Credit Advice

THESE ARE CALLED JUNK DEBT BUYERS. THEY BUY YOUR OLD ACCOUNT AS PART OF A PORTFOLIO FOR PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR, THEN TRY TO COLLECT FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE OLD DEBT, USUALLY PLUS INTEREST. THEY ARE QUICKER TO OFFER SETTLEMENT AMOUNTS BECAUSE THEY KNOW EITHER WAY THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE A PROFIT. IF AN ACCOUNT'S STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAS EXPIRED, THEY CANNOT SUE YOU. THOUGH SOME WILL TAKE THE MATTER TO COURT ANYWAY WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT YOU WON'T SHOW AND THUS WIN A JUDGMENT SIMPLY BY DEFAULT. THERE ARE A LOT OF WEBSITES TO RESEARCH HOW TO HANDLE THESE SITUATIONS. THE MORE SAVVY YOU ARE ABOUT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS IN THESE MATTERS, THE BETTER.

You just contest the bill showing them your bankruptcy discharge and that the original debt was included in your BK. If the debt was acquired after the discharge, then you are responsible for it.

The debt is still valid after 7 years, and companies may still pursue you to get paid. However, the statute of limitations is past for any potential legal action they could take, and it cannot be reported to the credit agencies as a delinquent debt because the 7 years past the the last activity on the account has occurred.

There is a percentage of folks who will still pay the debt or settle after 7 years, which allows that market to continue.

Close but not quite. The 7 years is for reporting but has nothing to do with its legal status. For example, a credit card will have a statute of limitations to file suit of 3 years I believe in California but an auto loan will have a SOL of 15 years in Ohio. It depends on your state and the type of debt. It is pretty easy to google and find out the specific sol in your state though. Just watch your reports because when you deal with debts that old they are always being collected by the garbage scum of the collection world who will not hestitate to re-age and poison your credits and of course illegally sue or threaten to do so. IF they sue on a time barred debt it is a violation of the fdcpa but if you do not show up and fight it they will just get a default. ALWAYS defend yourself against those pondscum.

Check it out... this Q&A was posted on Credit Karma's blog post - http://blog.creditkarma.com/credit-scores/top-credit-questions-dealing-with-difficult-debt/.

Cool!