Credit Mess - Help!?

I am trying to help my grandparents (96 and 85) to get rid of some hounding creditors and need a bit of advice, please?

Around 12 years ago, my grandparents had a lifechanging event that prevented them from paying about $7,000 in credit card debt that they owed - so they had to simply stop making the payments.

Now, this debt has been sold (who knows how many times) and they call on average of twice a day. I have spoken to them and told them they are wasting their breath, as they will never be able to recover this money. And my grandparents are not in a position to make any kind of a settlement offer.

Lastly, they have this debt on their credit record, which is otherwise totally spotless.

I don%26#039;t understand how a debt this old can continuously be pursued. I though 3-5 years was the max.

How do I go about stopping these creditors calls and how can I get this removed from their credit record?

Isn%26#039;t there a statute of limitations or something?

Thanks in advance,

RB

Credit Mess - Help!?auto loan

Dispute the derogatory collection accounts with the bureau%26#039;s reporting it as per %26quot;The Fair Credit Reporting Act%26quot; and send a %26quot;Cease and Desist Letter%26quot; as per the provisions of Public Laws 95-109 and 99-361, also known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, that their services are no longer desired.

The bureaus reporting the debt have to delete it and the collection agency%26#039;s have to stop calling.

Credit Mess - Help!?

loan

research your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Debt_C...

You can get the creditors to stop calling after you give them written notice, amongst other things. A very nice read. Good luck!|||They should not be attempting to collect on the debt because the statute of limitations has passed.|||There is harassment but is it really worth attorney fees?If you know a general time they call use call forwarding to the white house,congress,or even 911.They will stop the calls after a few short weeks.And if the call after that wrong number tell them.They must have bought the debt real cheap to be hounding you this long.Good Luck!!|||while i was shoppin for a new car which one%26#039;s me?

a cool convertible or an SUV?

too bad i didn%26#039;t know my credit was wack

cuz now im drivin off a lot in a used sub compcat

F-R-E-E that spells free

credit report dot com ba-by

saw their ads on my tv

thought about going but was too lazy

and instead of lookin fly n rollin phat

my legs r stickin to the vinal and my posseys gettin laughed at

F-R-E-E that spells free

credit report dot com ba-by

this is the song they are talking about

well they say a man should always dress for the job he wants so why am i dressed up like a pirate in this restraunt its all because some hacker stole my idenity now im in every evening serving chowder and ice tea shoulda gone to free credit report dot com i coulda seen seen this comin at me like an atom bomb they moniter your credit and send you email alerts so u dont end up selling fish to tourist in t shirts|||Last I checked statute of limitations was usually between 3-6 years depending on state. After this time has passed you should be able to get a judge to dismiss the debt should they be sued.

Here I looked up a few sites for you.

http://credit.about.com/od/debtcollectio...

http://credit.about.com/od/debtcollectio...

http://credit.about.com/od/debtcollectio...

This site has the statute of limitations by state:

http://www.ihatedebt.com/DealingWithYour...|||The previous posters said it.

FDCPA and FCRA both come into play, and each time they violate it they are liable for $1,000 to your grandparents for civil damages.

Send them a letter in writing saying you dispute the debt, and to validate it. Also dispute it with the credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion, Experian) saying %26quot;Not Mine%26quot; or %26quot;Too old%26quot;, whichever.

Make sure the letter is Certified Mail with Return Receipt Requested so you get a confirmation back that they received it.

If the collection agency STILL calls after that, and/or doesnt remove the mark from the credit report within 30days, just keep a lot of the amount of times they do it and sue them. Once they get the letter they sometimes stop.

I have a feeling they%26#039;re trying to reage the debt (show it as something new rather than 12years old) to stay wtihin the 7yrs allowed to be reported on the credit report. You can find this out by checking %26quot;Date of Last Activity%26quot; or %26quot;payment%26quot; on the reports. EIther way, what they are doing is illegal and I%26#039;m sure they know. But once they receive the letter they cannot call. You telling them on the phone is supposed to stop them but they can just deny that you said anything. Letter from your grandparents that%26#039;s Certified, they cant deny receiving.|||RB

Technically, there is a statute of limitations on debt collection, however, the clock starts when collection activity ceases and then the period has to pass without collection attempts. Each time this debt was sold, collection activity would have been recorded on the bureau and the clock would start again.

It is likely that some of those collection agents had contacted your grandparents when they acquired the debt, realized the ages of who they were dealing with and stopped activity. Anyone with an ounce of sense would do exactly that.

This agent apparently doesn%26#039;t take their ages into account. The priority here is to stop the calls. Since you have tried to get this agent to stop on his own without success, try sending a letter to his supervisor.

You%26#039;ll need to state clearly that your grandparents are in a situation of financial hardship and unable to pay anything on this account. If they are in fragile health that should also be stated as one reason why the agent needs to halt his calls.

With privacy laws these days, you will likely need to draft the letter and have your grandparents sign it.

As for the credit bureau, at their ages, they will neither be applying for or receiving credit so there is no need to be concerned with what is on their record. It can sit there until the cows come home for all that it will matter.What matters is that this agent stops calling your grandparents.|||First, negative items can only be reported on your credit report 7 years from date of first delinquency, so these listings need to be removed.

Next, the SOL has likely expired as well. The SOL clock starts from the last payment or charge made on the account.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/...|||First, dispute these debts with the credit bureaus as being beyond the 7 year reporting period. The items should be removed.

Second, send the collection agency a cease and desist letter (certified mail, return receipt). Indicate that these debts are beyond the Statute of Limitations (SOL) and demand they cease all contact. They have to stop.

They will probably sell the debt off to another zombie collection agency but just sent another cease and desist to the new collection agency.