Outstanding Debts from 199...????

[Anonymous]

In my reckless youth, I qualified for a few credit cards and foolishly maxed them all out. Sadly, I couldn't pay them off + then stupidly simply quit paying anything on any of them at all.

For awhile, I got the standard daily collection calls. They even called a few of my neighbors asking for me. I was "threatened" w/legal action, to garnish my wages in the future, but that never came into fruitation which I am not sure why. I know one credit card wrote off one debt as a charge off, while another one has forwarded my balance on to an attorney who sends me letters offering to settle for a lesser amount which I receive every four months or so.

My dad told me that since these debts were made in the mid-nineties, they are like a bankruptcy, they pretty much automatically are erased in the same manner. Yes, my credit score/record is still blemished, but the debts are erased vs. outstanding. In other words, I owe nothing just like if I had filed for Chapter 7.

Is this true? After a certain amount of time, such as 20 yrs., do debts just get erased automatically like they do in a Chapter 7?

Thank you for any and all advice/input.

[Anonymous]

Um, pay your bills.

[Anonymous]

Don't you feel the least bit guilty that you haven't paid these? I feel like it's a crime not to pay your bills, just like your robbed a store.

[Anonymous]

dismissed with prejudice

v.

dismissed without prejudice

Look it up. It may help clarify your situation.

[Anonymous]

Delinquencies must be wiped off of your credit report after seven years. In certain cases it can violate the law for a debt collectors r to try to collect on a time barred debt. It's far as I'm concerned if the statue of limitations has passed you simply no longer owe the money. The banks fault not your fault that they didn't get around to suing you earlier. Contact consumer lawyer. Kristi Kelly in Fairfax is a very good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't you feel the least bit guilty that you haven't paid these? I feel like it's a crime not to pay your bills, just like your robbed a store.

?!?!?

Well you need to do some reading into how the credit card industry actually works...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my reckless youth, I qualified for a few credit cards and foolishly maxed them all out. Sadly, I couldn't pay them off + then stupidly simply quit paying anything on any of them at all.

For awhile, I got the standard daily collection calls. They even called a few of my neighbors asking for me. I was "threatened" w/legal action, to garnish my wages in the future, but that never came into fruitation which I am not sure why. I know one credit card wrote off one debt as a charge off, while another one has forwarded my balance on to an attorney who sends me letters offering to settle for a lesser amount which I receive every four months or so.

My dad told me that since these debts were made in the mid-nineties, they are like a bankruptcy, they pretty much automatically are erased in the same manner. Yes, my credit score/record is still blemished, but the debts are erased vs. outstanding. In other words, I owe nothing just like if I had filed for Chapter 7.

Is this true? After a certain amount of time, such as 20 yrs., do debts just get erased automatically like they do in a Chapter 7?

Thank you for any and all advice/input.

No they don't, you should hire a bankruptcy attorney.

[Anonymous]

Everyone else pays the pice for deadbeats. Do you feel no moral obligation to take responsibility for your actions?

[Anonymous]

Look up the statute of limitations on credit card debts. Plus a lot of the time, when debts are sold/bought in bulk, the company that bought the bad debt can't prove that you legally owe the debt. If you're getting harassment from a bottom-feeder law firm about some old debt I advise you to just Google the name of the law firm and see how other people are dealing with them.

[Anonymous]

The debt does not go away, only the ability of the creditor to sue you for the debt. If you want the debt removed from your credit report, you need to pay it. Pay the full amount and don't settle, this would negatively affect your credit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The debt does not go away, only the ability of the creditor to sue you for the debt. If you want the debt removed from your credit report, you need to pay it. Pay the full amount and don't settle, this would negatively affect your credit.

Bullsht. The debt goes away after 7 yrs. Federal law. FCRA.

Stop trying to moralize about what is purely a legal matter.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I like the idea of after 7 years the debt is wiped away because at the time I couldn't even afford to pay a bankruptcy lawyer.

And I didn't know that "settling" w/a lawyer would still make my credit suck.

I thought paying off the debt by settling would be better than not paying it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for the advice.

I like the idea of after 7 years the debt is wiped away because at the time I couldn't even afford to pay a bankruptcy lawyer.

And I didn't know that "settling" w/a lawyer would still make my credit suck.

I thought paying off the debt by settling would be better than not paying it at all.

Have you spoken to this lawyer and admitted the debt? If so, you might have reset the 7 year clock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for the advice.

I like the idea of after 7 years the debt is wiped away because at the time I couldn't even afford to pay a bankruptcy lawyer.

And I didn't know that "settling" w/a lawyer would still make my credit suck.

I thought paying off the debt by settling would be better than not paying it at all.

Have you spoken to this lawyer and admitted the debt? If so, you might have reset the 7 year clock.

Paying any part (or all) of the debt won't change your credit score one bit because the debt is wiped off the report after seven years. Gone. Completely. If you choose to give away your money to financial institutions for free that's your choice.

Google around and look at some of the enforcement actions that the CFPB is taking against debt collectors collecting very old debts without telling people that the debts aren't on their credit reports anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone else pays the pice for deadbeats. Do you feel no moral obligation to take responsibility for your actions?

Spoken like someone who has never had unexpected financial difficulties. Must be nice to be you.