In Maine how long can a collection agency legally try to collect a debt?

Question

I'm not talkng about how long it remains on my credit report, but rather i have a collection agency who has sent me 2 collections from 98' and 99'.... i thoguth legally they could only collect for a certian number of years? thanks!

Answer 1

They can ALWAYS try. In fact they can try to collect debt that isn't even yours. There are certain limits as to how far they can go by law, but the law isn't enforced as it should be. There are cases where people are paying strangers bills because the collector is over aggressive and the people do not understand their rights.

Answer 2

each state has different statutes of limitations on collecting old debt - most are 3 yrs from last payment not when the debt occured. So you need to find Maine's statute of limitation law. If it is a third party collection agency - send them a letter stating to "cease and desist" all written and verbal communications. This would leave filing a judgement as the only course of action to collect on the debt. if it is past the states statute of limitations they can not take you to court. Hope this helps you

Answer 3

it depends on the crediting co and the collection agencys contract some times its as little as 30 days and up to one year also sometimes you can say i dont agree w the price and see if you can come to a settlement sometimes that settlement is also writen into the contact you can pay it off paying anywhere from 75% to 50% legally they can only collect for four years they shouuldnt calling you all you have todo is write them a letter stating you are not going to pay and they have to sop sending you letters any correspondence after that constitues harassment (ps i work for a collection agency)

Answer 4

Well, look at it this way:

If you owed ME money, I would try to collect it for as long as you took breath.