Zombie Debt?

Sorry this is long..I had a car repo'd in early 1991. The only time I had heard from the bank was about 2 months after they repo'd when they sent a letter stating I could pay x amount to get it before it went to auction. I couldn't afford that so I didn't. I never heard from them but did notice that it did go on my credit report. (after 7 years it was off) I went on with my life. I married in 1992. After the 7 years was up and my credit report was cleared I got a couple of credit cards in my name. I bought a car in 2001. Well about 6 months ago I got a call from a company saying I had to pay 16k. They would settle for 7k on this. I told them I didn't know what this debt was for. I didn't remember it and could they send me stuff in writing. They never did. I got a call again from the same company 2 months later same thing. Never got anything in writing. Well Saturday I got a call from another company (different one this time) and they said that the bill was 16k but that they would take 10cents on the dollar for it. I asked when this debt was from because I didn't remember it and they said early 90's. I said that the statute of limitations was up and he said no it wasn't that they can go by when it was written off which he said was 1997 but I know that's not true as it was on my credit report as a write off in 1992 on up. He said they have a history of my payments so I asked when was the last payment made because the statute of limitations goes by that and he said no it doesn't but wouldn't give me a date on last payment (though I know it was like december of 1990 as I was in financial stress then .. young, living on my own , no job....) Anyway, he said that they can go after my house... I said that I don't own the house my husband does but he said that because Rhode Island is a joint debt (joint property states yes but joint debt??) they can go after the house. The also said my husband's credit can be ruined. I told him I didn't think so and he said yes, he was responsable for this because we live in a joint debt state! He said we could stop judgement if we gave them a "hold check" until we came to an agreement. I told him I couldn't do that for a debt I knew nothing about and my husband was in the military and gone right now. Then he say's "oh, I was wondering why this was in here. With your husband being in the military they are gonna get an article 15 against him and he won't be able to be promoted" Say what??? So anyway, I said that I would talk to a laywer and he said that the file was gonna be processed out of their office monday and be going to court on Wednesday . I asked if I could get something in writing and he said yes, if you give us a hold check... I said no. I will talk to an attorney.
Now, 3 days later I got a call again from the same guy saying that it wasn't processed out and did I have time to talk to my husband about settling for $1600. That if I didn't they would go to file on wednesday. I just put the phone down and walked away.

Do I need to do anything at this time? Is what he saying true. Can they get a judgement for a lien on my house even though my husband wasn't my husband until after the fact. Can they actually take me to court for this. The statute of limitations is 15 years in rhode island (which is where the loan was taken out)That has passed! I checked my credit report and nothing on it still. Can they really go after my husband with an article 15??

Thanks for reading this..

This stuff just infuriates me! They CANNOT go after your husband, UCMJ does not even have a code for debt, so the article 15 and them suing you is a LIE! Tell them to take you to court!

A debt collector will say anything to get you to make a payment because it resets the Statute of Limitations clock. Get his name, adress, etc, and do a debt validation letter. You were very wise not sending any money, do not send any! These are the types of tactics that need to be stopped. Once the SOL has been met it should be illegal to try and collect on the debt.

I just really hate debt collectors and after reading this more, I hate them more. The tactics they pull.
I was in the military and have run into some unfortunate circumstances since being demobilized. Just for your info and peace of mind, an article 15 is a non-judicial punishment. Meaning it does not go to court. AND, no they can not do an article 15 on your husband. I would definitely do everything in writing starting with a debt validation letter and a cease and desist letter. They can't call you once they recieve the letter and attempt to validate. This a copy of a letter I just sent to Ventus Capital. This is an old debt of my wife's that we are both sure she has paid on. Use this template.
BTW, has anyone ever heard of Ventus capital? They were using the same tactics. Wanting payment now for 2/3 of the balance, they wouldn't agree to a payment plan or nothing. My wife didn't acknowledge the debt just tried to get more info over the phone so i think I'm ok

That is the best letter I have ever seen! Kudos! Do not forget to send it certified mail.

I have a bunch of them in my files ready to go. Different ones for different occasions but by far that one is my heavy hitter.

I have 2 "Heavy Hitters" ready for departure. Hope you don't mind me borrowing it. It should be framed, it is a work of art.

Since your husband is in the military, he is actually protected by the Serviceman Civil Relief Act. They cannot sue him while he's on active duty, nor can they contact his military chain of command.

For it to affect your husbands credit (if RI is a community property state), they would have to get a judgment first. Being that is sounds like the SOL is expired, I don't think they'll be getting a judgment anytime soon.

A debt is always a debt until it's paid. The SoL is there to prevent you from being sued after a certain period of time. collection agencies can even collect even after your death if you have life insuance, an estate..

You should get the debt validated to find out what you really owe. Just because a car get's repoed it doesn't mean you don't owe anything. You still have to pay for what the bank or company that financed your car, couldn't get to complete the balance. For example, if you bought a 10k car and it got repoed with a balance of 5k and the company sold it for 3, you still owe 2k.

If the Statute of Limitations has expired you legally owe nothing, you cannot be sued and neither can your estate in the event of your demise. To come after your estate they would need a judgement issued from a court which we already have established they cannot do. The creditor and a collection agency can continue to report you as delinquent but it's nothing that a letter cannot cure with the credit reporting company and a debt validation to prove the expiration of the statute of limitations. If no one has any legal recourse you are not legally bound to the debt. Paying or not paying the debt is completely up to the consumer, it is not the consumer's fault that the creditor took no legal action within the YEARS of a time frame they had before the expiration of the SoL. In the event of this $16k, if you pay any part of it you are committing to paying all of it. All arguments of your obligations to a debt once the SoL has expired are purely semantics and should be avoided.

WRONG, you are still legally responsible for ANY and ALL debt you produce. Just because you can't be sued for it doesn't mean the magical debt fairy waved her wand and made everything perfect again.

Telling people things like that makes it a wonder at why more creditors/collections agencies don't sue as soon asan account goes past due.

If you have no legal recourse how can you be held legally responsible? Perhaps "The Magical Judgement Fairy" will hand you a pre-dated lien. If the information the original poster posted is proveable fact then the statute of limitations is clearly expired. FYI, you said yourself in a previous post, "The SoL is there to prevent you from being sued after a certain period of time." So, to quote a classic, ipso facto, I am right by your own admission.

Why does it take someone being sued to pay their debt? Is that what it takes now days for people to pay for somehting they took?

Encouraging people to not pay for something they took, after they signed a contract or service that required a verbal contract (utilities..ect), somehting they gave their honest word to pay back, is ethically wrong. And from a legal ground point of view a debt is a debt until it is paid or satisfied. The SoL expiring doesn't invalidate a debt. People shouldn't have to be sued to pay their bills and it is a sad sad day when it finally does come down to that.

'In any given court room on any given day people are suing one another for unpaid debts. Sorry to break the news to you and hope you recover from your sadness. In these court rooms all persons are treated with respect and dignity and the rights of all parties involved are upheld. The mere creation of the fdcpa is indicative of severe abuses of the system. People fall on hard times everyday, normally through no fault of their own. It is not that they do not wish to pay but it may be a choice between making that credit card payment or feeding their family. Whatever the case may be they do not deserve to be threatened, lied to, harassed, or treated in any unprofessional manner. You do not need to read more than 2 or 3 threads here to see that even though the FDCPA exists it is still ignored by collection agencies. Let me be perfectly clear, do not pay any collection agency or enter into an agreement to pay a collection agency without the benefit of a judge in a court room. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! dancingmom2, no law enforcement agency or court in the land is going to force you to pay that debt as long as the statute of limitations is expired, that is the LAW. If you make a payment toward that debt, you reset the statute of limitatons clock, that is the law as well and you can be sued for the entire amount. With the lack of professionalism and intimidation tactics that have been used against you I urge you to pay them nothing. Then do a debt verification letter and force them to prove that the SoL has expired. Send a copy of the return letter to any credit reporting service that is reporting this debt and ask it be removed, they will not report un-enforceable debts. A discussion of anything other than what your rights are and what the law provides is purely semantics, again, ignore it.'

Wow, what kind of car did you have that after it being repossed and sold at auction in 1991 you still owe $16,000 balance on?

I have been contacted by collectors about a couple of old debts from 2002. I made arrangements to pay them off because I know that if I didn't they would just sell the debt to someone else and it would be a neverending cycle. Also, I owed the debts. One thing I have figured out is that you need to pay what you owe because it will never go away, it just it bought by another collector. By the way, my credit score has went from the 400s to 698 this year.