be had for a penny.
There is no statute of limitations on how long they attempt to collect, only a SOL on how long they have to take court action. You should send them a cease and desist letter and forget about it.
>Not trying to be obtuse, but I can’t believe that something like this wouldn’t affect your life or at least credit history in a negative way.
This is a mystery. I paid $1400 for two new sofas that the maker never delivered, and eventually my bank ate the debt and refunded me the money. They told me this kind of thing happens all the time, which is just amazing. The maker was still in business much later. I guess they still have a building, employees, and therefore bank accounts, right? At banks that all do business with each other and at that level surely must have some mechanism to be able to trust one another, right? Even so, I found hundreds of people on web forums who had had experiences like mine. You would think that in such an interconnected financial system, people whose strategy is simply not to pay bills or to collect payments and not deliver products would somehow get stopped.
I get the idea that one can decide to ignore debts of hundreds or even a few thousand dollars with impunity. Sometimes it seems we’re all just on the honor system, with a surprising number of exceptions.
Do not admit you owe any money, do not pay any money. Do not talk to them. Talk to a local lawyer, who will probably advise you to demand they cease and desist.
Well, it comes down to either you’re honest, or you’re not.
Don’t try and justify if you’re paying for some big-wigs lunch, it’s been too long, the money’s not going directly to the lender, or it’s just a stupid teenage debt.
The bottom line is you borrowed the money after signing an agreement promising to repay.
You’re not a teen anymore. You’ve got car loans and been approved for a mortgage. Just pay the $600 back (directly to the lender if you want) and sleep better at night.
I respectfully disagree. This is not like your Dad lending you $600. These companies are in the business of lending money, and they KNOW that a certain percentage of people will not repay. That’s why they charge the usurious interest rates that they do.
I’m sure that for several years after this debt wasn’t paid, the OP couldn’t get credit, and when he did, he paid a higher rate than someone else would. And when you or I pay 11 or 12 percent on our credit cards, when the bank pays 2 percent, that money subsidizes the non-payers. His money has already been paid back to these companies, with interest.
If the OP should feel guilty, I would advise that he give $600 to his favorite charity, not to these…well this GQ, so I can’t use the phrases I would like to attribute to collection agencies…
I hope this isn’t against Gfactor’s warning (as I’ve much respect for him), but the collection agencies aren’t of necessity swear-worthy entities. Except for illegal behavior (and do they all work illegally?), they do have the moral high-ground. If you default against a company (say, Balthisar Enterprises), then Balthisar Enterprises has the right to collect. If it can’t collect from you, then it sells the right to collect to “Collection Agency #1.” You don’t even have to pay Balthisar Enterprises any more; they’re happy, and have been paid by Collection Agency #1 (and probably at a reduced rate). Now if #1 can’t collect, they resell at a reduced rate to #2, and so on, until we reach #15. It’s still a valid debt. Money has changed hands, based on the fact that someone didn’t honor the original debt. Strictly speaking, Collection Agency #15 bought that debt on the good faith that it was collectible, that it was a valid debt.
Now I’m not going to debate whether 100% of collection agencies follow the law. The fact is, if they purchased a legal debt in good faith and act legally, they are entitled to recovery of the debt for which they paid (they have to follow the law). There may be legal barriers – such as SOL that limit court orders – but they’re still entitled to recover what it due to them, and it’s due to them because they’ve paid for the privilege. Youthful indiscretion is no excuse, and “all debt collectors are arses” is no excuse; it’s their money. Because others make up the slack is no excuse (and is a topic for the pit, you socialist-communist bastards who think it’s okay just because I personally make up for your lack of being able to live up to a commitment you made).
So legally, you’ve got the answers. Send a C&D. It’s probably uncollectable in court because of the SOL. If you’re happy with other people paying for your shortcomings, then okay, go ahead and vote for our populist presidential candidate while you’re at it.
If on the other hand you want to live morally, consider this: don’t pay the whole amount. See what they’ll settle for. They’ve paid pennies on the dollar. They’ll take pennies on the dollar. That means the whole system works, and you’ve morally satisfied the debt.
FWIW, I tend to think that most debt collectors are pure trash. But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re owed what they’re owed.
Credit cards are, most jurisdictions, open accounts - they stay active
FOR AS LONG AS THERE IS ACTIVITY ON THEM.
What is activity? Charges and PAYMENTS
You are dealing with scum - everybody knows that is a dead, unenforceable debt.
There are scum who live in the margins and make those dead accounts profitable.
These people have some scummy tricks, among which is to get you to make a “token” payment. What does a payment, token or otherwise do? It makes that dead account “active” and enforceable. They will give you some line about sending “anything, $10 - anything, just so I can show the boss you are honorable and WANT to…”
Don’t do it. Have nothing (beyond the suggested statement up thread disputing the debt) to do with the scum. Send that, and trash anything else they send.
Under NO condition send them a cent - that kid who’s “really trying to make you look good” knows the law, and is ready to pounce if you give him a shot.
I agree that not all collections agencies are bad, especially the agencies that go after recent debt, but you make it sound like these poor collectors have invested their company’s fortune and are only attempting to feed their families by asking to get back some of their hard earned money that they invested in righting the OP’s bad deeds. If you read the link I posted earlier, these scavenger agencies pay “a penny or less” for an out-of-statute debt like the OP’s. They didn’t buy it “on the good faith that it was collectible.” They know it isn’t collectible. They bought it in the hopes it would be profitable. You’re not going to see a well known reputable company doing this. When a collection agency is caught breaking the law, it’s these bottom feeders.