Mom's collection bill with LVNV

They're not going to let it extend past the SOL unless they never had any intention of suing. A decade ago, when I had a medium-sized bankruptcy practice in New Jersey, Sears usually filed suit at the last minute to save their cause of action.

I haven't been in the game from the debtors' side since 1999, though, so I don't know if they still operate this way. (Oddly, Sears was the easiest creditor I ever dealt with in the bankruptcy process.) It may also depend on the amount of the debt. If it's low, a lot of creditors end up dropping it on a cost-benefit basis. But remember, it's cheap to file in Small Claims Court so you can't count on this.

BTW - There have been some cases in the Federal Courts about whether collections can continue after the SOL runs out. The consensus seems to be that running of the SOL does NOT collectors must stop writing, calling, etc. They just can't threaten to sue.

Penny-I have been dealing with LVNV since Jan,tried to set up payments and it was a no go. They passed it among their many offices,they have other names,still with no luck to make payments. They all threatened everything they could,broke several reg.,etc.I sent them a debt validation letter several months ago,April,I believe,and no response. I followed up on that letter and still no response. An attorney told me since they are not the original creditor,they would have to take it to District Court,not small claims,and it would cost them more money to do that. Chances are,after you send them a DV letter you won't hear from them again. Keep copies of everythin,and if they call during the DV process,keep records of dates,names etc.,for your records. Good Luck-let us know what happens...Karen

When the law office sent my mom a collection letter, they wanted the entire debt paid off.

A couple months later, this same law office sent a letter saying LVNV would settle for 1/2 the sum of the debt and consider the debt paid off. This would only work if the payment was sent into the law office within 2 weeks of the date of the letter.

My mom hurriedly sent the money orders along with a letter agreeing to this offer of a settlement.

However, 4 days later, the law office returned to us the entire packet my mom had sent to them. The law office wrote they no longer were the attorneys for LVNV Funding and so could not accept the payment for them. They suggested we contact LVNV Funding.

Though LVNV Funding and the law office never accepted the money order or the letter from my mom accepting the settlement offer, would this still be constitute my mom aknowledging the debt and resetting the SOL clock?

Basically, can my mom still dispute the debt since no one got the letter or money orders?

Your mom must make sure that she didn't make any payment towards the account nor she committed to pay the CA anything. The SOL might get renewed if they have her statement on recorded device and might hold it against her. Before this happens, your mother has the legal rights to know about the debt and the authorization of the CA doing the collection. It will be good if you can contact the original creditor and work payment arrangements with them. LVNV Funding might have been hired to collect the account by the original creditors. If you are able to work out arrangements with them, the creditor will pull the file back from the CA and you won't have to deal with them further.