Letter from attorney

well, when you say "old debt", how old are we talking about? Also, what kind of debt is it and what state do you live in? It is possible that this debt is so old that the statute of limitations has passed, and if it has, you need to know about it before you take any more action.

The original debt was in 2002. However, I was working with a collection agency on it last year making minimum payments each month. In spite of me sending something every month, they just continued to call me and demand more. I realize it was probably not the right thing to do but I finally just gave up. My overtime was cut at work which was about a third of my income. So, even though the SOL might have been over now, I kept it going by talking to the collection agency so I think it starts over now right? I am puzzled as to why there has been no response from this attorney to the attorney who sent the letter for me? Should I try to call the attorneys myself and work out a payment plan? The attorney who sent the letter for me says just to wait and see if they sue me but I would rather handle it before then. It has been almost two months since he sent the letter for me.

Couple things:

1. This is a different CA than the one you were paying last year, right?
2. Are the payments you made to the other CA on your credit report?
3. Have you sent a debt validation request to this new CA or just the offer letter via your attorney?

This was well past SOL when you were paying on it last year. If those payments are not documented on your credit report, however, you may be able to just send a C&D.

The attorneys are representing the collection agency I was paying last year. I think the SOL was past last year but, as I said before, I made the mistake of wanting to make it right and tried to set up payment arrangements with them. (My understanding is this started the SOL over again.) Those arrangements were never good enough. They always wanted more. We did not send a debt validation letter to the attorneys. The attorney who wrote the letter for me just gave the offer. As I said, it was very low. He also said his client did not have any money (that is not the word he used) but that was the point he was making in the letter. That is why the offer was so low. We have not heard back from them. The original letter from them said we had 30 days to respond. We did respond in that time frame. The thirty days would have been up over a month ago and we have heard nothing.

I would have to check my credit report again but I believe the debt and the payments were listed on there. They kept reporting it over and over again so the date of the debt would update.

There is no universal SOL provision that payments on a old debt reset the SOL. Each state has its own statute of limitations. Some provide for reset of their SOL based on payments or firm offers to pay, while others do not. You need to check out your state statute of limitations and determine whether there is a reset provision.
When you began such payments, had the SOL already expired?
Do you have any information that the debt collector was previously aware of the expiration of your state SOL? If so, it might be a violation of the FDCPA for them to subsequently bring any legal action on the debt.
See [COLOR=black] Kimber v. Federal Financial Corp,. 668 F. Supp. 1480; 1987 (U.S. Dist MD Ala).[/COLOR]

Does your attorney specialize in debt collection law?

I believe he does have experience in debt collection. I belong to a legal service through my employer and he is who they referred me to. I still have not heard back from the attorneys for the collection agency and neither has my attorney. I am worried about this and do not understand why we have not heard anything.

why sit around, and wait and worry? have your attorney be proactive and call them.

My attorney sent them another letter asking them to respond to the settlement offer we made but they have not responded. I am not sure why he didn't call unless he wanted to get their response in writing.

I know this may be a dumb question but should I try to contact the collection attorneys myself? I would like to get this resolved but not sure if I should contact them directly if an attorney has already contacted them on behalf? The attorney I got through the legal service at work just kind of has the attitude of let them sue you and we will deal with it.

My opinion is that the attorney to whom you were referred through your employer probably doesn't mind if you get sued. Why? Because he probably stands to increase his fee if he's dealing with a lawsuit. I could be wrong, and I suppose he could be collecting a salary from the legal service, but I highly doubt this to be the case.

The problem with this scenario is that you'll lose some negotiating leverage if you allow a lawsuit to be filed, and this is clearly not in your best interest. Our standard procedure when putting forth settlement offers is to do so in writing, via fax - twice (on two consecutive days), and if we don't hear from the law firm on the third day, we call to follow up. During this follow-up call, we sometimes learn that the offer simply has not yet been reviewed, but I don't believe this would be the case in your situation, as it's been a few months.

It would be best to allow the law firm you hired to continue representing you, but if they are not acting in your best interest, you may be forced to make that call yourself. If you find that you'll be doing this, be prepared, and know exactly what hardship information the attorney provided them so that your stories match. They are probably going to play hardball, and they'll likely counter your offer. Don't accept their first counter; rather, go back and forth over a few days' time and see what happens.

Good luck!