I know that after 7 years delinquent accounts drop off your credit.Can creditors still make you pay for these.

Answer 1

hells no. in fact, call them and they must remove it as well as anyone they may have sold the bad debt to.

Answer 2

Scott sure sounds like a collection agent, doesn't he???? He didn't ask about judgements Scott!

Bad debts are reported on your credit report for 7 years, beginning on the day of the delinquency. NOT the last activity. NOT the charge off date.

But this has nothing to do with a creditors legal ability to collect. You need to look at the statute of limitations for your state. After this date, the creditor can no longer sue you, as you don't have any legal obligation to pay. Note, however, that the creditor can still continue to try and collect. But generally this is restricted to nasty phone calls and letters.

So to answer your question, they can NOT make you pay those debts, once the statute of limitations has run out.

But take note...if they sue you before the SOL runs out, and win a judgement, they can continue to collect for a very long time. Because of this, creditors will begin to step up collection activity when the SOL is about to run out. In this case, your only hope is to either try to dodge them and not get served with a summons, or try to negotiate some type of payment plan. A judgement will go on our credit report for 7 years.

Answer 3

WOW. I am surprised at all the INCORRECT information that is being given to you from people that are acting like they know the answer.

If the creditor sues you and obtains a judgment against you, then you are obligated to pay that amount for a) the rest of your life, or b) until it is paid off. The fact that it drops off your credit report does not eliminate your obligation to pay.

However, if the creditor did not sue you (and usually, they won't, because there's no point in suing you if you don't have the money to pay, and that's what got you there in the first place), the creditor will usually "charge off" the debt after a certain period of time. The creditor takes a tax write-off for the bad debt and assigns it to a collection agency who may try to collect it. You're ethically obligated to pay it back since you made an agreement to do so, but it's not likely that anyone will make you try to pay it.

Answer 4

Well, they CAN. If its a ligitimate debt, you owe it forever, and the creditor can take you to court and get a judgement against you, garnish your bank account, etc. (I'm not a lawyer and if you are seeking legal advice you should get the advice of an attorney).

Depending on the amount you owe them, the creditor may or may not come after you. Typically, balances of less than $5,000 aren't worth the trouble. AND, if its been more than 7 years its really, really, really unlikey that they'll use this method. Your account has probably been sold several times to collection agencies. At this point, too, if you pay the bill, it will hurt your credit!!! ? When you pay a bill like this, its counted as new activity, and IT WILL GO BACK ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT!!!

Answer 5

It really depends on the statute of limitations in your state. If your state has a statute of limitations longer than 7 years, then yes. If the statute of limitations is less than 7 years, they can still ask you to pay, but you can tell them that the debt is outside the SOL and you aren't legally required to pay. Of course if you are planning to apply for a mortgage, your mortgage company might ask you to pay an old debt before they will approve you for a mortgage.

If a creditor seeks a judgment against you, you need to go to court. They can seek a judgment after the SOL has run out, but then your defense is that the SOL has run out and you should automatically win, but if you don't go to court, then you can't win.

If the debt is sold to a collection agency, then tell the collection agency that per RCRA rules they are only allowed to contact you in writing. You want anything to do with old debts in writing and you want to try to negotiate for the smallest possible impact on your credit report if you do agree to a payment schedule. If the can remove the entry that is best. If not try to get paid as agreed. Whatever you do, do not agree to a payment schedule that you cannot handle.

Answer 6

I'm not sure of the exact ins and outs of how that works, but I did here something similar from a friend of mind who is a paralegal. He said that it is also common for creditors to sell bad debts to collection agencies for pennies on the dollar, so it is not uncommon to get collection calls years later on old debts. According to his information, sometimes even a verbal acknowledgment of an old debt is enough to reset the 7 year clock and make it a valid debt again. If this is a debt you are either unable and/or unwilling to pay, your best advice is to tell any callers "I'm sorry, but that is not a valid debt. Please stop calling." Legally, I don't think they are allowed to call you after that. Bear in mind, though, that laws vary from state to state and country to country, so you may want to contact a professional (attorney, credit counselor) in your area to be sure. Good luck to you!!

Answer 7

lmao Studly, sounds like you hit the nail on the head in your first sentence.

To the OP, like some have already said, it depends on your states SOL. If you have a long SOL in your state, they can legally try to make you pay after the accounts drop off of you credit report.

If you are out of SOL on the accounts, yes they can continue to harrass you, yes they may try to sue. But suing on a time barred debt violates your rights. And if you are out of SOL, you can make them stop harrassing you.

Learn your rights, read the FTC, FCRA and the FDCPA (they are very long reads - but worth the effort)

You might do some reading on the site that I have listed. It is a self help credit repair site that has some excellent info on how you can repair your credit.

Answer 8

Yes, They can make you pay for delinquent accounts if you apply for a loan. You're credit history stays with you for life. It shows everything that you apply for like, credit cards, small loans, car loans, ect.... So try to pay your debt off soon as possible.

Answer 9

Echo is correct!

Know your rights - http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/031224fcra.pdf

Creditnet.net and creditboards.com can help. Take a stroll through thier forums. Lots of great information there.

Don't listen to a lot of the BS that's given here on Yahoo Answers. You could be getting yourself into a lot more trouble listening to folks who don't know what they are talking about!

Good Luck!

Answer 10

it depends on the debtor. after 7 years no mtg lenders care about the debt as long as it a chargeoff