Question by cmpromos: What is the law on fair credit reporting and statues of limitations in Texas on debt collection?
I recently gotten a debt collection notice for $ 2500 on an account I have no distinct memory of, from over 6 years ago. The debt collector stated they bought the debt from citibank, citibank says they bought it from “verizon credit card”, but cant give me a number to call “verizon credit card” to try and figure out what is going on. Now, from 1999-2001 I cleared and settled all my credit card accounts one by one, and I saved all my correspondence on these issues, but all of that was lost because they were stored in New Orleans at my father’s house. So basically I have these people trying to collect a debt I have no record of, whose latest action is from 2001, and they have suddenly listed this on my credit report, as if it was a new debt, from 2007 – which I am fairly certain is illegal. Anyone know the details on this sort of stuff?
After trying to work with this collection agency, now that I am sure that this is a junk debt, I am convinced these people are scam artists and know it. I called them and explained that I wanted to work with them to track back the company that initially owned the debt, and they said they didn’t care, that I owed them money, and that since they bought the debt this month, it IS a new debt, and that they could report it as so., because I “took action on the debt simply by calling them” I told them that legal counsel has advised me otherwise, and that in the state of Texas last monetary action on the date of the debt is what matters, not phone contact, which is true, and they hung up on me. My lawyer, who isn’t in this sort of law, is sending them the certified letter, following OCT1999′s recommendations. Thanks SO much! I was about to shell out the 2500 because this has dropped my credit rating from 750 to 590, and my job is at risk b/c of it, but now I am going to fight it.
Best answer:
Answer by SPIFIMAN1
Here is a link so you can look this up.
http://www.bcsalliance.com/index.html
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There is no time limit on “attempting” to collect a debt. So if a debt is unpaid they can attempt to collect it forever.
However, there are two other things that do have time limits. The first is the Legal Statute of Limitations. This is the period of time they have to sue you for the money. For Texas this is 4 Years from the date of the last delinquency. If your last delinquency was for example 12/2001, they can not sue you after 12/2005. Well they can file a suit, but you would require them to prove that they were still in statute. If they can not the judge would throw it out.
The second is the time it can be reported on your credit report. This is 7 years from the date of last delinquency. So using the same delinquency date of 12/2001 it will be on your report until 12/2008.
This was probably bought by a Junk Debt Buyer hoping to get you to pay, but they are not allowed to re-age a debt. What you need to do is send them a certified letter with return reciept. In the letter request that they provide proof that they in fact have the right to collect on the debt, and the account history. This includes the original signed agreement and payment history showing your last payment. If they can not provide this in 30 days by law it must be removed from your credit report. So if they do not respond in 30 days send a copy of that letter along with a letter to the Credit Reporting Agencies stating they did not respond in the required time and the item must be removed.
If they do respond and provide proof that your payment was in 2001, they can do nothing but keep it on your report until 2008. So it is your choice to pay it or let it fall off naturally.
I agree with OC1999… In my opinion Junk debt collects are worse then collection agencies. Write them back with return receipt to request they do not contact you any longer