not sure what to do now -Asset Acceptance bill
Date: Mon, 06/16/2008 - 20:33
Three years ago I ran my credit report in an attempt to clear up any old debt. I found a debt owed to Asset Acceptance for around $1300 from an unpaid Ameritech/SBC bill. I called Asset and requested a detailed bill stated that I would be willing to settle the debt once it was proved how they came up with the $1300 figure. I never received the documents and never heard from them again until signed a new contract with Verizon Wireless a couple weeks ago. Asset has called me several times now but I refuse to pay this debt. I ran my credit about 2 wks before they contacted me and nothing from them shows up not to mention the debt is now 8 years old. I explained that to them and each of the three people I talked to said that if I try to get a car they might run my credit back 10 years. Is this true? I spoke to a lawyer who said that a credit report would only go back that far if I was getting a loan for over $750,000 and they committed fraud by telling me that. A mortage lender I spoke to said that when I originally requested the docs they had an obligation to produce them in 30 days or the debt would be forgiven. When I said that to Asset they said 3rd party credit agencies don't have to adhere to those guidelines. Who's right?
Quote:I ran my credit about 2 wks before they contacted me and n
Quote:
I ran my credit about 2 wks before they contacted me and nothing from them shows up not to mention the debt is now 8 years old. |
Any negative entry will get erased from your credit report after seven years. Hence, it may not show up in the current reports as it is eight years old.
However, the debt sounds to be old enough to have well passed the statute of limitation of your state. Though you need to get it clarified, but in most of the states the SoL for any written contract ranges between six and ten years.
The mortgage lender is right, the collection agency has to validate an account before initiating any collection activity. The collection agency has to work within the limits of fdcpa laws. And it suggests violation of consumer rights if any collection activity takes place on an account without proper validation.
