I have some debt that was charged-off by the creditor years ago, almost 10 years. This debt has been bought by a collection company that now wants to sue me for it. Can they do this? The debt was charged off and it probably 10 years old, but they can get paid still? I don't get it... Charged-off is charged-off. Ain't it?
Charged off doesn't mean that you don't have to pay for it. However, it is very likely that the SOL in your state has passed and they can not sue you for it as long as you appear and state to the Judge that the statue has passed. What state are you in, and what kind of debt is this? A good place to look up alot of info on the board is the FAQ at the top. Welcome to CreditNet!
Well, just becasue it's charged-off doesn't mean they can't collect it. Normally, creditors won't sue you UNTIL AFTER is has been charged off. However, the fact that the debt is 10 years old, it in all likelihood is beyond its SOL and becasue of that, it is uncollectable. Send them a letter reminding them of this and that if they pursue a lawsuit you will raise the SOL as your defense and the case will be thrown out.
What kind off debt was it and what state do you live in? SOL's vary from state to state. http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html
I live in Texas and the debt is from an old Discover account. How can I find out about the age of this debt? See, my wife and I bought a new home about 5 years ago. Everything was going good and we were working hard to clear up our old debt. We had managed to pay off every old credit card except Discover (charged-off by then) and had some misc debt still to go. Then I lost my job and since then we have had one hard stretch after another. Currently I am unemployed and these financial issues have strained the marriage beyond the limits. I've planned on filing bankruptcy, but all these new creditors keep popping up wanting money and I can't get bills caught up enough to file and start over! All I want is to begin again and not make the same mistakes! I would settle for paying off debt, but no one wants to compromise - they demand all, get lawyers (I hate lawyers), and refuse to take reasonable or "do-able" payments! ARGH!
Wow! The SOL for this was 4 years! Ok, so now what do I do? Send them a letter telling them the SOL has passed? They must know this, why do they keep after it - to catch anyone that doesn't know? Isn't that unlawful? Can't we rise up as a group and force laws to block this sort of thing from happening to everyone else? Grrr!
What do you mean by getting your bills caught up to file and start over??? Why would you want to get bills caught up if you are just gonna file and get them dischrged?
