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This company calls me about a credit card that I had in 2005! It was charged off in 2008 and I haven't heard a word until now! I called to see what it was about since I didn't recognize the original creditor. The guy I talked to assumed I get "rental assistance" (and was rude about it) simply because I get State Disability assistance right now until my RSDI kicks in. First of all...how dare you "assume" I get "rental assistance" because I am on SDA, you don't know me and to just throw that out there, WOW. Also I said it was charged off over 2 yrs ago and he says and? I was like uhmm well this is the first I have heard anything about it and I have no money to pay it..."well have a family member help you out, you racked this credit card up it's your obligation to pay it". Excuse me pinhead this is the first I heard about it in TWO years! It is not my fault no one has contacted me. He says well the original creditors may want to pursue further action. Well good luck buddy because you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip! He says in closing "Good luck" and hung up on me! Wow that is what I call excellent customer service right?! NOT! These people are a bunch of money hungry jerks. They will continue to harrass you until they break you down so you pay...It won't work on me! Keep trying and you can take me to court but I have nothing to garnish and no assests! They will be wasting their time!
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Ok. So I understand that you have not heard from anyone in two years regarding this credit card debt. Am I to understand that your not denying that you owe the debt? I understand that life circumstances have effected your ability to pay the debt, but since you've not heard from anyone, and because the lender who issued the card to you, charged off the debt, does not mean that you do not still owe the debt. Charged off loans get bundled and sold on the open market for cents on the dollars to debt buyers. It takes time for these transactions to take place, get into a system and in front of a commissioned collector to start working. I know, you may already know this.
Granted the approach by the person who contacted you could of been handled in a different manner. Some people just don't get it. But someway, sooner or later, this issue will have to be dealt with. Would'nt you rather have a say in how it's dealt with instead of allowing someone else to call all the shots?
I would be curious as to what happens next. Keep me posted.
Best Wishes.
Well I might be wrong here but legally if they have not tried to collect in 2 years, the debt is null. I believe 2 years is the statute of limitations. Further I believe only the original collector can sue you, so all these guys can do is mess up your credit and harass you. Since your on disability I am assuming that credit is a mess anyway, my next move from you would be to get a phone number block on their number.
In all honesty, the statute of limitations is seldom less than 3 years, and can be as long as 20 depending on the state you live in.
Whether or not the collector can sue you depends on whether they purchased the debt (in which case they can, because they own the contract... kind of like when the bank sells your mortgage), or if the contract with the debt collector gives them what's known as "Right of Assignment", meaning the original creditor gave the collection agency the right to sue on their behalf.
Having said that, either party could probably get a judgement against you. However, disability and retirement income is almost always exempt from garnishment. Unless you own real property, or significant personal property, there won't be anything they could take, even if they did sue you.
These idiots call looking for somebody named Cassandra Corey. I have no idea who this is. They call 20-30 times a week looking for her.
I filed a complaint with the National Do Not Call Registry, maybe that will help.
The Statute of Limitations depends on your state. There is a national map (link included below from CreditCards.com), and you can click on your state for the details, including a citation of the applicable statute. ClarkHoward.com also has appropriate sample letters to send if you get anything in the mail, or if you want to make someone stop calling you -- in addition to filing complaints with the National Do Not Call Registry, which is definitely a good thing to do. Keep a log, and file a complaint for EVERY call you get, date/time, person's name, their number, etc.
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-state-statute-limitations-1282.php
Also, the time barred debt as described on the site above, based on the statute of limitations in a particular state, is generally based on the last activity -- such as a purchase or payment. So, if you're broke or bankrupt or just not expecting that you will EVER pay it, making even a SMALL payment say 2 years later is about the WORST THING you can do, because it is "activity" and starts the Statute of Limitations "clock" ticking all over again.
Example: Debt from October 2005 - if the Statute of Limitations in your state is 6 years, next month (Oct 2011) you'd be free and clear. Not to say it won't hurt your credit report for a while, but there are other laws that apply to that.
However, if you made a payment say in anywhere between October 2005 and today, even for $10, perhaps a gesture to shut them up or to get them to stop calling, circa even 2009, in this example, the six-year clock starts again in 2009 and the debt doesn't "expire" by the Statute of Limitations until 2015 -a big difference for what some consider doing a good thing -- so think twice!
Also see SuzeOrman.com for advice about things like that -- it's from her that I learned about the "activity" thing starting the clock ticking all over again.