How should I handle this?

Hi Russ....

Send Asset Acceptance a debt validation letter via certified mail/return receipt requested. After receiving your letter, they should provide you with the following info:

1. The agreement which authorizes the creditor to collect debt on the alleged debt.
2. The signed agreement from the debtor conforming to pay the creditor
3. The documents regarding the payments made on this account validating the amount.

You can find a template for a debt validation letter here... http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/sample6.html

You can also send them a Cease & Desist letter sent via the same method as the debt validation letter if they start harrassing you by phone. This sounds really shady. Have you checked your credit reports to see if Asset Acceptance have made any inquiries or put any derogatory/innaccurate info. on there? If they have and you get no response to your debt validation request, you can dispute the supposed debt with the credit bureaus.

Maybe Asset Acceptance has mistaken you with someone else similar to your name. Send them a cease and desist letter if you are sure not owing this debt.

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/template-cdletter.html

A debt from 1980 is an age old debt. This must not appear in your credit report now and the collector must not try to hit the negative info in your file. A small payment now will invite all the problems.

And before you agree to make *any* payments, check and see what the statute of limitations on debt is in your state- if you've already passed it, making a payment could open the whole cycle up again. Most of the SOLs I've heard of are between 7 and 9 years.

I still don't understand why some people keep stressing to not pay when the SoL has expired. If it is your debt you should pay for what you took. The SoL only protects you against garnishment or judgements, which to be honest the creditor would have already gotten if they wanted to.

collection agencies can still call you. It can still show on your credit report for up to 10 years depending on how bad they want to hurt you for it.

Yes, FYI,but this debt is 26 years old!!!! What's next, something from 1976??? That really is wierd and I would dispute it too!

---Collection agencies can still call you. It can still show on your credit report for up to 10 years depending on how bad they want to hurt you for it. ---

No it can't. SOL for reporting is 7 years, not 20+ years.

I understand the feeling that people should pay their debts no matter how old, but one of the reasons SOLs exist is that after so much time who has those records anymore to know what was paid and what was not. Ok, maybe some people do :) I would probably pay it if I was sure I owed, but I did get something from 11 years ago for $140 showing up on my credit report once (must have been purchased and the agency was trying to fudge the reporting date) that I'm 99%% sure I paid - but I don't have my check records from back then and wasn't about to pay the bank to dig one up for me, especially since I couldn't tell them what month etc.

Fundamentally, we do have the federal rights that a debt can be refused to pay after the SOL has expired and especially when it is past the reporting time in the credit report? If this federal law exists, why not use this?

That's right ArDen. And I disagree with the collector can still call you......not if you send them a cease and desist they can't call you. And I agree in exercising your rights the laws are there use them.

It shouldn't matter how old a debt is. If you took something from a creditor you should pay it back. If you have difficulty doing so or run into some problems then you should pay it back when you can.

If it is a credit card debt you should write in and see if you can settle the debt for the portion you took minue all of the intrest and late fee's that were applied after you hit your rough spot.

Also they can and will report something for up to ten years. It's not often done but it does happen. Many times you can get it removed but it takes the know how on how to do it. My mother in law had to pay back a debt when she was trying to buy her house a few years back. She even consulted an attorny because one debt was over 7 years old.

The reason the SoL exsist is to protect you from being sued.
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If you think you paid it you should send a verification letter to find out why they think you owe the money.

I know that when buying a house you will have to pay the debt. When I built my house 6 years ago I had things reported on my credit report which were my ex-husbands debt, but if I wanted to purchase my home I had to suck up the fact that it was an old debt and it belonged to my ex. I did what I had to do to have my house built even though it hurt to pay his old debts.

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/statue-limitations-explained.html

Yeah, I agree with FYI... As much as I hate paying bills and would love to get away with paying a huge debt if I could, my parents raised me with morals. When you borrow money you have a legal/ethical/moral right to pay that back. EVEN IF there's a loophole in the system 20 years down the line.

I also agree with FYI I have always tried to pay back what I borrow. I dont agree with all these high interest charges and fees that they tack on you. But unfortunately its legal with credit cards. KYSIDE38