Questions on debt collecting procedures (seizures/freezing accounts, judgments, SOL) Hi folks, I have had a situation with a credit card that I want verify is over in every way, since I am getting mixed signals. This account is a credit card by American Express. Always made good on all my debts. Had a balance on that card and paid off all the things that I agreed to pay (as opposed to the AT&T scam). My dial up internet service from AT&T came to over $850. (Keep in mind that there is a lag time from when you are first hooked on service to when they send the charges in to Am Ex, then there is an additional lag from when Am Ex receives the charges and then sends you a statement--so a bit over two months passed before I even knew I was in what I thought would be 19.99 a month for basic dial up.) I will list all dates since there are some things that don't add up or correspond to what I have gathered. Based on the account statements that I have from Am Ex: The date of my last charge from AT&T was on 5/27/1999 (where the problems start) The last payment I ever made (for my real charges--only what I would pay) was on 10/10/1999 There was an inquiry but then the charges from AT&T were reapplied on 12/14/1999 Here is where I am confused: I still get calls from Am Ex (got one just a week ago on my answering machine), but according to the statue of limitations in my state, they should be off my back after 6 years. [EDIT: Just found the answer to the last line from the net: http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html Answer: The creditor or collection agency may theoretically continue with letters and telephone calls forever (although third-party collectors are subject to the "cease and desist" provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.) However, they will generally put much less effort into collecting "Out-Of-Statute" debts, and may give up easily] I live in NY State and 6 years is what I am seeing from sites such as the following: http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html My credit report does not show Am Ex anymore. YAY! But when I returned the call to Am Ex, they said that it still is on my credit report (so I guess they lied about that). From what I read, I should be in the clear and they should not be able to do anything to me. Even when the SOL did not run out, their lawyers did not even want the case and even sided with me. Yet the guy in their disputes department is threatening to put a judgment against me--which should not be legal or valid anymore, correct? According to the following--and if my logic is correct--it is illegal for him to tell me that a judgment is coming my way since the SOL has run out: http://www.cardreport.com/laws/fdcpa/fdcpa.html#807 "(5) The threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken or that is not intended to be taken. " So am I in the clear, or can Am Ex still do something? To get a judgment--even if the SOL did not run out--we would first have to go to court? No court no judgment, right? To freeze my local bank accounts, that can only happen IF we go to court and they win and get the judgment? Can a pre-judgment seizure of accounts happen now? If ever on a credit card account? Seizures/frozen accounts are also under the statute of limitations for the same time length as going to court. Or did I just continue to speak to another uninformed incompetent person at Am Ex? (One of the reasons why this all happened in the first place.) I did as much research as I could before asking for your appreciated help.
