I've been reading and learning and really appreciate all of your posts. I have a question that I can't find an answer to. My husband had a Cellular One acct opened in 1996. His account was closed due to non payment. We think the balance was around $200 and it had an early termination fee. We did not hear from Cellular One for YEARS. Now all of a sudden we have a CA calling and they claim that we owe $800. My questions: How do we respond to this? Do we ask for proof? Ask why they never contacted us previously? Do we pay it off? Negotiate a lower pay-off? We have the cash to pay the $800 balance but I don't think we really owe that much. Problem is that my husband remembers getting something in the mail a few months ago saying we only had 30 days to dispute it in writing. I just pulled our reports today and it does not appear on our credit report. I only pulled the Equifax file. Thanks, K
send out a validation letter. The FCRA doesn't say that you only have 30 days to dispute the validity. If the account is truly from 1996, then it is probably past the SOL to collect on and almost past the reporting limit of 7 years. Send out the validation letter and stall them until the 7 years is up.
First I would check to see what the statute of limitation is in your state. It is likely that the statute has already expired and their grounds to collect or sue expired with it. In other words, if the statute of limitations has already run out and they try to sue you, you have an absolute defense. Negative accounts can reported to the credit bureaus for 7 years. If this acct was closed in 1996, then next year would be the latest it could be reported. I would check on the dates that this acct was closed. Then check for the statute of limitations. Go to this site http://a1248.svwh.net/BoardFAQ.htm You will find links to check the statute of limitations there. Assuming the statute has expired, I would send them a cease and desist letter. You can find that here: http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25 Should the statute not have expired yet, then I would send the collection angency a validation letter which makes them prove what they claim. You can find that letter at the same place as the cease and desist.
It's probably a scavenger company who purchased a last round of soon to be uncollectable debts in hopes of making some cash off them. A few years ago, I had an Airtouch phone that was cloned. I refused to pay the bill. (Hope could I be on the east coast and then the west coast 5 minutes apart?) No one would help me, and I wasn't paying. This was back in '95-96. CA called me last year asking when I'm going to make a payment. I laughed and told him I didn't know what he was talking about. What was funny is that the cordless phone I was on was about to go dead, and I kept trying to tell him that...... but he insisted on keeping me on the phone.....and the battery completely died, hanging up on him. He never called back.
Thanks for your advice. I found the SOL in my state and on an open end account it looks like it's only 3 years but contractual agreements are 6 years. Either way the SOL starts when the last payment was made which I believe was probably 1996. This creditor does not appear on the Equifax report that I pulled today but I think I better check the others. Should I ignore the calls we receive from the CA or go ahead and send a validation letter? I don't even know who to send it to because I don't think we've had written correspondence from them. K
I think I have to go with LKH on this. If its past the SOL, send a C & D (and make sure it's clear in it that you know what you're doing). I wouldn't waste my time trying to get them to validate. They can't collect anyway, and if they know you know that, they'll probably go away. Just make sure they know that you know your rights, and that you know they can't collect. I'd bet they'll go away. Just my opinion though, and I'm hardly an expert. Someone else here might have some other ideas.
