Harrassment for an old debt

This alleged debt is probably one on which the statute of limitations has run. Send a letter demanding validation (one can be found on this site). Also include in the letter a partial cease and desist, stating that you'll only communicate by mail. Send it return reciept.

Hi Tysala--

They have not violated the fair credit reporting act. They are not required by law to report a debt on your credit file. Now, if they report a debt on there, that falls under "collection activity"....and as such, they can be held liable if the information is not validated. But that is different than what you have here.

When you say "old", how old are we talking? For this situation, the age of a debt begins when it first went past due, unless you have since made payments. Making any payment on a debt will "reage" it, meaning the clock starts over. There is a set amount of time that a CA has to take legal action against you on a debt. That is the clock I was talking about--each state has a different law. If you post what state you live in, I will find out the Statute of Limitations in that state. Also, what kind of debt is this? It makes a difference with the SOL.

As usual, law student posted fantastic advice. I agree, send out a validation letter by certified mail. The cease and desist is a good idea too. If you need an example of this letter that you can use, let me know and I will be happy to put one in here for you. Or, you can look in the do-it-yourself part of this website for one.

Hi Tysala

Law student and Skydivr 7673 are correct. You should send a cease and desist letter to the collection agency asking them to stop contacting you. The letter should be sent via certified mail with a return receipt requested. After receiving the letter, they may contact you only once to notify you that they will no longer contact you or to tell you that they are going to take a legal action against you. You can also send a debt validation letter to them. Remember to document all your conversation with the collection agency and also ask them to send their responses in writing so that you have a record. You can also check the Statute of limitations in your state. And if your debt is out of statute debt, then notify it to the collection agency.

I would not send a full cease & desist letter until you are certain that the debt is either not yours or is out of statute for civil action. Send a debt validation letter with a partial cease comm telling them to contact you by written method only.Send it certified return receipt mail.

When something falls off of your credit report that isn't a magical fairy waiting to absolve you of all of your debt. You still owe it. Collection activity will continue until it's paid and will likely be resolve many many many times.

FYI is right. But generally, if it has fallen off of your CR (7 years), it would mean that the SOL has run (except in Ohio where the SOL is 15 years). Most states have an SOL on nonsecured debt of 3 to 6 years (depending on which state you are in)

what's the statute of limitations in Texas?

TX SOL is 4 years for all debts.

If they threaten to take legal action after the statute of limitations has expired, you could have a claim for a collection violation, especially in Texas. Gotta love the laws here!