Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 20:54     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:You older now, you should pay. In your heart you used the money therefore you owe it.


Right because $0 of that balance is interest/fees/profit for the card-issuer...
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 20:47     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
You older now, you should pay. In your heart you used the money therefore you owe it.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 20:12     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


The FCRA does not make debt go away. It just says it can't show up on your credit report for 7 years*. You could still be sued for it if the statute of limitations (under state law) has not passed. Even if the statute of limitations as passed, bottom feeder debt collectors may still try to collect it outside of court.

*Protip: if you're trying to take out a very large loan or insurance policy, or if it's a credit check by an employer for a higher salary job, the credit report might go back further than 7 years.


SOL on credit card debt is less than 7 yrs in all or nearly all states. And just because a bottom-feeder debt collector would try to ILLEGALLY collect the debt, doesn't make it still an existing debt.

Once a debt can no longer be legally enforced or reported, it ceases to exist. Debt is not a metaphysical thing, it is a legal construct.

PS, for all you moralists, even the Bible contemplates a statute of limitations on debt. It's called jubilee.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 19:31     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
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.


The FCRA does not make debt go away. It just says it can't show up on your credit report for 7 years*. You could still be sued for it if the statute of limitations (under state law) has not passed. Even if the statute of limitations as passed, bottom feeder debt collectors may still try to collect it outside of court.

*Protip: if you're trying to take out a very large loan or insurance policy, or if it's a credit check by an employer for a higher salary job, the credit report might go back further than 7 years.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 18:52     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:You may officially "owe" the money - it is just uncollectable (creditor cannot sue you for the debt). So the debt may appear on your credit report money owed (and reflected in your debt to equity ratio). Your credit report is meant to report your payment history, so a failure to pay from more than 7 years ago should not appear.

FYI - it is 7 years from the last payment, and if you make a new agreement to pay old debt that you no longer or required to pay, you can basically restart the clock.


Just one point on it being "uncollectable" - if the credit card company sold the debt to a bulk debt buyer, who then hired a law firm to help them collect (one of the big firms is Weltman Weinberg & Reis, and I think Midland Funding does some of their own collections), if the law firm gets a default judgment against you then you have to pay the debt. Don't let it get to that point, OP!
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 16:56     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
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.


+1
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 16:43     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Instead of guessing just pull your 3 credit reports from annual credit report.com. (that's the real free one, not the one you see advertised on TV). You don't see this debt they are that in my opinion you can completely ignore it.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 16:42     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:You may officially "owe" the money - it is just uncollectable (creditor cannot sue you for the debt). So the debt may appear on your credit report money owed (and reflected in your debt to equity ratio). Your credit report is meant to report your payment history, so a failure to pay from more than 7 years ago should not appear.

FYI - it is 7 years from the last payment, and if you make a new agreement to pay old debt that you no longer or required to pay, you can basically restart the clock.


Seven years plus a bit, because the date of default will be sometime after the date of last payment. I actually don't believe that, in Virginia, partial payment restarts the statute of limitations. The debt collectors think it does, that's why they try to get you to pay even only $20 on these very old debts. It is actually the case of paying a little bit can leave you much worse off than paying nothing at all, from a legal standpoint. That's why all the people above saying that you have a moral obligation to pay off the debt are just ridiculous. Deck collectors take advantage of people's ignorance pure and simple.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 16:38     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
You may officially "owe" the money - it is just uncollectable (creditor cannot sue you for the debt). So the debt may appear on your credit report money owed (and reflected in your debt to equity ratio). Your credit report is meant to report your payment history, so a failure to pay from more than 7 years ago should not appear.

FYI - it is 7 years from the last payment, and if you make a new agreement to pay old debt that you no longer or required to pay, you can basically restart the clock.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 15:36     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.




Can a collection agency that bought the old debt still report it so it stays on your credit report past the 7 year limit?


This is called re-aging and, with some exceptions, violates the FCRA.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 15:34     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


This is called re-aging and, with some exceptions, violates tge FCRA.

Can a collection agency that bought the old debt still report it so it stays on your credit report past the 7 year limit?
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 15:26     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Can a collection agency that bought the old debt still report it so it stays on your credit report past the 7 year limit?
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 15:21     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
I have no problem with someone who is not able to pay bills for a time. I do have a problem with someone who decides to see if they can evade them long enough to not have to pay them ever.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 15:13     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Except that's not what happened to OP, put your straw man away.

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.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2014 15:05     Subject: Outstanding Debts from 199...????
They should be gone after 7 years unless you kept promising to repay them, like:" yes, sure, send me the bill", over the phone.