do i have to pay collection after 7 years?

Question

I own lots of debt but after 7 years and is not on my credit report. Do I have to pay them back?

Answer 1

while each state is a little different - after 6 yrs of inactivity you legally DO NOT OWE the debt anymore.....however, you call them, make any promises, or they call you and you agree to start making minimum payments - you start the statute of limitations all over again......

I wouldn't bother unless you want to morally clean your slate....but you will further destroy your credit score by reactivating bad debt to current bad debt. not a good move

Answer 2

The short answer is you should always pay back your debts, but you probably don't have to since they are over the 7 year reporting limit.

Basically, the creditors have no leverage over you, since they can't report the info to the credit bureaus. however, be aware that if the debts are tax liens or student loans they can collect forever. They can also take your Federal and state tax refunds and apply to these debts, so you should work out payment palsn for these types of debts. And if the debts have become judgements, they can also continue to report past the seven years and can be renewed every 10 years or so.

But the basic small collections will generally go away after four years or so, because in most states they cant sue you after 2 to 4 years, depending on the state. So although the debts will be on your credit report up to the 7 year limit, the collection efforts will usually stop after 4 years.

Answer 3

Generally speaking, no. I assume that you are worried about your credit report and any legal ramifications this debt may cause. For the most part, collection agencies won't touch debt older than 3 years (the time being calculated from either when the debt was considered past due). After 7-10 years, any traces of the debt will be removed from your credit report.
If no one has tried to collect this debt, and no traces of the debt are on your credit report, I wouldn't advise running out and paying the debt-unless, of course, your conscience is bothering you (as it should be...)

Answer 4

Whether or not you legally owe the debt after 7 years really depends on the state where you agreed to the debt. This is called statute of limitations. For a list of every state in the union, check out the Bankrate website below:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20040116b2.asp

In any case, it's entirely possible to have your credit clean but still legally owe the debt (credit records fall off after 7 years, except bankruptcies which are 10 ---- whereas, some states have statutes that last 15 years).

Answer 5

I am not sure how it works, exactly, but I think that seven years is calculated from the date the debt was written off by the company and not from the day the debt occurred.

Can anyone verify this?? I am pretty curious, too, how it works.

Answer 6

I am not sure what the legalities are but I still get collection phone calls for a room-mate I had in school 9 years ago.

Answer 7

This site will tell you the statute of limitations for your debt.

Answer 8

If you know who those creditors are, the amount you owe, and they happen to contact you for repayment, the honest thing to do is to make arrangements, a payment plan to start repaying them.