Almost there...

Back in 1998, I was first introduced to the wonderful world of credit. I had a VISA, some store credit cards and then I went and bought my first car.

Everything was rosy and golden until my divorce in 2001 when as you would expect things began to fall apart. I moved across the country twice, racked up huge credit card and store card debt in the process and ended up doing a voluntary repossession on my car.

Since then I've avoided most debt collectors by moving from place to place..and when one would call I'd just ask that they send something in writing. Looking at my credit report I see that the last activity on most of the debts was in 2001, and the comments show them as being "Written Off".

All except one...a store card from a furniture store that I last paid in 2002 has gone through several collections companies and has now ended up with a "law office" who sent me a draft of the legal proceedings which will follow if I don't pay them the $3k I owe them plus the $5k in interest.

I was thinking of sending a debt validation letter..especially since they show that the money I owe is owed to another collection company, and not the furniture store that I originally borrowed from. Should I go down this path or keep ignoring them for another year until it evaporates from my credit report?

Also, should I just trust that these other debts will disappear from my credit report or is there a more proactive measure I can take?

(ps. for what it's worth, I live in Canada).

Thanks!