Got a letter from a company who is one of the biggest blood sucker on the planet (in the business of buying old debts) called them about debt they said i owed, they said it was a credit card debt from 1981 they wanted to settled for part of the amount told them no way on phone, sol expired.now they have turned it over to another one of their companies they own who is giving me 30 days to respond.checked them out on www. ftc .gov they have beened sued big time before for their collection practices.(GREAT LAKES COLLECTION ) NCO,ETC, SOL has expired on this no doubt.any ideas on how to handle this? MY lawyer is out of the country till next mth.
Demand validation during the 30 day period. Demand that they provide a copy of the contract, and all statements for the alleged account. ie. "Proof that this is really my account, including a signed contract, and complete details on how they arrived at the figures which they are alleging, including all statements to back up those figures." Just think of how fun of an easter egg hunt that will be for them.
Check your credit reports for any unusual inquiries - hard or soft. I found an AR from a CA recently and I'm now pursuing them for no PP.
I am not sure what you mean by the term soft or hard inquire ?should I even bother to respond to these people?
Yes, respond to them with the validation letter that was suggested above. In the meantime, get a copy of your credit reports. A hard inquiry will be listed as one that other people see. A soft will be listed as seen only by you, and it will be coded with something like account review, promotional request, or something like that. At this point you just want to know if there is ANY inquiry from them. But you want your report anyway so we know if they are reporting anything. You're going to be looking for every violation you can find to use against them. But don't show your hand about what you're doing. Just write for the validation as suggested.
-Inquiries by the debt collector attempting to collect a debt IS PERMISSIBLE REGARDLESS OF THE AGE OF THE DEBT! -Statute of limitations is a DEFENSE TO A LAWSUIT ONLY not to collection efforts. -A debt collector can attempt to collect a debt FOREVER! including placing inquiries on your credit report. -A debt collector can also REPORT A DEBT FOREVER REGARDLESS OF THE AGE OF THE DEBT. -BEFORE YOU START TO SCREAM, THINK about what I just wrote. A DEBT COLLECTOR CAN REPORT A DEBT FOREVER. A REPORTING AGENCY CAN ONLY REPORT A DEBT FOR 7-10 years however. -It is SMART business for a debt collector to buy a debt for $.01 and attempt to collect $1.00 on it.
Okay, the light goes on! I was curious about how a GOOD TL was remaining on my CR for over 7 years, and it just occurred to me that only a NEGATIVE TL has a life of 7 - 10 years. But, I'm still curious why the 20 year old POSITIVE TLs can't still show up. I miss them!
FCRA 603: "(c) Running of reporting period. (1) In general. The 7-year period referred to in paragraphs (4) and (6)(2) of subsection (a) shall begin, with respect to any delinquent account that is placed for collection (internally or by referral to a third party, whichever is earlier), charged to profit and loss, or subjected to any similar action, upon the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the commencement of the delinquency which immediately preceded the collection activity, charge to profit and loss, or similar action." -Well, I think it would not factor into the scoring, BUT I dont really know. YOU can actually have those "good" accounts reported if you wanted to. -There are "attorney services" out there that will pretty much report anything you want onto a credit report. Ive used this to report judgments against collection agency employees I've sued
Is your 20-year old tradeline still open? If so, they should report it. I have one over 25 years old. In fact, they can continue to report the tradeline but remove the negative info after 7 years. That's why we often tell people to keep their oldest accounts open, even if you only buy a tank of gas every once in a while.
