My wife is being harassed by a collection agency that we have not heard from in 7 years. Help!?

Question

My wife had a credit card that had a $2000 limit on it in 1994. She made payments on it for awhile, but stopped in 1997 when money was tight. She did not receive anything from the credit card company until 2000. She made arrangements to pay $100 a month and made them for 4 months until she realized that her principle was going up. She stopped paying again and argued that she could not continue to pay more than $100 a month, and that she was not going to keep paying to owe more. We bought a house last year and the credit card was on her credit report, with several late payments. But it also showed that it was current and was still owned by the credit card company. We have not heard from the credit card company since 2000, but that all changed last week. We started getting phone calls and letters saying that the account was sold to a collection agency and legal action would be taken if we did not respond in 30 days. Can they do this after 10 years or is it just a threat?

Answer 1

Here is what happened, when you Wife agreed to make payments it restarted the statute of limitations all over again so it's 7-years not 10.

I have listed a link so you can look up your State. Credit cards are considered open accounts. If the S.O.L. has passed and I'm sure it has, then it's simply a threat.

Even if they do sue you all you have to do is show the court that the S.O.L. has expired and the case will be dismissed.

Good luck.


http://www.bcsalliance.com/index.html

Answer 2

Unfortunatly it is NOT a threat. Even though she had made a payment plan and then stopped because she couldn't afford to continue paying your wife still owes the credit card company money. It is now going to be a chargeoff on her credit and she will be hit with maturity interest each month till the card balance is paid in full. Even though it has been a long time since you spoke to them your wife was still responsible for the balance she charged up on her credit card and the interest and late fees and over balance charges that she is continuing to get each month. This is why her principle keeps going up each month. I am surprised that they didn't do this sooner. Your wife's best bet is to call them and set up a payment plan that you can afford. When you are able to pay it off that is the best thing to do. She can also try and settle the loan by paying less than what is due but when you settle you pay the big balance at once not over months. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

You need to check the laws in your state. There are limitations on how long a company has to come after you for a credit card debt. Unfortunately, since the collection agency now has the debt, they are going to harass you and threaten you until you get this sorted out. I would look up the laws for your state ASAP and see if you can get out of this legally. If not, make arrangements with the collection agency to get this bill paid off. Try to negotiate with them since they bought this debt for pennies on the dollar. They will try to add fees, so be firm. The best way to get them to agree to go lower on the amount is to offer them a lump sum instead of payments. Whatever you get them to agree to, get it in writing and do NOT give them access to your bank account. Ask them to change the status of the bill on your credit report. Good luck to you!

Answer 4

Credit card companies,after turning the account over to a collection agency, will almost always accept a settlement. Have your wife find out what she owed on the card with out the interest and offer them that amount and they should get off your back. Make sure to have them send you a settlement acceptance letter stating that they are accepting the settlement as payment in full and once they've received it they will contact the credit bureau and have it removed.

Answer 5

She feels that she has a chance with you because you're getting riled. If you really want to get her just start jabbering about unrelated stuff when she calls and waste as much of her time as you can. Even call her back if she hangs up. She's probably an independent collector. She only gets paid if you pay so if she gets the idea that she's not going to get anything and you're taking up too much of her time then she'll move on and bug someone else. And / or, call the credit card company and tell them look, this is all I can afford to pay per month right now. If these people keep calling me I'm going to stop paying even that. Be calm about it and just let them know that you're at the end of your rope emotionally and they need to call off the dogs or they can forget it.

Answer 6

They can pursue collection, but the statute of limitations is likely expired. That would mean they could no longer sue for a judgment. She should exercise her rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and request that they cease and desist all telephone contact, as these calls are inconvenient and harassing.

Answer 7

Heard from a "Legal" source that If you ignore them for six years they can't touch you. This means letters and phone calls. Also if you do not pay them for six years they again cant touch you. But if you pay them any money during this period then decide to not pay again the "Time" zeros and goes back. So if you ignore them for five years then pay them, then you have another six years of hassle.
Another option is to wait until they pass it onto a debt collection agency, again ignore them. After a while they sell it onto another agency. Who buy it at a reduced price. For example, you owe 20k, the collectors sell it to another agency for 15K. They sell it onto somone else for 12K. And so on. So after a while it gets reduced. When you can pay it off start paying the collectors. This works in the UK so try it.

Good luck.

Answer 8

What is the amount you owe on the account? If you have cash resources available to you call the collection agency and make them an offer. It costs that collection agency $$$$ to collect debts like this. To save time and the hassle they may settle for less than the balance on the account.

Answer 9

Its a lot of hassle but why don't you change your phone number, and when you get a letter cross out your address and write not known at this address please return to sender on the envelope.But if you owe money prehaps you should pay it if you can't afford the payments that they want make them an offer such as $15 a month. If somebody owed you money wouldn't you want it back!

Answer 10

No, but it will not be 10 years until 2010. Right now, it is only 7 years, because the time period is measured from the events that you say happened in 2000.